Structural Racism is the cumulative impact of historical and current policies and practices and cultural stereotypes and norms that together maintain racial hierarchies and inequitable racial group outcomes.

Systemic Racism is comprised of policies and practices in public and private institutions that result in the exclusion or promotion of certain racial groups that perpetuate and reinforce inequitable outcomes; it is what enables structural racism to persist.

*Definitions used by Woods Fund and its partners, Philanthropic Initiative for Racial Equity and Association of Black Foundation Executives.

CRS is committed to engaging and empowering people directly impacted by systemic and structural racism. CRS works with congregations and community leaders to build power and identify shared problems and solutions to those problems through public policy and advocacy.

Experience has demonstrated that creating and implementing new policies or programs does not always lead to the outcomes advocates had articulated and policymakers agreed upon, for a variety of reasons. CRS monitors the implementation and impact of the policy or program and, in doing so, holds policymakers and public agencies accountable for its success.

Effective public engagement is intertwined with building knowledge, understanding, encouraging action and creating change. CRS’ newsmagazine, The Chicago Reporter was founded on the heels of the civil rights movement of the 1960s. The Reporter confronts racial and economic inequality, using the power of investigative journalism. The Reporter’s mission is national but grounded in Chicago, one of the most segregated cities in the nation and a bellwether for urban policies.

CRS' mission since its founding has always reflected the spirit of the denomination that founded it, the Congregational Church (predecessor denomination to the United Church of Christ). Even today, CRS' programmatic focus aligns with the mission principles of the United Church of Christ: combating social injustice, striving for economic and racial justice and combating poverty.

CRS was started in February 1882 when seven laymen and ministers of the Congregational Church of Chicago (predecessor denomination to the United Church of Christ) formed the Chicago City Missionary Society to address the social, educational and economic needs of newly arrived immigrants. They envisioned an organization that would provide a Christian structure that would renew the quality of life in the Chicago metropolitan area.

Congregationalists were strong in their belief of the civil rights of all people. They believed in the transforming power of the gospel to right social ills, particularly inhumanity to other races, specifically the injustice of slavery. The Congregational Church was composed of Black and white Americans who were active supporters and workers in the faith.

One example of their belief in action was the now famous episode that began aboard the slave ship Amistad. In 1839, Africans being transported to Cuba led a mutiny for their freedom that landed 44 of them in a New Haven, Connecticut prison. Congregationalists provided legal counsel for the prisoners which resulted in their acquittal and freedom in 1841.

In addition, since migrating to America, Congregationalists have been responsible for the establishment of hundreds of churches, colleges, social justice organizations and universities including Harvard, Dartmouth, Tougaloo, Fisk, Talladega, Lemoyne Owen, Oberlin and Dillard.

As the needs of the city changed, so did the organization as reflected in the evolution of its name. Four name changes reflect four different approaches to urban centered faith-based mission: Chicago City Missionary Society, Chicago Congregational Missionary and Extension, Chicago Congregational Union and, today, Community Renewal Society. Though the name has changed, the mission has remained the same: to provide a moral voice, faithful witness and concerted action on social issues.