The Anti-Racism Commission's monthly newsletter goes out to all ARC supporters and training participants. Please forward it to others who might benefit from our resources and workshops. And check out our blog site for past articles, training information and ongoing resources.

Sat. Mar. 25, 2023 from 9 am to noon on Zoom

Fee: $15. Scholarships are available. Email arc@diopa.org.

This training explores the ways in which systemic racism was created over time through laws, policies and practices. We will consider selected laws, policies and practices, while examining the ways in which our society has been continuously shaped by them. The next training will be Introduction to Systemic Racism on Apr. 29.

The Anti-Racism Commission's anti-racism training series is facilitated by Lailah Dunbar-Keeys and designed to help participants understand the historic creation, preservation, and personal and institutional effects of a society built upon ideas of racial difference, which in turn support an unjust, racially based hierarchy. The series repeats annually, and offers the Introduction to Systemic Racism training 3 times a year. Anti-racism trainings are mandatory for clergy and open to all. Completion of all 5 trainings over 2 years meets the initial clergy requirement for anti-racism education. 

Sat. Mar. 18, 2023 from 2 to 5 pm

at the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas

6361 Lancaster Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19151

Fee: $15. Scholarships are available. Email arc@diopa.org.

This workshop is for church musicians, clergy, and lay people who want to learn more about how to introduce African American Spirituals to their choirs and congregations. Special attention will be given to the historical context of the music, and the ways in which those who are not direct descendants of the enslaved people who originated the Spirituals can develop their own authentic connection to the music with respect and integrity. Music for these selections will be provided to attendees as part of the workshop.

During the first part of the workshop, 4 clinicians, Ruth Naomi Floyd, international jazz composer, performer, and clinician, Dr. Jay Fluellen, Organist/Choir Director, African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas, Carrie Lessene, Artistic Director, Intermezzo Choir Ministry, and Dr. Thomas Lloyd, Canon for Music and the Arts at Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral and a member of the Anti-Racism Commission, will take turns modeling how they teach the Spirituals to their adult, youth, and children’s choirs, as well as to their congregations. To learn more about the clinicians, visit our blog The ARC.

The afternoon will conclude with a short service of singing, with performances by Intermezzo Choir Ministry, and closing worship led by The Very Rev. Canon Martini Shaw, 17th Rector, African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas. Sponsored by the Anti-Racism Commission of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania.

We encourage you to invite your church choir and friends to make the trip to the Historic African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas for a one-of-a-kind workshop. This informal singing workshop model might be a way for more congregations and communities to become more familiar with the history and power of this important body of music and all that it can bring to our struggling world! Download, print, and share this flyer. Click "Order Tickets" or scan the QR code to order tickets on Eventbrite.

On Sun. Feb. 5, The Most Rev. Michael B. Curry, Presiding Bishop and Primate of the Episcopal Church, visited the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas. Order of Service

Watch his sermon on YouTube

On Sat. Feb. 11, The Rt. Rev. Dr. Shannon MacVean-Brown, the 11th Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Vermont, visited Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral. Absalom Jones Discussion Guide

Watch her sermon on YouTube

Recommended by Friends of ARC

• Reading While Black: African American Biblical Interpretation as an Act in Hope by Esau McCaulley
• Black Dignity: The Struggle against Domination by Vincent W. Lloyd
• Beyond Respectability: The Intellectual Thought of Race Women by Brittney Cooper
• Living God's Future Now: Conversations with Contemporary Prophets by Samuel Wells, Walter Brueggemann, Steve Chalke, et. al.

In this worship and work we do today and after, we pray for more than conviction. We pray, O Lord, for change. Change the easy peace we make with ourselves into discontent because of the oppression of others. Change our tendency to defend ourselves into the freedom that comes from being forgiven and empowered through your love. Change our need for disguises, excuses and images into the ability to be honest with ourselves and open with one another. Change our inclination to judge others into a desire to serve and uplift others. And most of all, Lord, change our routine worship and work into a genuine encounter with you and our better self so that our lives will be changed for the good of all.

Amen.

From Seeing the Face of God in Each Other: Antiracism Training Manual. More prayers for racial justice can be found on our blog THE ARC.

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 (barbballenger@gmail.com) or The Rev. Ernie Galaz (frernie@christchurchmedia.org), ARC co-chairs.