The Episcopal Diocese 

of Northern California

Beloved Community

Resource Newsletter

Published by

The Commission for

Intercultural Ministries

January 2026 Special Edition 

Episcopal Church Becoming Beloved Community

In this special edition:

• Noted playright and journalist to preach at Trinity Cathedral
• The Color of Life - A Journey Toward Love and Racial Reconciliation

Join us at 9:00 am and 11:00 am on Sunday, January 18, at Trinity Cathedral, 2620 Capitol Avenue, Sacramento, to hear Ginger Rutland preach. We’ll celebrate the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. She will also be the forum speaker at 10:15 am on that day.

Born in Ohio, the youngest of four children, Ginger Rutland moved to Sacramento with her family in 1952 at the age of 4. Her father, Bill was a civilian administrator at McClellan Air Force Base and her mother, Eva, a housewife and writer. Ginger attended public schools in Sacramento including McClatchy High School, but she finished high school in Germany where her father’s job was transferred in 1965. After a year in Germany and another in France, Ginger enrolled at Howard University, the historically black college in Washington DC where she studied history. It was a turbulent time. Vietnam War protests and Martin Luther King’s assassination roiled the nation’s capitol.  

After graduation from Howard, Ginger began her career in journalism, first working as a television reporter for 17 years. She started as a general assignment reporter for KCRA-TV in Sacramento, and then began a decade-long stint as the Capital Bureau reporter for San Francisco’s NBC affiliate KRON-TV. There she earned an Emmy for her documentary about the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant. In 1988 Ginger joined The Sacramento Bee Editorial Board as an Associate Editor. In 1993 she won the National Council on Crime and Delinquency PASS award for her editorials on juvenile justice. Since her retirement, Ginger has written and produced a play, When We Were Colored, A Mother’s Story, based on her mother’s memoir of the same title.

Lenten Book Study

The Commission for Intercultural Ministries will host a 5-week Lenten book study on Tuesday evenings beginning February 17, 7-8:30 pm. The book title is The Color of Life - A Journey Toward Love and Racial Justice by Cara Meredith. Cara will join the group via Zoom on Saturday, February 28, 11 am, to discuss her book with the study group.

Cara grew up in a white bubble where everyone looked just like her. When she fell in love with the son of a black civil rights icon, her colorless view changed forever.

From her childhood, a colorblind rhetoric had been stamped across Cara's education, worldview, and religious beliefs. When Cara began to dig into the stories of her future husband, James, and met his father, James Meredith, her world burst into color. She began listening to the stories of others in a new way, taking note of an array of cultures around her. She realized the colorless perspective of her childhood neglected the racial and ethnic identities of each person.

After she and James exchanged vows, their family grew to include two mixed-race sons, and her world would never be colorless again. In Cara's illuminating memoir, she asks, How do we navigate ongoing and desperately needed conversations about race? How do we teach our children a theology of reconciliation and love? And what does it mean to make space for the image of God in everyone?

The Color of Life paints a beautiful path from white privilege toward racial healing, from suspicion toward trust, from ignorance toward seeing the image of God in every face.

Cara Meredith is a speaker, writer, and public theologian. She is the author of Church Camp and The Color of Life. Passionate about issues of justice, race, and privilege, Cara holds a master of theology from Fuller Seminary and is a postulant for Holy Orders in the Episcopal Church. With a background in education and nonprofit work, she wears more hats than she probably ought, but mostly just enjoys playing with words, a lot. She has been featured in national media outlets such as The Oregonian, The New York Times, The Living Church, The Christian Century, and Baptist News Global, among others. She lives with her family in Oakland, California.

Please contact Jo Ann Williams, bjwilli@surewest.net, for registration information and for a copy of the book. There is no cost to register, but registration is due by Friday, February 6. We hope you will join us!

The Episcopal Diocese of Northern California

The Commission for Intercultural Ministries

If the content of our newsletters is no longer relevant to you, please unsubscribe below.