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.

2026 Absalom Jones Celebration

Sat. Feb. 14, 2026 from 10:30 am to 1 pm at Church of the Good Samaritan

212 W Lancaster Ave, Paoli, PA 19301

Honor the life and ministry of the Blessed Absalom Jones, the first Black priest in The Episcopal Church, who labored for liberation, dignity, and racial justice.

The diocesan celebration of music and prayer will include guest speaker The Rev. Dr. Kenyatta R. Gilbert, a nationally recognized scholar on African American preaching. Learn more.

Celebrating the Feast of Absalom Jones

Sun. Feb. 15, 2026 at 4 pm at the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas

6361 Lancaster Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19151

Join celebrant The Rt. Rev. Daniel G. P. Gutiérrez, Bishop of the Diocese of Pennsylvania, and guest preacher The Most Rev. Michael Bruce Curry, Former Presiding Bishop and Primate of The Episcopal Church, for a Mardi Gras Jazz Mass at the first Black Episcopal church in the USA. Also participating in the celebration are Christ Church, Philadelphia, St. Peter's Church, Philadelphia, and Mother Bethel A.M.E. Church, Philadelphia. Learn more.

Holy Listening: Truth-Telling and the Work of Repair

with Indigenous Communities

Mondays at 7 pm on Zoom (Feb. 23 - Mar. 30)

Bucks Deanery is offering a Lenten series that invites the church into learning, truth-telling, and faithful listening as a practice of repentance and renewal. Together, we will begin to learn about the Doctrine of Discovery, different eras of federal U.S. Indian policy, the history and relationship with Native Americans in our state of Pennsylvania, and the legacy of boarding schools and child removal—attending closely to the ways churches participated in and benefited from these systems. Learn more.

Telling Our Stories: Healing the Wounds of Racism, Becoming Beloved Community

Because of the inclement weather in mid-January, Creating Common Cause has been rescheduled to Feb. 21. All tickets from the January date have been refunded. Please order new tickets for the Feb. 21 performance.

Creating Common Cause

Sat. Feb. 21, 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.

Tickets cost $15 per person. For groups of 5 or more, order 1 Group Ticket for $50. Financial assistance is available. Email diopaarc@gmail.com.

For any questions about the Telling Our Stories series, Playback For Change, or Playback Theatre, please email The Rev. Barbara Ballenger (stpeter654rector@gmail.com).

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.

Photo: Pamela Freeman, Co-Artistic Director of Playback For Change, and an audience member watch as their story came to life on stage at Telling the Whole Story on Oct. 11, 2025 at the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas, Philadelphia. 

Racism and History

Sat. Mar. 28, 2026 from 9 am to 12 pm on Zoom

Fee: $20. Scholarships are available, especially for postulants and candidates for ordination. Email diopaarc@gmail.com.

This training explores the multi-layered manifestations of prejudice, privilege, race, and systemic racism. Completion of the Introduction to Systemic Racism training is a prerequisite for this part of the series. The next training will be Introduction to Systemic Racism on Apr. 25.

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.

KUSANYA: "The Gathering"

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).

Black History Month Picks

• The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life, Freedom, and Justice by Anthony Ray Hinton with Lara Love Hardin
• Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi
• Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present by Harriet A. Washington
• Born Black: A Personal Report on the Decade of Black Revolt 1960-1970 by Gordon Parks
• The 13th Directed by Ava DuVernay (100 mins)
• Journey of Black History Month: A Century of Black History Commemorations by the National Museum of African American History and Culture

Email diopaarc@gmail.com and let us know what resources would help you in your anti-racism work. Visit our website for more anti-racism resources.

For those who suffer for the sake of Conscience

O God our Father, whose Son forgave his enemies while he was suffering shame and death: Strengthen those who suffer for the sake of conscience; when they are accused, save them from speaking in hate; when they are rejected, save them from bitterness; when they are imprisoned, save them from despair; and to us your servants, give grace to respect their witness and to discern the truth, that our society may be cleansed and strengthened. This we ask for the sake of Jesus Christ, our merciful and righteous Judge.

Amen.

From the Book of Common Prayer, Prayers for National Life (26). Visit our website for more prayers for social justice.

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, email ARC co-chairs Ernie Dixon (marzelldixon@icloud.com) and The Rev. Ernie Galaz (frernie@christchurchmedia.org).

Photo: Mural painted by artist Richard Watson in the nave of the George W. South Memorial Church of the Advocate (1801 W Diamond St, Philadelphia).