The Racial Justice Network (RJN) are followers of Jesus committed to racial justice by building strong cross-racial relationships, learning about, and advocating for racial justice as essential to Christian discipleship. RJN represents over 300 individuals and 30 different churches in the Virginia Commonwealth and beyond. We are guided by the three principles for promoting racial justice as lifted by Jamar Tisby: Awareness, Relationships, and Commitment.
Each month RJN meets to discuss and learn about a current racial justice topic, such as mass incarceration, Howard Thurman, and immigration. The meeting is held by Zoom the first Thursday of each month, 7:00-8:30pm. To receive the Zoom link and be added to the email list, send a message to racialjnetwork@gmail.com .
RJN also hosts an annual conference at Belmont UMC in February/March to focus on different racial justice topics. Topics have included: “Resisting Racial Injustice in the Way of Jesus” and “Journey to Healing”.
RJN partners with Rev. Dr. Jim Melson and the Cornelius Corps (https://corneliuscorps.org/) to offer online workshops about Civil Rights history. This year’s course was “On the Move: The Legacy of 1966 for 2026”. In addition, RJN organizes groups to attend local protests and shares opportunities for individuals and churches to promote racial justice whenever and wherever they can.