Just as the Trump administration orders the removal of exhibits related to slavery from national parks and museums, the Presbytery of Baltimore has taken a big step toward acknowledging the history of bondage and making, for starters, more than $2 million in reparations.

At a meeting over the weekend, the Presbytery, representing 65 congregations from the Baltimore area as far west as Allegany County, established a Reparative Justice Fund.

The fund commits 15% of unrestricted assets – proceeds from previous property sales and fundraising – and two reserve funds to historically Black churches and local initiatives related to equity and justice.

In addition, the Presbytery committed 10% of any future property sales to the fund.

(Note: The Presbytery prefers to describe its action as “reparative,” rather than using the term reparations, because it “includes repair of relationships that have been broken since the founding of our country and denomination.”)

“This action, believed to be the first of its kind by a presbytery in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), affirms our commitment to truth, repair and reconciliation in response to the enduring harm of slavery and systemic racism,” the Baltimore leadership said in a news release.

“The Reparative Justice Fund is designed to provide direct support to African American congregations and communities within the Presbytery’s bounds, with a focus on empowerment, self-determination and healing,” the release said.

A quarter of the fund will support six Presbyterian churches – Cherry Hill Community, Grace, Knox, Lochearn, Madison Avenue and Trinity – “in recognition of their historic underfunding and exclusion,” the Presbytery said.

Starting next year, the fund will be governed by an independent nonprofit board of directors representing the Presbytery and leaders of the region’s historically Black communities.

“This fund is more than a symbolic act – it is a faithful witness to the gospel,” said General Presbyter, the Rev. Dr. Jacqueline Taylor. “Reparations name the harm, affirm dignity and open the way to a more just future. Through this fund, the Presbytery of Baltimore is aligning its resources with its faith, living out God’s call to mend what has been broken.”

Confession and Action

The effort has been in the works for a few years as Presbyterians nationwide confronted the history of slavery by church leaders and past members.

In 2022, the General Assembly of the U.S. Presbyterian Church met in Louisville and issued a formal apology to African-Americans “for the sin of slavery.” The assembly called on presbyteries to examine their roles in slavery and systemic racism and to take steps “toward repair.”

The Presbytery of Baltimore established what it called a Dismantling Racism Team that “engaged in broad consultation, studied denominational precedents and listened deeply to congregations and community voices.”

“The Presbytery received direct monetary benefits from sources tied to slavery”  – Dismantling Racism Team.

The team’s research showed that the Presbytery, established in the 1700s, received direct monetary benefits “from sources tied to slavery” and that it contributed to “historic underinvestment and neglect, inequities in the management of church properties, and direct violations of trust [with] communities or congregations of color.”

The team’s recommendation pushed beyond charity toward repair. The recommendation was grounded “in the theological conviction that repentance requires both confession and action.”

The establishment of the Reparative Justice Fund “represents a major milestone in the fulfillment of that process,” the Presbytery said.

Other Denominations Act

Other denominations, including the Catholic Church and the United Methodist Church, have confronted slavery and its legacy.

In September 2020, the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland voted to provide $1 million as a seed fund for reparations after leaders spent some 15 years documenting how the institution benefited from slavery.

“The legacy of 350-plus years of discrimination against persons of African descent have taken a toll on this nation, and it has affected all of us,” Bishop Eugene Taylor Sutton, former leader of the Episcopal diocese, said when the first grants were awarded to nonprofits and other Maryland organizations supporting Black families and children.

“None of us may have been guilty, but all of us have a responsibility,” Sutton said at the time. “Today is an indication of the responsibility we are taking.”

Stunning Contrast

The Presbytery of Baltimore says it hopes to issue its first repair funds next year.

It’s a stunning contrast: The Trump administration goes to lengths to erase references to slavery as part of what it calls a “corrosive ideology” that is anti-American. A Christian church, meanwhile, not only acknowledges slavery but reaches into its coffers to make amends.

“The work to repair historic harms is ongoing,” states the motion to establish the Reparative Justice Fund.

“Therefore, we call on individual congregations and the Presbytery of Baltimore to continue this difficult but vital work to recover historical memory, repent of wrong doing, repair harm done and seek reconciliation. We invite congregations and individuals to contribute a portion of their wealth toward this important work of repair.”