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.

ARC Anti-Racism Training Series Participant Zoom Gathering

Thu. Jan. 16, 2025 from 6 to 8 pm on Zoom

The Anti-Racism Commission wants to learn how those who have taken ARC anti-racism trainings are engaging in racial justice and repair.

ARC is offering a 2-hour Zoom Gathering for ARC Anti-Racism training participants and alumni. The session will allow us to share how we have applied our learnings from anti-racism training. You are invited to participate in facilitated group conversations with fellow participants to uplift one another and advance anti-racism work.

Registration is free and open to anyone who has taken at least 1 ARC anti-racism training. Registration is limited to 30 participants. Registrants will receive the Zoom link via email.

The Zoom Gathering is next Thursday. Tickets are still available. Register soon if you're planning to participate.

Introduction to Systemic Racism

Sat. Jan. 25, 2025 from 9 am to 12 pm on Zoom

Fee: $20. Scholarships are available, especially for postulants and candidates for ordination. Email arc@diopa.org.

This training explores the multi-layered manifestations of prejudice, privilege, race, and systemic racism. The next training is Racism and History on Mar. 29, 2025.

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.

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. For more information, questions or concerns, please email arc@diopa.org.

Download, print, and share this flyer with anyone you think would be interested in anti-racism training.

Small Group Leader Training

Sat. Feb. 1, 2025 from 10 am to 1 pm at St. Asaph's

27 Conshohocken State Rd, Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004

The Anti-Racism Commission is offering a free in-person training with Lailah Dunbar-Keeys for clergy and lay who are interested in being small group discussion facilitators for ARC anti-racism trainings. For more information or if you want to participate, email arc@diopa.org.

Celebration of Absalom Jones

Sat. Feb. 8, 2025 from 10 to 11:30 am at Episcopal Academy (Chapel)

1785 Bishop White Drive, Newtown Square, PA 19073

Guest speaker Dr. Catherine Meeks leads a diocesan service celebrating the life and ministry of the Blessed Absalom Jones at the Chapel at Episcopal Academy. Learn more.

Celebration of Absalom Jones

Sun. Feb. 9, 2025 at 10 am at the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas

6361 Lancaster Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19151

Join the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas in welcoming Presiding Bishop and Primate of The Episcopal Church The Most Reverend Sean W. Rowe. Learn more.

Get to Know the Anti-Racism Commission

• The Diocesan Anti-Racism Commission: A Resource for Racial Justice and Repair (5 mins) Featuring: ARC Co-Chairs The Rev. Barbara Ballenger and The Rev. Ernie Galaz, Commission Member The Rev. Andrea Gardner, and Friend of ARC James Massey

Photo: Educator James Massey, a Friend of ARC, talks about how he took what he learned from ARC anti-racism trainings and brought it into the classroom, helping his students construct their own positive racial identity and empowering them to "be the change" in The Diocesan Anti-Racism Commission: A Resource for Racial Justice and Repair

Understanding Systemic Racism

• The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism by Edward Baptist 
• Faces at the Bottom of the Well: The Permanence of Racism by Derrick Bell 
• Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II by Douglas Blackmon
• An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
• They Came Before Columbus: The African Presence in Ancient America by Ivan Van Sertima
• Slave Patrols: Law and Violence in Virginia and the Carolinas by Sally E. Hadden 
• A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn

Email arc@diopa.org and let us know what resources would help you in your anti-racism work. Visit our blog The ARC for more anti-racism resources.

A Monthly Gathering of Racial Justice Leaders

Wed. Feb. 5 at 3 pm on Zoom

Free and open to all

RSVP to receive the Zoom link for all upcoming meetings.

Calling all diocesan racial justice leaders! On the first Wednesday of each month, racial justice leaders and practitioners from dioceses throughout The Episcopal Church gather to discuss pressing issues, exchange best practices, and illuminate the diverse ministries making an impact across our church. This platform is not just a meeting but a sanctuary for ideas, strategies, and mutual support. For more information, please contact The Rev. Miguel Bustos, Manager for Racial Justice and Reconciliation, at mbustos@episcopalchurch.org.

Commitment to Racial Reconciliation at General Convention

At the 81st General Convention in Louisville, KY, numerous resolutions that address a wide range of racial justice and reconciliation issues received approval from both houses and passed. Learn more.

Prayer for our Country

Almighty God, who hast given us this good land for our heritage: We humbly beseech thee that we may always prove ourselves a people mindful of thy favor and glad to do thy will. Bless our land with honorable industry, sound learning, and pure manners. Save us from violence, discord, and confusion; from pride and arrogance, and from every evil way. Defend our liberties, and fashion into one united people the multitudes brought hither out of many kindreds and tongues. Endue with the spirit of wisdom those to whom in thy Name we entrust the authority of government, that there may be justice and peace at home, and that, through obedience to thy law, we may show forth thy praise among the nations of the earth. In the time of prosperity, fill our hearts with thankfulness, and in the day of trouble, suffer not our trust in thee to fail; all which we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

From the Book of Common Prayer, Prayers for National Life (18). Other 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.