Saturday, Feb. 12 from 10 am to 11:30 am

Streamed from the Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral

The Rt. Rev. Daniel Gutiérrez will preside at this joyful liturgy, celebrating the life of Blessed Absalom Jones, the first Black Episcopal priest and founder of The African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas in Philadelphia. The service also features The Rev. Dr. Mark Jefferson as preacher and guest choir Pine Forge Academy. Sponsored by the Absalom Jones Committee.

This free event is now completely virtual.

Don't miss your chance to watch Bishop Gutiérrez in this beautiful diocesan service. Order your tickets before sales end!

Sunday, Feb. 13 is Absalom Jones's official feast day. Use these appointed readings to plan your own parish commemoration.

• Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America, Ibram X Kendi

• The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America, Richard Rothstein

• A People's History of the United States, Howard Zinn

• Forgeries of Memory and Meaning: Blacks and the Regimes of Race in American Theater and Film before World War II, Cedric Robinson

• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot

• Faces at the Bottom of the Well: The Permanence of Racism, Derrick Bell

Get out of the cold, grab a blanket, and curl up on the couch with one of these phenomenal movies.

13th (2016)

directed by Ava DuVernay (TV-MA, 100 mins)

The 13th Amendment to the Constitution reads, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States.” Combining archival footage and testimony from activists, politicians, historians, and formerly incarcerated women and men, 13th illustrates the progression from that second qualifying clause to the horrors of mass criminalization and the sprawling American prison industry.

13th is available for free on YouTube.

Watch on YouTube

Just Mercy (2020)

directed by Destin Daniel Cretton (PG-13, 140 mins)

After graduating from Harvard, young lawyer Bryan Stevenson (Michael B. Jordan) went to Alabama to defend those wrongly condemned or who were not afforded proper representation, including Walter McMillian (Jamie Foxx), who, in 1987, was sentenced to die for the notorious murder of an 18-year-old white girl, despite a preponderance of evidence proving his innocence. For more information on Bryan Stevenson and the Equality Justice Initiative, visit EJI.org. To learn more about Walter McMillian's case, watch 60 Minutes: The true story behind "Just Mercy".

Just Mercy is available to Rent ($3.99) or Buy ($14.99) on YouTube, Prime Video, and other platforms.

Rent/Buy on YouTube

Rent/Buy on Prime Video

• "Resources to understand America’s long history of injustice and inequality"

• "The Southern “Black Codes” of 1865-66"

• "American Manifest Destiny and Modern Foreign Policy"

• "There Is No Post-Racial America"

• "26 simple charts to show friends and family who aren't convinced racism is still a problem in America"

Check out these short videos and then follow your curiosity!

• Judge sentences the 3 men convicted of murdering 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery (May 8, 1994 - Feb. 23, 2020) (25 mins)

• 60 Minutes: The Murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till (Jul. 25, 1941 - Aug. 28, 1955) (26 mins)

• Emmett Till's family reacts to Justice Department closing his case (15 mins)

• 60 Minutes: The Death of Malcolm X (May 19, 1925 - Feb. 21, 1965) (13 mins)

• An Interview with James Baldwin (Aug. 2, 1924 - Dec. 1, 1987) (11 mins)

Saturday, March 26 from 9 am to 12 pm on Zoom

Fee: $15. Scholarships available.

Explores the ways in which systemic racism was created over time through laws, policies and practices, while examining the ways in which our society has been continuously shaped by them. Completion of Introduction to Systemic Racism is a prerequisite.

The Anti-Racism Commission is here to connect you to trainings, resources and support that are rooted in our baptismal covenant. The Diocese's anti-racism trainings are mandatory for clergy and open to all. The series repeats annually. The Introduction to Systemic Racism workshop is offered three times a year.

Click below for the full 2022 schedule of trainings.

The Anti-Racism Commission was created by diocesan convention resolution in 2005 with the mandate “to affect the systemic and institutional transformation in the diocese away from the sin of racism and toward the fulfillment of the Gospel and the baptismal mandate to strive for justice and respect the dignity of all persons.”

Consisting of 12 members, a mix of clergy and lay and persons of various ethnic and cultural backgrounds, the commission aims to increase awareness of the history and legacy of racism in our country and to engage members of the diocese in dismantling its effects.

To learn more about how ARC can help your parish engage in the work of racial justice and repair, contact The Rev. Barbara Ballenger (bballenger@stmartinec.org) or The Rev. Ernie Galaz (frernie@christchurchmedia.org), ARC co-chairs.

Connect with us on Facebook!

@ARCEpiscopalPA