A Call for Justice and Accountability: Reflections on Steele Creek Church of Charlotte
- Jan 26
- 5 min read
Updated: Jan 27
After a busy holiday season, I am finally able to process and articulate my profound disappointment regarding the direction of Steele Creek Church of Charlotte (SCCC)- a church I attended for over a decade. My reason for leaving back in 2018 was rooted in the church's persistent complacency toward racism, and its deceitful maintenance of white evangelical Christian values wrapped in ethnically diverse membership.
Forgive and Forget
In November of 2025, Steele Creek Church of Charlotte leveraged its platform to showcase a Native Choctaw woman, who is a member of the church, testifying to her "deliverance" from anger regarding the genocide, exploitation, and land theft of her ancestors. This was accompanied by a sermon from Pastor Kelvin which minimized the true extent to which Native people were deceived and decimated by "Christian" colonizers—prioritizing the importance of "forgiveness" and "moving on" over justice and restitution.¹
While I understand and value the concept of forgiveness—and as a Black American, I grasp the often unbearable weight of carrying the rage from hundreds of years of violence, exploitation, and continued oppression—this messaging was utterly misguided and irresponsible.
At a time when the White House is obscuring data on murdered and missing Indigenous women,²,¹⁶ where states are actively removing essential U.S. history from school curriculums,³ where people still profit from land taken from Indigenous people⁴ and the free labor of enslaved and incarcerated Black people,⁵ where racial disparities persist in every system our country has built,⁶ where people are being kidnapped because of the languages they speak,⁷ where children abroad are being slaughtered through our tax dollars,⁸ and where people in the U.S. are being killed for standing against these atrocities,⁹ there is nothing more harmful and untrue than framing colonization and oppression as something of the past.
Being the Body of Christ
During his sermon on 11/23/2025, Pastor Kelvin says he is "sorry for the past," but that "we, as the Body of Christ, can be responsible for the present and for building a better future." I agree with this sentiment; however, I struggle with how biblically misaligned his (and many others’) messaging is regarding what being the Body of Christ and building a better future actually looks like.
Being the Body of Christ looks like active advocacy- Committing to ongoing, vocal support for the marginalized, rather than offering one-off apologies and neutral sermons in the face of injustice. (Proverbs 24-24-25)¹⁰
Being the Body of Christ recognizes that being like Christ requires action, not just sentiment.
Being the Body of Christ looks like justice and systemic awareness - acknowledging that Jesus was, and is, someone who not only cared for "the least of these," (Matthew 25:40)¹¹ but who called out hypocrisy, expressed righteous anger, and warned against the practice of "lukewarm" belief systems devoid of true, Christ-like love. (Luke 11:42)¹² For God did not just send His Son because He loves Christians, but because He so loved the whole world. (John 3:16)¹³
The Big Question
In the conclusion of his sermon, Pastor Kelvin posed what I believe was a powerful and important question: "How do we change the trajectory of the Church so we can change the trajectory of the world?" He suggested we continue examining what we preach to ensure it aligns with the Spirit of God. To that, I ask him and others if what they preach also gives life to this set of questions:
How much are you willing to be like Christ?
Are you willing to die or be persecuted for the liberation of your neighbor? (John 15:12-13)¹⁴
Are you willing to call out the systems that oppress those God loves? Or does your Christianity only go as far as self-empowering sermons and missionary work that addresses the symptoms of abuse, but not the abuse itself? (Proverbs 24:24-25)¹⁵
When you say you love your neighbor as yourself, are you against their dehumanization in word and in deed?
Does your "pro-life" stance extend to the victims of racism, domestic and sexual violence, and state-sanctioned abuse, exploitation, and neglect?
Do you prioritize comfort and absolution over true Christ-like justice and repentance? (Micah 6:8)¹⁷
I believe true Christ-like trajectory is not found in sermons of 'moving on,' but in the courageous pursuit of these answers. Only then will the Church become the sanctuary for justice that this world so desperately needs.
Final Words And Offerings
This is not the first time I’ve called on SCCC and its leadership to practice the teachings of Jesus in a way that truly changes the trajectory of the Church and our world. I have been in contact with Pastor Cam and others many times over the years, yet I haven’t made a public statement since 2020.¹⁸ At that time, I called out the church for its silence regarding police brutality and the growing severity of the COVID-19 pandemic—a crisis that took hundreds of thousands of lives, including several members of this very church.
Since then, they have continued to deliver sermons void of accountability. Instead, they elevate spokespersons to act as human shields, absorbing and absolving them of guilt, prejudice, and the maintenance of oppressive systems. The video posted this past Thanksgiving was especially triggering for me, as it reminded me of how they would utilize my father, Pastor Ted, to deliver one-off sermons during moments of high racial tension rather than speaking on the issues themselves. I’ll never forget him emotionally trying to humanize our people’s pain while church leadership watered down the true essence of racism, both in this country and within their own walls.
I share this final message because I know truth is a form of love. With this statement, I release my anger towards Steele Creek Church leadership for prioritizing their resources over the radical truth of Jesus Christ. I sincerely hope they will repent and reconcile their lukewarmness, recognize the consequences that have unfolded due to their unwillingness to change, and prevent those that may follow if they remain misguided.
The best I can do now is warn prospective members not to be deceived by multicultural churches with monocultural leadership practices, and to leave those of you still attending with food for thought. Below, I have provided a historical framework for understanding the dangers of white evangelical Christianity, how to spot it in practice, and how to hold institutions accountable to a higher standard of true, Christ-like love.
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Restitution: the restoration of something lost or stolen to its proper owner.
Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. (Psalms 82:3)
Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me. (Matthew 25:40)
But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. (Luke 11:42)
For God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten son, and who so ever believes in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)
My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. (John 15:12-13)
24 Whoever says to the guilty, “You are innocent,” will be cursed by peoples and denounced by nations.
25 But it will go well with those who convict the guilty, and rich blessing will come on them. (Proverbs 24:24-25)
https://www.fbi.gov/file-repository/reports-and-publications/2023-mmip-missing-aian.pdf/view
He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6-8)
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