Bishop Marble takes part in national "Day of Repentance" for slavery

[Episcopal News Service] Expressing "profound regret that the Episcopal Church lent the institution of slavery its support and justification based on Scripture," Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori issued a public apology October 4 for the church's involvement in the institution of transatlantic slavery.


Read the full story here

Commemoration of the baptisms of Manteo and Virginia Dare

Read about the commemoration here. Thanks to the Diocese of East Carolina for the article. Bishop Clifton Daniel's sermon is here.

Updated program for September 6

The Historiographer of the Diocese, the Anti-Racism Committee, and the School of Ministry
of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina

invite you to

“Traces of Our Trade”

Saturday, September 6, 2008
9:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
St. Matthew's Episcopal Church, Hillsborough

Litany of Remembrance, Lament, and Hope
Jane Carol Redmont, Chair, Anti-Racism Committee and All Participants

Opening Remarks
The Right Rev. Alfred C. “Chip” Marble, Assisting Bishop, Diocese of North Carolina

Film: “Traces of the Trade: A Tale from the Deep North”

Discussion with Constance and Dain Perry, members of the DeWolf family featured in the film. The Perrys are an interracial couple, members of Trinity Church, Copley Square, Boston, and experienced facilitators.

- Lunch -

Panel: Sharing Our Stories: Racial Histories and Faith Journeys :
* Overview of Church & Race in North Carolina

The Rev. Dr. Brooks Graebner, Historiographer
* St. Mark’s, Huntersville: Restoring a Slave Cemetery
Dr. Michael Thompson, Senior Warden & Professor of History, Pfeiffer University
* St. Matthew’s, Hillsborough: Living with the Legacy of Jurist Thomas Ruffin
Dr. Sally Greene, Parishioner & Member of Chapel Hill Town Council
* St. Ambrose, Raleigh: A Historically African American Congregation
The Rev. Kymberly D. Lucas, Rector
* Segregation and Desegregation in the Life of the Women’s Auxiliary
Lynn Hoke, Historian of the Episcopal Church Women & Project Archivist for Diocesan Records

Workshops and Resource Centers
*** * Telling Our Local Stories: Oral History in a Congregation
*** * Researching Slave Records, Interpreting Slave History
*** * Treasures in the Archives: Mining Parish and Diocesan Records
*** * Resources for Learning and Conversation: Books, Films, Websites, Discussion Guidelines
*** * Exhibit, African American Episcopal History Project

Concluding Remarks: The Right Rev. Michael B. Curry, Bishop of North Carolina

Registration:

Shelley Kappauf, School of Ministry, 336-273-5770 shelley.kappauf@episdionc.org

All are welcome regardless of ability to pay the registration fee.

"Traces of the Trade" - the film

Here is a link to the website for the film "Traces of the Trade." We will show the film at the September 6 conference, "Traces of Our Trade." A synopsis of the film is here.

(Bishop Marble saw several cuts of the film in the later stages of production, and the Anti-Racism Committee helped to support the production of this film financially. PBS stations around the country aired the film in late June and early July. UNC-TV aired the film once, in late June at 2 a.m. The ARC Chair and Vice-Chair wrote letters complaining about the timing.)

The film debunks the popular notion that only the South was involved in the slave trade. It was produced and co-directed by Katrina Browne, a descendant of the DeWolf slave-trading family from Rhode Island. The DeWolf family were and are active Episcopalians.

Guides, resources, and materials to help with discussion of the film are here.

Registration for "Traces of Our Trade"

You can find a registration form for Traces of Our Trade, the September 6 event on the racial history of the Diocese of North Carolina, on the website of the School of Ministry.

Click here for a direct link to the registration form.

Feel free to copy the form and distribute it at your church.

All are welcome. Please note that we can waive the registration and luncheon fee for those who are unable to pay.

September 6: a day on the racial history of our diocese

Please save the date for a day of listening, learning, and conversation on the racial history of our diocese.

Details and updates both in this space and in future posts!

Traces of Our Trade
Saturday, September 6, 2008

9-4 p.m.

St. Matthew's, Hillsborough

Co-sponsored by the School of Ministry, the Anti-Racism Committee, and the Diocesan Historiographer

A mid-July update - quick summary of conference contents:

* Film “Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Deep North”

* Discussion with Constance and Dain Perry, an interracial couple who are members of the DeWolf family featured in the film, experienced facilitators, and members of Trinity Church, Boston

* Panel on the racial history of the Diocese of North Carolina with both an overview and local stories from historic congregations

* “How-to” workshops on doing oral history, finding hidden historical treasure in parish records, restoring slave cemeteries, ideas for reading and study, and other resources

* Address by Bishop Curry and Prayer

Registration: Contact Shelley Kappauf, School of Ministry, 336-273-5770 shelley.kappauf@episdionc.org

Full details with names of panelists coming in the second half of July in a space above...

Updates coming soon!

Dear friends,

We've been a bit behind posting updates, resources, and announcements. Please forgive us. We're catching up this summer.

Meanwhile, enjoy the resources below, and check back with us over the July 4 weekend!

Yours in justice and love,

Jane Redmont
Chair, Anti-Racism Committee
The Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina

Pastors and parishioners in the U.S. talk, and don't talk, about racism

Associated Press story here.

Louisiana's African American Heritage Trail

In this weekend's New York Times travel section.

Read it here.

There is also a slide show.


Photo: Chris Ramirez for The New York Times.

Where We Are - Where We Can Be: An Anti-Racism Audit for Congregations

An excerpt from the letter sent out with the audit below.

February 29, 2008

Dear friends in Christ,

We are writing you because you participated in a Diocese of North Carolina Anti-Racism Training or because you are a leader in the diocese’s new Companions in Mission project in your local congregation and community.

The enclosed resource is for your use in your congregation as a follow-up to the anti-racism training or as part of your ongoing work as a Companions congregation.

The resource, a one-page Anti-Racism Congregation Audit: Where We Are–Where We Can Be, is an adaptation by our Anti-Racism Committee (ARC) of longer audits used by our own Church and by other denominations in the U.S.

1. Please use the resource as you see fit. There are many ways to use it. You do not have to use all the questions at once. You may want to use the audit in a vestry meeting, with your youth group, in a women’s or men’s group, in a Sunday education forum, in liturgy planning or in the work of a worship committee or seasonal planning committee, in a meeting about outreach and mission, in communal prayer, in staff meetings, or in finance committee meetings.

2. Do you need help, either with this or with other follow-up to the Anti-Racism Training? Please contact us. We are here to assist you, learn from you, and walk with you:

The Coordinator for Training is Martha Waters.

The Coordinator for Companions in Mission is Bishop Chip Marble.

The ARC Chair is Jane Redmont.

The ARC Vice Chair is Deidre Crumbley.

The part-time Administrative Coordinator is Liz Reilley (till the end of May, but the address and position will continue after that) :antiracismcommittee@gmail.com

3. Give us feedback. We’d love to hear how you have used the audit and what your experiences with it have been. They don’t have to be easy or positive for you to report on them. We recognize this is deep and patient work.

....Remember that we have a blog for the Anti-Racism Committee and its friends. Its name is Race, Justice, and Love. It was dormant for a couple of months but it is active again, and you are welcome to visit, read, leave comments, and engage in conversation! And, of course, feel very welcome to send us resources and reports from your own congregation and community if you are willing for them to appear on the blog....

The purpose of the enclosed audit is to examine how we can be true to our baptismal covenant, seeing others with the eyes of Christ, encountering each other as made in God’s image, walking in the healing and challenging power of the Holy Spirit.

In this season of Lent, we wish you peace, and we look forward to continuing to work with you.

Anti-Racism Congregation Audit

Where We Are - Where We Can Be

The purpose of this audit is for us –laypersons and clergy in each congregation— to examine where we are in being true to our baptismal covenant and “respecting the dignity of every human being.” These questions are meant to provide a guideline for us to explore where we are now in being open to all – and in particular, in resisting racism– and where we can make improvements.

1. How often are members of racial/ethnic groups not of the majority included in leadership in our congregation? How might we include them if we are not doing so on a regular basis?

2. How often are challenges of racial and social justice presented in sermons?

3. How often do we actively pray to overcome racism and social injustice during regular worship services?

4. How might we expand the sources of our worship services to be more inclusive? (e.g. Supplemental Liturgical texts, LEVAS hymnal)

5. How and how often does our congregation celebrate or commemorate special Sundays and feast days on the church calendar that emphasize the contributions of people of all racial and ethnic groups?

6. What educational experiences do we offer to deal with issues of racism and cultural diversity?

7. Do we partner with other congregations or faith communities for projects, mission work, youth or adult activities? Are any of these partners of a different racial or ethnic group?

8. What indications do we have in our signs, advertisements, website and other aspects of our public face that all people are welcome at our congregation? Does our public face reflect the diversity of the church? Do our images and icons look like the multicolored faces of all God’s people?

9. What small steps could we take immediately to be more inclusive of all groups?

10. Does our congregation make efforts to use vendors and contractors of color and to work with businesses owned by persons of color?

11. Where do we want our congregation to be in relation to this work a year from now? Where do we want to be five years from now?

12. How can we begin to address some of the larger manifestations of racism in our church and in the world?

Panel on Rev. Wright/Senator Obama at Guilford College on Tuesday, April 1, 4:00 p.m.

Tomorrow, Tuesday, April 1
4:00 p.m. (will last till 5:30 p.m.)
Bryan Jr. Auditorium
(in the Frank Family Science Center)
Guilford College
Greensboro, North Carolina

"The Wright Stuff:

Obama, the Black Church, Prophetic Preaching, and Politics"

*******************

Moderator:

Rev. Sekinah Hamlin, Director of Multicultural Education

Panelists:

*****Local ministers and activists:

Rev. Cardes Brown, New Light Baptist Church

Rev. Carlton Eversley, Dellabrook Presbyterian Church

Rev. Nelson Johnson, Faith Community Church

*****Guilford College professors:

Kyle Dell, Political Science

Jane Redmont, Religious Studies