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 website for past articles, training information and ongoing resources. | | Playback Theatre Workshop Series | | Telling Our Stories: Healing the Wounds of Racism, Becoming Beloved Community | | |
In 4 interactive sessions of theater and discussion, participants see themselves in one another’s stories of race and racism as they are brought to life on stage by members of Playback For Change, a multi-racial, improvisational theatre company based in Philadelphia dedicated to using Playback Theatre as a vehicle for social change.
Audience members’ real stories become the source material. The performance is spontaneous - it is theater created through a unique collaboration between performers and audience. Someone from the audience tells a story or moment from their life, chooses actors to play the different roles, then watches as their story is immediately recreated on “stage.” Learn more.
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Sat. Nov. 15, 2025 from 3 to 5:30 pm at Incarnation Holy Sacrament, Drexel Hill
3000 Garret Road, Drexel Hill, PA 19026
A performance for White identified people to face their lived experience of ingesting, upholding and resisting White supremacy beliefs and behaviors.
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Sat. Jan. 17, 2026 from 2 to 4:30 pm at St. Alban’s, Newtown Square
3625 Chapel Rd, Newtown Square, PA 19073
The fourth and final performance will be for everyone to share their stories and experiences of resisting and healing from racism. This performance would also focus on how we all work together, in solidarity, to dismantle systemic racism and White supremacy.
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| | Around the Diocese of Pennsylvania | | Singing the African American Spirituals with Integrity | | A workshop for clergy, musicians, and congregants | | |
Sat. Nov. 22, 2025 from 2 to 5 pm at St. David's Episcopal Church
763 South Valley Forge Rd, Wayne, PA 19087
Open to all
Tickets: $20. Scholarships are available. Email diopaarc@gmail.com.
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Clinicians:
Ruth Naomi Floyd
Dr. Jay Fluellen
Carrie Lessene
Dr. Thomas Lloyd
Guest Choir:
Intermezzo Choir Ministry, Carrie Lessene, Director
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The African American Spirituals have an essential place in American sacred music and continue to move hearts and souls of people around the world. These songs come from a very particular place and time: the communities of enslaved Africans in America during the centuries leading up to the Civil War and emancipation.
But these deeply inspired songs also can be found in our hymnals today for the purpose of being sung by people of all backgrounds. No matter our heritage, can we find a way to sing these songs with integrity?
We approach these songs with a sense that we walk on sacred ground. But can we also see that they were originally sung as a way of reclaiming the common humanity that was denied these singers in bondage? Can we affirm the humanity we share with them by seeing something of our own hopes and struggles in theirs?
This is a "singing" workshop, where four master teachers of the Spirituals will take turns teaching new songs from 2:00-4:00, followed by a worship service of song and praise featuring Philadelphia’s Intermezzo Choir Ministry, now in its 57th season under only its second director, Carrie Lessene.
In addition to Ms. Lessene, songs will be taught by Ruth Naomi Floyd, an internationally acclaimed composer, singer, and teacher; Dr. Jay Fluellen, composer, pianist, and teacher from the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas; and Dr. Thomas Lloyd, conductor, composer, and published scholar from the Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral.
| Photo: Clinician Carrie Lessene, Artistic Director, Intermezzo Choir Ministry, shares an original arrangement of "If I Can Help Somebody" at Singing the African American Spirituals with Integrity on Oct. 5, 2024 at St. Peter's Glenside. |
| Webinar: 'What Does Advent Mean for Us Here and Now?' | | |
Mon. Nov. 24, 2025 from 1 to 2 pm
As we embark upon the season of Advent, The Rev. Miguel Bustos will explore the spiritual underpinnings of Sacred Ground. He will address the importance of Sacred Ground spirituality given current challenges, while also sharing the joy, light, and hope inherent in our celebration of the birth of Christ. Bustos is the manager for racial justice and reconciliation for The Episcopal Church, archdeacon in the Episcopal Diocese of California, and supervisor of the Sacred Ground program. Participants will have time to offer reflections and ask questions.
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The Anti-Racism Commission of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania is offering racial healing circles facilitated by Lailah Dunbar-Keeys, M.S., M.Ed.
Grounded in historical, cultural, sociological, and spiritual understanding, racial healing circles will provide a safe space for small groups of like-minded people to share their stories about the challenging realities of systemic racism. Learn more.
For questions about ARC's racial healing circles, or if you are interested in hosting a racial healing circle for people who identify as African American at your church, please email The Rev. Andrea Gardner (deaconandreagardner@gmail.com).
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| ARC Anti-Racism Trainings | | |
The Anti-Racism Commission's anti-racism training series is facilitated by Lailah Dunbar-Keeys, M.S., M.Ed. 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.
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. For more information, questions or concerns, please email diopaarc@gmail.com.
| | 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. Ernie Galaz (frernie@christchurchmedia.org), ARC chair. |
| Photo: Anti-Racism Commission members and Friends of ARC gathered to celebrate The Rev. Barbara Ballenger on completing her second term on the commission as ARC Co-chair on Oct. 22, 2025 at Chestnut Hill Brewing Company, Philadelphia. | | | | |
