Restorative Actions is born from the intersection of theology, justice, and economics. It allows U.S. Americans who benefit from institutional racism, to provide a credible witness for justice by surrendering ill-gotten gains toward the establishment of just relationships with Afro-American and Indigenous communities.
Restorative Actions is a grass roots voluntary initiative for churches, individuals, mid-councils, and agencies of the Presbyterian Church (USA) as well as other ecumenical partners and interested organizations, to take a leadership stance in opposition to racism and racial privilege. Its premise is that it would be right and fair for predominantly white churches and affiliated organizations to return benefits that have accrued to them directly or indirectly from systemic inequities. The act of gathering and turning back resources that would otherwise benefit others could be redressive to complicity, restorative to conscience, and could represent a good faith step toward broader reconciliation.
Guidance for restorative action of wealth is based on the estimated national financial disparities between the income and wealth of white American households and the income and wealth of households in historically marginalized Indigenous and Afro-American communities.
Allocation of commitments will be determined by the composition of donors’ sources of income or wealth. Commitments based on real estate gains or assets would be transferred to facilities entrusted to benefit Indigenous people and communities. Commitments based on levels of non-missional income or undesignated financial assets would be transferred to facilities entrusted to benefit Afro-American communities.
All monies gathered will be transferred to a legal fiduciary that will provide ongoing income for the self-development of Indigenous and Afro-American communities, as directed by trustees which will be comprised of leaders from within these respective communities.
Until ultimate fiduciary trust facilities become operational, the funds that churches set aside for restorative actions can either be held in designated accounts on the books of contributing organizations, or transferred to one of two mission partnership funds that are being established in the meantime by the Synod of Lakes and Prairies of the Presbyterian Church (USA) and the Presbyterian Foundation.
CORE TEAM
Our core team is comprised of a group of individuals with different lived experiences, seeking economic justice.
Although Restorative Actions was initiated by individuals affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA), anyone is invited to contribute. There will be no denominational, religious affiliation or doctrinal considerations limiting the distribution of the program’s funds or earnings. We invite you.
Synod Executive, Synod of Lakes & Prairies and Former Co-Moderator PC(USA)
Pastor, Fellowship Presbyterian Church and Former Co-Moderator PC(USA)
Director at the Center for the Repair of Historic Harms at Presbyterian Mission Agency and PhD candidate at Union Seminary, New York
Director of Financial Services, Synod of Lakes and Prairies PC(USA)
Member at Large, Winnebago Presbytery, Wisconsin
Anti-Racism Advocacy team member at Oak Grove Presbyterian Church, Bloomington MN
Member at Large, Eastern Oklahoma Presbytery
Transitional Associate Pastor for Faith Formation and Lifelong Learning House of Hope Presbyterian Church in St Paul, MN
The Rev. Gregory J. Bentley was born and raised in Alabama surrounded by a multigenerational household and baptized and formed by Saint Paul Primitive Baptist Church. He graduated from Pine Hill High School and holds degrees from Stillman College (BS biology), Interdenominational Theological Center (M.Div), and Auburn University (M.Ed). During his time at Stillman, he joined the Brown Memorial Presbyterian Church and answered his call to the ministry and was later ordained at the Northern Heights Presbyterian Church in Selma, Alabama. Until 2001, he led a bivocational career of pastoring and teaching biology and physical science in the public school system. He currently serves as pastor and head of staff of Fellowship Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Alabama. Rev. Bentley has served in many capacities in political and civic affairs, including: Chair of Minority Affairs for the Tuscaloosa County Democratic Party; a member of Leadership Tuscaloosa, Goshen Lodge #530 (Prince Hall); a Life member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.; and, in 2020, as the Co-Moderator of the Presbyterian Church (USA) alongside Elder Elona Street-Stewart. Rev. Bentley enjoys good music…from Beethoven to Bessie Smith to BDP to Bluegrass. He also likes to read and play chess. He lives in Huntsville with his wife Diann and his daughters Miriam and Johari.
The Rev. Jermaine Ross-Allam serves as the inaugural director of the Center for the Repair of Historic Harms at the Presbyterian Mission Agency, PC(USA) where his team is focused on growing the number of human beings working to share the Good News that restorative justice and Reparations make common sense for the common good as soon as possible and for as long as it takes. Jermaine was ordained as by the Presbytery of the Twin Cities in 2013 where he began serving as executive director of 21st Century Academy at Kwanzaa Community Church PC(USA) in North Minneapolis—renamed Liberty Community Church—and Associate Pastor for Social Justice at Oak Grove Presbyterian Church. In addition to serving as the Center for Repair’s director, Jermaine is a Ph.D candidate in Social Ethics at Union Theological Seminary in Manhattan where he is completing a book tentatively titled “Trammeled by the Bonds of Union: Social Ecology of anti-Black Violence and Impunity after Emancipation.” Jermaine is also exceptionally proud to volunteer with great colleagues as a theology co-lead for Restorative Actions—an economic justice initiative born from the intersection of theology, justice, and economics.
Dr. DeLariah Jones graduated from Florida A&M University with her Bachelor’s and Master’s in Mechanical Engineering. She has her Doctorate in Business Administration with a focus in Global Supply Chain Management from Walden University. DeLariah has been married to her college sweetheart for over 25 years, and they have 3 grown children, Kaitlyn, Terrell Jr, and Jevon. She has worked for 3M and served in her community of St. Paul for over 20 years. She has organized youth athletics and tutoring program for underprivileged youth and worked on school committees for the advancement of improving test scores for minorities. DeLariah is looking forward to using her critical thinking and logics, which she has developed as a mechanical engineer, to tackle social justice and working with the Restoration Actions Organization.
The Rev. Eva Melton is the pastor of The Firm Foundation Church, a non-denominational spiritual community in the heart of Birmingham, Alabama. Eva holds a Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science from the University of Alabama and a Master of Arts in Religion from Ashland Theological Seminary (Ohio). Eva brings a womanist lens to all her service. A womanist lens privileges the experiences, voices, traditions and artifacts of African American women and other women of color. Conjuring this lens in service of the community is necessary as patriarchy and white supremacy can often go unnoticed and unchallenged. A womanist lens considers race, gender and class in all endeavors.
The Rev. Katherine Lankford is an associate Pastor of Christian Education and Community Engagement at Liberty Community Church in Minneapolis. She is a graduate of the interdenominational Theological Center and an Ordained Minister in the PCUSA. Katherine has over 20 years experience in the financial services industry and is the creator of Finance & Affirmations, a healing centered financial education company. The services of this company include a financial podcast as well as workshops and seminars. Through a unique blend of financial education, coaching, affirmations and visualization, she empowers her community to set and achieve their financial goals. Some of the work she is most proud of is the investment club course that she created in 2019 that she teaches to youth in her church. She has created an app which is an investing simulator tied to the stock market so the youth can practice investing while in the course. Though the main focus of the course is on investing basics she also teaches the youth about personal finance and civics.
Trahern Crews is a Reparationist, social justice advocate, grassroots organizer and Saint Paul native who is a descendant of the Rondo neighborhood. Trahern has served in a number of capacities in organizations seeking social change and justice: as the former chair of the Green Party of The United States and its Reparations working group, former chair of The National Green Party Black Caucus, and former Chair of The Green Party of Minnesota. He currently serves as the co-convener of The Saint Paul Recovery Act Reparations Commission, the chair of the Saint Paul Recovery Act Steering Committee / Minnesota Migration Act Steering Committee, and the co-founder and lead organizer with Black Lives Matter Minnesota. Trahern has run for public office. Trahern hosts a talk show called the Trahern Crews Show and operates Original Man Farms, which teaches youth about urban agriculture.
In addition to our core team, we consulted with the following individuals and groups during the formation of the program:
New Covenant Trust Company
Presbyterian Foundation
