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St. James School is a faith-based Philadelphia middle school in the Episcopal tradition, committed to educating students from an under-resourced neighborhood within a nurturing environment. The school is a community that provides a challenging academic program and encourages the development of the moral, spiritual, intellectual, physical and creative gifts in its students.

St. James School, the only Episcopal school in the city of Philadelphia, is providing 85 students in grades 4-8 with a top-quality, faith-based private education. Thanks to more than 1,000 annual donors and scores of volunteers, the school is tuition-free. St. James School has made a huge difference in the lives of families in the Allegheny West neighborhood in North Philadelphia for more than 10 years.

St. James School has a holistic approach to ministry based on caring and attentive relationships. "Relationships stand the center of all St. James does," said David Kasievich, Head of School. "The school began and was fostered through the relationships we have with the RAH (Ridge-Allegheny-Hunting Park) Civic Association and our surrounding neighbors. Before you can meet a need, you must be aware of a need. Becoming aware of need through conversations within trusted relationships builds a reality of mutual respect and care. Being in relationship also means that you will not ignore the needs of others, but rather offer whatever assistance you may be able to provide. It also means helping folks to activate their own gifts and abilities in the care of the community. This principle of valuing all the individuals and the gifts they bring is one that allows for the development of an ethos of sharing."

St. James was founded by Dr. Audrey Evans, David Kasievich, The Rev. Andrew Kellner, and The Rev. Sean Mullen, who is the Rector of St. Mark's Philadelphia on Locust Street. St. Mark's adopted the historic Church of St. James the Less in 2008 and St. James School opened in Sep. 2011.

"I was inspired by The Epiphany School in Dorchester, MA, which was founded in the Parish House of All Saints, Ashmont," Mullen explained. "That example showed how a parish church can drive important missional work, and how a school can be a locus for the daily ministry of the Gospel, since through education to those who might not have equal access to it, lives are transformed. The work of both these schools is Gospel work, addressing injustice that often has dimensions of race, since poverty, education, and race are all dimensions that intertwine in people’s lives."

Mullen reflected on the transformative potential of developing outreach ministries for families living in neighborhoods miles away from Locust Street. "I have personally learned a great deal about the power of Christ to address such injustice in the lives of children and their families, and about the importance of attuning our own hearts and minds to the effects of racism in the world and in the church. Turning toward the possibility of becoming an anti-racist institution in a multi-cultural world, opens up possibilities for transformation that our world needs desperately!"

In addition to day school, St. James builds community and belonging through Community Actions at The Welcome Table, a community resource center helping families, friends and neighbors of St. James obtain all that they need, including: food sharing, legal aid, home repairs, financial education, community lending, pastoral care and counseling, and adult education.

Watch Reflecting on 10 Years of St. James School (23 mins):

Read St. James School's Commitment to Anti-Racism Education:

Prayer for Schools and Colleges

O Eternal God, bless all schools, colleges, and universities, and especially: St. James School, The Church Farm School, The Episcopal Academy, St. David's Episcopal Day School, All Saints' Episcopal Day School, Redemption Christian Preschool, St. Christopher's Day School, and all of the Episcopal nursery schools and preschools in our diocese, that they may be lively centers for sound learning, new discovery, and the pursuit of wisdom; and grant that those who teach and those who learn may find you to be the source of all truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord. 

Amen.

From the Book of Common Prayer, Prayers for the Social Order (31). More prayers for racial justice can be found on our blog THE ARC. 

The Loving Presence Report invites Episcopalians in the Diocese of Pennsylvania to engage in a Spirit-led revolution of the heart that empowers us to join together in the disciplined, Christ-centered action necessary to dismantle racism. 

The Loving Presence Report serves as a guide for responding to the systems of racism both within and outside of the diocese. The Report was created by a committee of clergy appointed by the bishop, including representation from ARC.

Loving Presence recommended that the Bishop, Standing Committee, Diocesan Council, and Board of Trustees of The Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania commit the Diocese to become an explicitly anti-racist institution, as evidenced by the following goals and outcomes:

1. Every person within the Diocese make an express commitment to the goals of dismantling racism and be encouraged to engage in personal reflection and self-examination that is grounded in their Baptismal promises.
2. Resources of the Diocese of Pennsylvania be directed to identify, speak out against, and work to bring repair and healing to the sin of racism in the Church and the wider community.
3. An independent consulting organization be engaged to provide Diocesan-wide anti-racism assessment, coaching, and training for institutional change.
4. The racist elements of the history of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania, and every parish within the Diocese, be acknowledged, explored, and studied.
5. Every discernment process in the Diocese be explicitly anti-racist. 
6. The “mission” churches of the Diocese be securely and reliably funded by the Diocese and its constituent parishes.
7. The significance of the history surrounding the ordination of The Rev. Absalom Jones and the development of his congregation, the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas, and the subsequent establishment of historically Black parishes in the Diocese be widely taught, understood, recognized, and ultimately, celebrated among all members of the Diocese of Pennsylvania.
8. With the support of the Anti-Racism Commission, parishes and deaneries implement locally the Diocese’s anti-racism commitment to “educate, advocate, and act to eliminate racism, discrimination and intolerance; to build loving relationships; and to restore and repair ourselves and each other...”
9. Anti-racism spirituality be developed through liturgy, liturgical formation, spiritual disciplines, and devotional practices.
10. The creation of a Committee for Diocesan Christian Formation to take leadership in encouraging and supporting Gospel-based Christian formation for all ages from an anti-racist, non-White supremacist perspective of the Christian faith and the Church.

• "Other Sheep I Have" The Autobiography of Father Paul M. Washington by Paul M. Washington with David Mcl. Gracie, afterword by Barbara Harris
• Walking On Water: Black American Lives At The Turn Of The Twenty First Century by Randall Kenan
• The Price of a Child by Lorene Cary
• The Flag and the Cross: White Christian Nationalism and the Threat to American Democracy by Philip S. Gorski and Samuel L. Perry
• Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi 
• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot 

• Building a Black teacher pipeline for Philly and beyond - one Freedom School at a time by Kristen A. Graham
• Please stop twerking: James Ijames tackles inheritance in ‘TJ Loves Sally 4 Ever’ by Cassie Owens
• White Picket Fences by Zoe Greenberg
• Slavery and the Gospel: William Wilberforce 261 Years Later by Loren Skinker

Sat. Aug. 27 from 9 am to 12 pm on Zoom

Fee: $15. Scholarships available.

Explores the multi-layered manifestations of systemic racism.

The Anti-Racism Commission is here to connect you to trainings, resources and support that are rooted in our baptismal covenant. The next training will be Racism and Identity on Sep. 24.

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.