When: June 9, 2022, 7 p.m.
Where: Online.
For: All church leaders

The fundamental truth undergirding this vision [of the Beloved Community] is that all are made in the image of God. It is in our diversity that we discover the fullness of that image … Whenever individual or community behaviors work against God’s vision, we have promised to respond in ways that will serve to heal: “Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being? I will with God’s help (Book of Common Prayer p305).”

March 21, 2006 pastoral letter from the House of Bishops

Join the Diversity & Reconciliation Commission chair, Shirly Bolden in a discussion around the workshops, book studies and what the Diversity & Reconciliation Commission can offer to each individual church in assisting them to focus on the sin of racism. 

The Sin of Racism: A Call to Covenant

Working for justice is difficult at best, excruciatingly difficult at worst. Most of the time it seems as if the more exact word for this long-hoped-for state of being is ‘just-us’ and even ‘just-me.’ It is one thing for churches, and yes, this is true of many denominations, to pass resolutions that repudiate this blight on our nation and repent this personal and institutional sin, to say that we are against racism and exclusion, and that we are working for justice. It is one thing for us to say that we decry the artificial and illegal barriers erected between those who have power and those who seek their rights, between those who enjoy the rich economic resources of this country and those who cry themselves to sleep from continuous hunger and deprivation. It is another thing altogether to be the seeker and the advocate and the trainer and the record keeper and, and … Only the super strong can labor in that vineyard alone. Only the robotic can be immune to the waves of fatigue, self-doubt and hopelessness that frequently assail us as we work to actualize that which everyone professes to want without the pain of getting there. 

The purposes of the workshops are to assist churches and parishes in organizing to eliminate the sin of racism. There are three essential steps to be followed when a diocese makes this commitment to focus on the sin of racism its elimination from the church, the community, and world in which we live. First, there needs to be an organized and functioning anti-racism committee (The Diversity and Reconciliation Commission); secondly, the support of the diocesan bishop; and thirdly, a comprehensive plan for proceeding with this ministry. 

Discussion will center on the workshops, book studies and what we as a Diocesan Commission can offer to each individual parish in assisting them to focus on the sin of racism.