The work of racial healing is ongoing across our church. 
​This is just a glimpse. 
Tell us what your diocese or organization is doing to contribute to racial healing.
Diocese of North Carolina
  • Our work related to racial reconciliation began a few years ago when we considered Jesus' command to "love your neighbor as yourself." As a parish, we asked "Who are our neighbors?" We are on the same city block as the county jail, courthouse, and the police department and many law offices surround us. Our neighbor is the criminal justice system. We explored ways to be good neighbors and quickly learned of the racial inequalities that plague our system of justice. As our Presiding Bishop and Diocesan Bishop have both urged congregations to engage in the work of Becoming the Beloved Community, we have come to see this work as part of the work that the Spirit has given us to do.

    Mission Endowment Grant: St. Luke’s was awarded a grant from the Diocese of North Carolina to support the work of Becoming the Beloved Community. This is an initiative of The Episcopal Church to pursue and promote racial reconciliation. This grant will provide for work related to Becoming the Beloved Community in a city with a history of racial tensions. The grant has three components:
    1) Truth-telling related to the histories of St. Luke’s and the closed historically African-American congregation of St. Philip’s Episcopal Church. We have contracted with a local historian to research the role of race and slavery in our parish's history.
    2) A video documentary series in partnership with members of a partner AME-Zion congregation to capture stories by those who grew up in the Jim Crow era in Salisbury.
    3) A weekend workshop for the community headlined by Bishop Will Willimon and Dr. Catherine Meeks of the Absalom Jones Center.

    See more at https://stlukessalisbury.dionc.org/beloved-community.html
Robert Black
rblack@stlukessalisbury.net
Diocese of Mississippi
  • ​Following our Diocesan Conference, Fifty Five Years Later: Becoming the Beloved Community in Mississippi, in May, members at Trinity Episcopal Church in Hattiesburg began meeting monthly to build relationships through sharing our stories and discussing various books and videos.
  • The group circle is widening through local friendships and word of mouth.
  • This week we will meet and discuss The Hate U Give by Mississippi writer, Angie Thomas. We are also discussing a group trip to the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum in Jackson sometime soon.​
Marian Fortner
​mfdfortner@gmail.com
 In the midst of training members of all elected and appointed Diocesan bodies, using "Seeing the Face of God in each other" - In April, 2019, hosted Province V leaders for a Becoming Beloved Community gathering with people from TEC Office of Racial Reconciliation.- - Integrating Becoming Beloved Community framework in Diocesan staff and Diocesan council work.
Margaret D'Anieri
mdanieri@dohio.org
Diocese of Maryland
​Resolution on Racial Reconciliation passes unanimously at 235th diocesan convention (Diocese of Maryland). Programs such as our Sutton Scholars program are included in the below article and accompanying study materials. https://marylandepiscopalian.org/2019/05/17/resolution-on-racial-reconciliations-passes-unanimously-at-235th-diocesan-convention/ Trail of Souls - www.trailofsouls.org -

Please check out this site. It is a project of our diocese and an important part of our truth telling. On the Trail of Souls – Not just for a day…for a lifetime The Episcopal Churches of Maryland commemorated the 150th anniversary of the official abolishment of chattel slavery in Maryland on All Saints’ Day, Nov. 1, 2014, with the Trail of Souls: Truth and Reconciliation Pilgrimage. This day-long journey visited five Maryland sites with strong ties the both slavery and the Episcopal Church. But this was just the beginning. An online pilgrimage of 26 churches and diocesan sites found on this website is a virtual tour and living legacy that is destined to grow in scope and participation.

​The Trail of Souls offers a chance to visit the Episcopal Churches of Maryland and witness them in a new light – looking at the legacy of slavery and the impact it still bears witness to today. As more churches discover and write their history they will be added to the web portal.​
Carrie Graves
cgraves@episcopalmaryland.org
Diocese of Lexington 
  • Electric Revival, High School Retreat/Revival on Racial Reconciliation for youth with Rev. Justin Gabbard at Trinity Episcopal, Covington, KY
  • St. Peters, Paris, KY-Arts Camp- White church reached out to primarily black neighborhood to bring children/teens together for a week long arts & theatre camp
  • St. Patrick's, Somerset, KY- Laura's Ladies, 6 women (2 Latino, 2 White, 2 Black, AME, Episcopal, and Roman Catholic) meet once a month for prayer and conversation
  • St. Patrick's, Somerset, KY- Modern Day Stations of the Cross, covering racial issues
  • Diocesan Racial Reconciliation Commission, Chair-Carol Rutherven
  • Diocesan Convention Christian Education Topic, 9 Day focused on Racial Reconciliation w/ Dr. Allen Boesak and breakout groups/workshops on above topics​
Amanda Musterman
amanda@stpatsomerset.org
Diocese of South Carolina
  • Grace Community Support on Wednesdays 6-7 p.m. No cost, donation's always welcome.  Supported and put on by church volunteers. Open to the entire community.
Tater Beak
peels1t@aol.com
Diocese of Oregon
  • Beloved Community on Campus is an experimental approach to campus ministry in the diocese  that begins with the question: What does it mean to create Beloved Community on a college campus? Our two-fold mission: • To engage the broader student body by hosting Beloved Community dialogues on campus with national and regional faith leaders and justice workers, college faculty, and community members. • To offer opportunities for worship and fellowship that introduce students to Episcopal liturgy and practice. We are seeking to build relationships with other campus ministries that are excited by this new approach.
  • To connect, visit: www.belovedcampus.org www.facebook.com/belovedcampus www.twitter.com/belovedcampus
Matthew David Morris
mdm@belovedcampus.org

Diocese of New Westminster, Vancouver, BC. Canada

Offers an annual series of anti-racism workshops-recently renamed as Dismantling Racism Workshops across the diocese. Archbishop Skelton is very supportive. The workshops are mandatory every five years for all clergy who wish to hold a license in the diocese. Lay leaders of parishes must also attend. Goal is to have all members of congregations exposed at least once to this free workshop.

There is an annual pilgrimage to a site of a closed residential school in Mission, BC where indigenous children were subjected to church sponsored cultural genocide.

Wrongs to Rights workshop parish based serious where First Nations Peoples and Settler People ( white colonialist children and grandchildren) meet and work at reconciliation and understanding.

Future Challenges:- developing advanced work for people who have received the basic workshops as clergy and laity must re-certify every five years. New materials with new frontiers to develop deeper understanding and acceptance of differences as a part of reconciliation. The development of a universal community. Climate Change is a challenge which can only be met by all working as one together. Racial, cultural and religious divides are lethal for the future health of the planet.
David Price
​Darevdave@shaw.ca
Diocese of Atlanta
  • Chattahoochee Valley Episcopal Ministry (CVEM) piloted the diocesan youth curriculum for Dismantling Racism with seven area youth on retreat at Koinonia Farm the first weekend of May 2018. The participants were so energized by the experience they want to keep going! They want to be leaders in their schools, churches, and communities in building awareness and education around systemic racism, white privilege, and racial trust-building.
  • CVEM is committed to supporting the teens' efforts and is adapting its teen servant leadership program Infusion to facilitate the on-going education and engagement of our youth.
Martha Robert
​martha@cvemjubilee.org
Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast
  • Recently formed a 25 member Racial Reconciliation Commission.
  • Conducted the first Racial Reconciliation Workshop within the diocese in 12-15 years.
Joe McDaniel
mcdanieljoe43@yahoo.com
Diocese of Iowa​

  • Founded, with the support of The Episcopal Church, the Beloved Community Initiative (becomingbelovedcommunity.org). The Beloved Community Initiative supports the work of racial healing in the diocese and its local community in these ways: through educational programs, re-examining local stories, partnering with allies and accomplices; through interfaith gatherings for reflection and spiritual practice, seeking repentance, and rebuilding systems and structures; by providing space for public story-telling, offering training opportunities for all ages, facilitating leadership training, and coordinating pilgrimages; and by building community partnerships, offering space for community groups, creating and offering justice initiatives, and supporting restorative justice initiatives.
Meg Wagner
mwagner@iowaepiscopal.org
​Diocese of the South Carolina
  • ​Racism Book Group
  • Criminal Justice Conference
  • Support on Illumination Projects
William Beak
williambeak@gmail.com
Diocese of Alabama​
  • Anti-Racism training using "seeing the Face of God in each other" Jonathan Daniels pilgrimage annually in August
Tom Osborne
trosborne@una.edu
Diocese of South Carolina 
  • Weekly book study between Grace Church Cathedral and Mt. Zion AME Church (as well as representatives of other churches). Books related to racism, and racial healing are read and discussed in small groups.
Gail DeCosta
gdecosta@advstr.com
Diocese of Atlanta 
Lynn Norris
lynnenorris@mindspring.com
Diocese of Southwestern Virginia
  • Sponsored a series of talks across the diocese, "Pursuing Beloved Community: Continuing Conversations on Race". These talks and pursuant discussion, were live streamed and then later used to develop a 5-part series for adult formation, (available by Lent 2018) to deepen engagement with the work of racial reconciliation int he name of Christ.
  • There are 4 initiatives being "rolled out" in 2018: "Claiming our Stories" (anti-racism education); "Allyship" training and follow-up "Allyship in Action" groups; reconciliation pilgrimages within the diocese; and story sharing events (incorporating paperless singing when possible per "Music that Makes Community"). Contact: The Ven. Melissa Hays-Smith, Archdeacon, mhays-smith@dioswva.org​​
Melissa Hays-Smith
mhays-smith@dioswva.org

Diocese of Louisiana
  • Educational opportunities like visits to Whitney Plantation with spiritual reflection afterwards.
  • We're also currently trying to pilot our Prophetic Storytelling Project consisting of sharing stories while sharing a meal, centering on the charge of the church to follow Jesus' lead. To follow Jesus as a storyteller.
Lindsey Ardrey
lindsey@stgeorge-nola.com
Commission on Race Relations
  • Facilitate Seeing the Face of God-Anti-Racism workshops
  • Sponsor J. Daniels Pilgrimage
  • Provide resources to parishes on racial justice; litanies, prayers, liturgies
  • Offer train the trainer opportunities
Carolyn Foster
carolynjfoster@bellsouth.net
Diocese of Georgia 
  • ​There is no real program. We are having conversations around topics and issues that arise in culture and society. Example "Traces of the Trade" film and discussion.
Billy Alford
bja1953@comcast.net