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.

The Anti-Racism Commission's new Telling Our Stories series invites participants to listen and reflect on the impact of racism in the lives of real people in our diocese. Personal storytelling has the ability to connect, heal, and transform, and taps into a deep need for people to been seen, validated, and part of a community.

In 3 interactive sessions of theater and discussion, participants see themselves in one another’s stories of race and racism as they are reinterpreted for the stage by members of Playback for Change, a Philadelphia-based company that facilitates racial understanding using the improvisational theater form Playback Theatre.

Audience members’ real stories become the source material. The performance is spontaneous - it is theater created through a unique collaboration between performers and audience.

Each session will use the practice of affinity spaces to prepare participants to have a deeper, braver and more honest conversation. Tickets for each of the 3 sessions are sold separately. Tickets cost $15 per person or $50 for a group of 5 or more. Financial assistance is available. Email arc@diopa.org.

For any questions about the Telling Our Stories series, Playback for Change, or Playback Theatre, please email The Rev. Barbara Ballenger (barbballenger@gmail.com).

Sat. Sep. 23, 2023 from 2 to 4 pm at St. Peter's Glenside

654 Easton Rd, Glenside

Exploring Our Whiteness is designed for an all-White audience to share stories of learning, enacting and resisting racist beliefs and behaviors.

Sat. Oct. 14, 2023 from 2 to 4 pm at St. George St. Barnabas

520 S 61st St, Philadelphia



Telling the Whole Story is designed for an audience of people who self-identify as Black, Brown, or a Person of Color to share stories of healing, community building, and honoring unique racial identities.

Sat. Nov. 18, 2023 from 2 to 4 pm at Church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields

8000 St. Martin's Lane, Philadelphia

Creating Common Cause is designed for an audience of all racial identities to share their stories of resisting and healing from racism. The goal: to work together in solidarity to dismantle systemic racism.

Sat. Sep. 30, 2023 from 9 am to noon on Zoom

Fee: $15. Scholarships are available, especially for postulants and

candidates for ordination. Email arc@diopa.org.

This training explores the ways in which systemic racism informs our personal identity, behaviors and outcomes. We will develop a sociological understanding of the concepts colorblindness, colorism, cultural appropriation, unconscious bias, micro-aggressions, white fragility, and white privilege. Completion of the Introduction to Systemic Racism training is a prerequisite for this part of the series. The next and final training scheduled in 2023 will be Racism and Active Accountability on Oct. 28.

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. Email arc@diopa.org to obtain a certificate of completion.

Sat. Oct. 14, 2023 from 10 am to 12:30 pm at St. Paul's Episcopal Church

22 East Chestnut Hill Ave, Philadelphia

Free and open to all

The diocesan History Committee’s 7th Annual Fall Forum will explore, through an historical lens, how music contributes to and enriches our liturgy. Presenting speakers include The Rev. Dr. Hillary Raining, rector of St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church, Gladwyne; Michael Smith, Minister of Music at St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church, Whitemarsh; and Dr. Derrick Thompson, Interim Director of Music at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, Philadelphia. The forum will also feature Andy Kotylo, Director of Music and Organist at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Chestnut Hill, performances by the parish’s critically-acclaimed choir, and the Stephen Russell renovated Aeolian-Skinner organ. The forum will be live-streamed on YouTube starting on Sat. Oct. 14 at 4:30 pm. For more information, email Clark Groome (clark@groome.org).

ARC encourages you to listen, learn, and reflect on the ways we can use music to effectuate real systemic and institutional transformation away from the sin of racism and toward the fulfillment of the Gospel.

Presenting speaker Dr. Derrick Thompson leads the music program and conducts the St. Peter’s Choir at Sunday worship services. He is also an Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities at Albright College in Reading, Pa., and previously worked at Delaware State University, where he was Music Program Director and Director of Choral Activities.

His lecture in this year's Fall Forum will be about the history and significance of the hymn “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” the importance of the hymn as the Black National Anthem, the LEVAS hymnbook, and their impact on the church and choir.

Dr. Thompson worked with ARC to provide thoughtful answers to a few questions that Friends of ARC and people who are passionate about racial justice and music may ask. He said, "There is so much to unpack here, and I know I won’t be able to do it in 20 minutes, but I’m looking forward to helping the diocese move in the right direction."

How much has the LEVAS hymnbook been used in our diocese?

"The St. Peter’s choir used LEVAS before I served as Interim Music Director. I am not sure, but I do know that it was used. Since I arrived, I have tried to add at least one LEVAS hymn to each service. Because I am new to the Episcopal way of worship and leaning on supplement material to help me plan, the LEVAS hymn is always placed during the communion hymn spot. It is my goal to branch out this year."

Why is LEVAS not used more often?

"As a country, we have come to a point where race has become a hot topic that many try to avoid or that people want to be proactive and take the lead on making sure we move in the right direction. This has caused many white congregations to ask the question, “Is it okay for us (White people) to sing spirituals (or music from the Black tradition?” Choirs also want to ensure that they are not appropriating, but being authentic in their delivery. I also feel that many directors do not share the LEVAS hymns with their choir because they fear teaching them. When we can do the research and teach the music authentically, then we should be able to share this work with our choirs. That may mean not just handing the piece to our choir, but demonstrating what is appropriate through rote learning."

What do I want White attendees to get out of this lecture?

"It is okay to perform the works of African American/Black composers. It is okay to learn about the culture because it is the culture and heritage of our country."

What do I want Black attendees to get from this?

"To step in and be leaders of this change. To encourage those around us and be able to provide the background or give insight into their lives that may help to answer the questions behind the music that we grew up on."

Email arc@diopa.org and let us know what resources would help you in your anti-racism work. 

Take away the rebuke that I am afraid of: for thy judgments are good

• White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Racial Divide by Carol Anderson
• Waking Up White and Finding Myself in the Story of Race by Debby Irving
• White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son by Tim Wise
• The White Racial Frame: Centuries of Racial Framing and Counter-Framing by Joe Feagin
• Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi

#4littlegirls and "Bombingham"

Lisa McNair, whose sister was 1 of the 4 little girls killed in the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama 60 years ago, is inviting houses of worship around the country to ring their church bells at 10:22 am on Fri. Sep. 15, 2023 in their memory. Parishes in the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania have already agreed to participate, including Christ Church Media. She encourages you to record your parish's bell-ringing, and post it on your social media platforms with the hashtag #4littlegirls and share with your congregations why you are honoring their lives.

On Sun. Sep. 15, 1963, Youth Day at 16th Street Baptist Church, members of the Klu Klux Clan placed a box of dynamite with a timer under the front steps of the church that was set to go off during Sunday worship. 11-year-old Cynthia Wesley and 14-year-olds Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, and Carole Robertson who were chatting in the ladies' room in the church basement, were killed in the explosion. The 22 other children in the basement assembly room and the congregation gathered on the ground floor survived. Learn more about the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church.

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.

FREE AFRICAN SOCIETY - Established in 1787 under the leadership of Richard Allen and Absalom Jones, this organization fostered identity, leadership, and unity among Blacks and became the forerunner of the first African-American churches in this city.