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.

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.

We encourage everyone to attend the final session, Creating Common Cause, for a chance to see Christ in one another, and to listen to the ways God is calling us to build Beloved Community together.

For more information about the Telling Our Stories series, Playback for Change, or Playback Theatre, visit our blog The ARC or please email The Rev. Barbara Ballenger (barbballenger@gmail.com).

Telling the Whole Story on Sat. Oct. 14 was attended by more than 22 individuals from a number of parishes within the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania, and from other denominations and social justice organizations, including:

• Church of the Advocate
• Church of the Annunciation
• Baptist Parish
• Calvary St. Augustine
• Christ Church Media
• Christ Church Pottstown
• Life Design Strategies
• Salem Baptist Church
• St. George St. Barnabas
• Trinity Ambler

This workshop connected people who self-identify as Black, Brown, or a Person of Color and created a safe and respectful space of understanding and compassion to share stories about racial identity, resilience, community, and healing.

Sat. Nov. 11, 2023 from 9 am to 12 pm on Zoom

Free and open to lay and clergy who self-identify as African American

Racial healing circles provide a safe space for a small group of participants to speak about, listen to, and subsequently heal from stories about race and racism. 

The Anti-Racism Commission offers racial healing circles that are open to anyone who is Episcopalian affiliated, including a person who is not Episcopalian, but is affiliated with a church, knows an Episcopalian, or has interest in learning more. Registration is limited to 20 participants.

Facilitated by Lailah Dunbar-Keeys, this racial healing circle is intended to gather African Americans to discuss the ways in which systemic racism has affected American culture and has consequently impacted their lives. This particular racial healing circle is for an African American affinity group. Our intention is to convene a multicultural racial healing circle in the future.

Some of the questions you will be challenged to consider are: When did you first discover that you were a part of a racial group? What messages did you learn from your family about your racial group? What messages did you learn from society (mass media, school, church, etc.) about your racial group? How did you cope with being seen as the "other"? Could you share a story about a time when you felt powerful?

For any questions about our racial healing circle series, please email The Rev. Barbara Ballenger (barbballenger@gmail.com), ARC co-chair

The 2024 anti-racism training schedule will be announced soon.

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.

For more information, questions or concerns, or if you are interested in being a Zoom Breakout Room Group Facilitator, please email arc@diopa.org.

Claiming Privilege

• Do You Really Want To Talk About Reparations? by Catherine Meeks
• Antiracism as a Developmental Effort by Alissa Newton and Arienne Davison
• Anxious to Talk About It: Helping White People Talk Faithfully about Racism by Carolyn B. Helsel
• Traces of the Trade by Katrina Browne (descendant of a slave-trading family)
• The Other Slavery: The Uncovered Story of Indian Enslavement in America by Andrés Reséndez
• How Jews Became White Folks and What That Says About Race in America by Karen Brodkin
• How the Irish Became White by Noel Ignatiev

Tools and Resources from The Episcopal Church

• Sacred Ground Deeper Dive: Recommendations for Supplemental Reading and Viewing
• Study Your Neighborhood (online tool for looking at the social and demographic characteristics of the local community)
• Preparing to Become the Beloved Community, Year B, Advent 2023
• A Year of Prayers to End Racism by the Diocese of West Virginia’s Commission to End Racism
• 2021 Diocesan Racial Justice & Truth & Reconciliation Ministries Inventory by Justice and Sustainability Associates, LLC in coordination with The Episcopal Church’s Racial Reconciliation and Justice Team

TEC General Convention and Executive Council Resolutions

2018-A229: Acknowledge Police Violence and Confront Racism

Resolved, That while we honor and raise up the work of dedicated police officers who put their lives on the line to serve and protect, we also acknowledge the numerous inexcusable deaths and intimidation of People of Color at the hands of law enforcement personnel in communities all over the United States, including but not limited to Standing Rock; New York City; Rapid City, South Dakota; Falcon Heights, Minnesota; North Charleston, South Carolina; Ferguson, Missouri; and Baltimore, Maryland; and be it further

Resolved, That these and events like them are an unconscionable affront to the Gospel commandment to uphold the dignity of every human being and require a prophetic response by clergy and laity. We therefore deplore any and all efforts that have occurred and may occur to silence these voices; and be it further

Resolved, That The Episcopal Church hereby does condemn the improper actions of authorities against People of Color or any actions that make clergy and laity feel they should not speak out or take nonviolent action to eliminate the sin of racism.

2018-B024: Urge Alternatives to Deadly Force by Police and Support Training in Mental Health Crisis Intervention

Resolved, That the 79th General Convention of The Episcopal Church, as followers of Jesus Christ, recognize the increase in the number of law enforcement encounters with our brothers, sisters, and siblings suffering from mental illness; and be it further

Resolved, That abiding in His call to serve Him through the care and service of the least among us (Mt. 25:40). As His followers we

1. Strongly encourage state and local law enforcement departments to seek and utilize alternatives to deadly force when dealing with unarmed citizens, especially those in mental health crisis and distress; and

2. Urge elected officials, governmental agencies and other relevant law enforcement entities to train and educate law enforcement officers and to implement reforms which mandate that law enforcement departments provide mandatory mental health crisis intervention and de-escalation training for all officers who may be called to respond to such situations; and

3. Urge all Episcopalians to advocate for mental health crisis intervention training and utilization for all law enforcement officials in local communities.

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.