9 February 2025 marks the 30th anniversary of Racial Justice Sunday (RJS).
Racial Justice Sunday takes place at the end of Race Equality Week (3 to 9 Feb). RJS began following the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence in April 1993 when the family’s Methodist church committed to supporting their campaign for justice. After a few years, Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI) helped RJS become a mainstream event for all churches and denominations and in 2017 it moved from September to its home on the second Sunday of February.
This year the theme is the ‘Coat of Many Colours’ reflecting the increasing diversity in our churches and the many references to diversity in the Bible.
“these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.” Isaiah 56:7.
Resources
Liturgical Resources from The Church of England
This is a page that introduces the issues and vulnerabilities and how this work is aligned with the Six Pastoral Principles. The PDF of liturgical resources, linked at the bottom of the page, also include worship songs and hymns as well as links to Assembly/Collective Worship resources for schools and Bible Study and Tearfund’s Youth resources.
‘Coat of Many Colours’ Booklet
We would particularly recommend this ‘Coat of Many Colours’ toolkit/Resource booklet for 2025 from Churches Together (CTBI) which contains:
- Liturgical resources including Hymns, worship songs and bible readings as well as Stations of the Cross, often used in Lent
- Reflections from a broad range of voices (7 different contributions)
- Sermon ideas from four different perspectives
- And Resources for further study, reflection and reading (books, reports and a few further links)
We hope you will find something fruitful for your particular context and do please let us know if you have any queries or feedback. We’d also love to hear how the resources are received so please do share any good news stories!