What's Going On? An Update and Appeal from the AntiRacism Commission

Here's a brief update of the Commission's work to date. In the first year of our work in the Diocese, nearly 100 leaders in the Diocese, lay and clergy, completed an initial two and one-half day anti-racism training designed by Crossroads Ministry. (By leaders, we mean folks who serve as members of one or more diocesan committee, commission, task force, or council; everyone is invited into the work we are beginning!)

The evaluations of that training were almost uniformly positive, detailed, and constructive. One of the things asked for was a chance to build on the training experience, both in the company of others who had shared it and by creating ways for everyone in the diocese to participate in the conversation. In addition, most of those trained asked that we continue the caucus process begun in the training. We, in turn, promised to respond by creating concrete ways for people to continue the hard work of ending racism in our diocese and church. We also said we'd try to help folks to stay in contact for purposes of supporting one another as we go along this road, knowing that our relationships are an essential element of our mission. None of us is alone in this!

This blog is one response to that request. We hope you'll check in frequently, respond to posts in the spirit of Christ's powerful work in our midst, and respect as you read and write that we are all different but at the same time "one creature" in Christ. For now, there are two ways to enter this blog. One is by emailing your post to antriracismdiopa@gmail.com, from where the moderators will take it here. Another is to respond directly to a post.

Those who participated in the trainings were also promised a contact list for those with whom they shared the experience. If you have not received that information for your training group, please email me at the Commission address, antriracismdiopa@gmail.com. I'll get one to you if you include an address where it can be sent.

In addition to the training and education work we have been doing, your Commission has been working to continue to impact and change the way we do business in the Diocese by identifying and challenging structures in which racism is embedded. We are staying alert, through the prism of anti-racism, to how decisions are made in relation to identifying, training, hiring, deploying, and paying the people—lay and clergy—who work in the church. We have tried to ensure that decisions regarding closing and merging parishes are made and carried out in non-racist ways. We have been working hard with our Diocesan leaders to be sure that matters of race and our legacies of racism are given their due place as we put together and celebrate the history of our 225 years as a Diocese. Many of us are involved in the evolving and urgent work of recruiting people of color into the ordained ministry of the church, working through the aegis of the Black Aspirant's Recruitment Task Force. (A copy of that report will shortly be available for viewing and download both here and on the diocese's web site, .) We have been seeking ways to carrying out General Convention mandates regarding our participation in the evils of slavery, and thinking creatively about how to respond to the call of reparative justice that is before us. In this we are not alone. The Dioceses of Maryland and North Carolina are creating models for action for the whole church, to which we can add. (Their web pages contain a wealth of helpful information!)

While all this is going on, we are working very actively to create a Diocesan AntiRacism Team whose main task will be to take the work of anti-racism more deeply into our common life, by working with the people of our parishes and those involved in Diocesan programs. This team will seek to enlist them to work with us in this work. Much of the work of that team will involve training others. This will be an active, intense, and essential ministry for those who undertake it; in many ways the Team will constitute the core of our ongoing efforts. Many of you have received a letter inviting you to apply to be a member of the Team and outlining the training requirements and vocational expectations of members of the Team. Everyone in the Diocese is invited to apply. Again, please email me for a copy of the application and guidelines. We hope to identify about 40 people to join this work by early June. As of now, we hope, with the support of whatever Ecclesiastical Authority is in place in the Diocese in November, to have the entire team commissioned in a joyous liturgical event at Diocesan Convention on November 8, when we will also acknowledge the commitment all of you are making to carry out our common charge.

In the very immediate future, please join us on this Saturday for a special diocesan showing of Katrina Browne's film, "Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Deep North," from 1 PM-4:30 PM this Saturday, April 26 at the Brossman Center at the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. This powerful epic will inform and move you. Ms. Browne and former Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold will join us in discussion after the screening. Don't miss this if you can help it--and feel free to spread the word and bring people with you.

Finally, we want to thank everyone in the diocese for your continuing and energetic commitment to this long-term, often exhausting, and absolutely essential enterprise. At a time of great uncertainty and anxiety in our life together, the urgent work of antiracism has been a place for many of us to engage and stay focused on the sacred vocation spelled out in our baptismal promises. By your energy, your support, your engagement, and your prayers, we on the commission are very blessed. Thank you. We hope to see you Saturday!

For now, that's the news! Join the conversation! Rejoice!

The Rev. Jim Littrell
Commission Vice-Chair and Blog Moderator