Racial Reconciliation
Racism isn’t a binary black-white issue, because it affects Asians, Latinos, Native Americans and others. As a church made up of diverse languages and cultures, Episcopalians know we have much work to do.
At our 2018 General Convention, The Episcopal Church’s national meeting, we backed up our words about racial reconciliation with money and energy. First, we committed ourselves to “Becoming Beloved Community,” a long-term commitment to racial healing, reconciliation and justice. It represents a series of interrelated commitments around which Episcopalians can organize efforts to respond to racial injustice and build a community of people working for reconciliation and healing:
- Telling the truth about the church and race
- Proclaiming the dream of beloved community
- Practicing the way of love
- Repairing the breach in society and institutions
We also committed $5 million to help local Episcopal churches respond to racial injustice. Most of the money will go to grants to help this work in communities – dioceses, congregations and regions – where they can best respond to their local context. We know that we have a lot of work to do to rectify centuries of racial injustice within our system. We are committed to that work because we are committed to our vow to “respect the dignity of every human being.”