On Tuesday morning, November 25, ABCUSA General Secretary A. Roy Medley noted, “Our prayers are with the people of Ferguson and the larger St. Louis community as they live and work through this crisis. We are regretful that the plea of Michael Brown’s family to let all protests be peaceful was not heeded. At the same time, we do not want this episode of violence to take our eyes off of the issues that have led to anger and consternation. While in Ferguson just a week ago [at the National Council of Churches Governing Board meeting], we were urged by church leaders to rally the moral force of our churches and focus like a laser beam on the systemic issues that continue to marginalize young black men especially, and people of color in general, in this country.”

In a report Medley wrote about his recent trip to St. Louis and Ferguson, Medley wrote:

“We face a moral and social crisis related to black males.  It is a crisis that many are blind to or ignore as long as it doesn’t spill over into their lives.  It is a crisis that costs lives and devastates families.  It is a crisis that deprives us of leaders, doctors, teachers, and workers.  It is a crisis that is turning us into the largest penal colony in the world.

WE FACE A CRISIS, a crisis that mirrors Lincoln’s declaration of June 16, 1858, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.  I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free.”

The deaths of Michael Brown and Trayvon Martin, like that of Emmett Till, are now symbols of this larger moral and political crisis.  And regardless of the color of our skin, WE ALL have skin in this crisis.”

Read the full letter here.