Virginia Episcopalian Magazine Fall 2012 Issue | Page 11

Committee on Race and Reconciliation Programs Committee facilitators offer four programs to equip you in combatting racism and injustice on our journey toward reconciliation. Each of these interactive programs affords participants the chance to learn through prayer, dialogue, discussion, exercises and sharing stories. Program Audience Time Commitment Overview of Committee’s Work Congregations/forum attendees, vestries, delegates to Annual Council and General Convention, commissions/committees/organizations clergy, lay professionals, Executive Board, regional representatives. 50 minutes Facilitated Discussion – “Traces of the Trade” Congregations,/forum attendees, vestries, Shrine Mont Campers and Staff, delegates to Annual Council and General Convention Deputies, commissions/committees clergy, lay professionals, Executive Board, regional representatives, guests from other congregations. 3 hours Workshop: “Seeing the Face of God in Each Other” Candidates for ordination, elected and appointed diocesan deputies and commission/committee members, lay professionals. 12 hours Meet Me in Galilee – A Journey from Repentance to Reconciliation Congregations,/forum attendees, vestries, Shrine Mont campers and staff, delegates to Annual Council and General Convention Deputies, commissions/committees clergy, lay professionals, Executive Board, regional representatives, guests from other congregations. 6 hour workshop followed by 6 to 18 months of groupspecific work Overview, workshop and independent projects/study The Overview affords groups the chance to hear about the other three programs. The Facilitated Discussion, “Traces of the Trade,” is an excellent precursor to embarking on the Meet Me in Galilee journey. It is not a prerequisite. Participation in “Seeing the Face of God in Each Other” or a similar program of study is a requirement (as set forth by General Convention Resolution) for the audience described in the chart. Want to learn more or schedule a training? Contact co-chairs Ellyn Crawford ([email protected]) and the Rev. David Niemeyer ([email protected]). Report continued from page 8 yoked ministry immediately upon graduation from Virginia Theological Seminary. In his papers there is a history he wrote for another of those parishes. In it he gently informs his parishioners that their church, closed to AfricanAmericans, had previously been open to African-Americans (on a segregated basis). On this late December day, the rector and parish secretary of the church I visited were taking a well-deserved post-Christmas holiday. But I did encounter some folks from the church there for the church’s faithful outreach program to local families, primarily African-Americans deprived of the same advantages the white members of the church had. In the cemetery I found headstones dating to the 17th and 18th centuries, perhaps earlier. Quite naturally, members of the Confederate army are buried there. That day their graves were marked with fresh flags – the Stars and Bars. This parish has a story to tell, some questions to ask. So does yours. How can you contribute? Do you have materials or memories that you would like to share? Are you interested in delving into your own family’s history or your parish’s history? If so, please contact me at [email protected]. t Reconciliation continued from page 8 we need to move in the direction of being reconciled, and there is a difference.” That’s where “Meet Me in Galilee” comes into play. The program was designed by members of the committee to be a stepping stone on that journey from repentance to reconciliation. It invites members of a congregation or group – small groups of leaders, forums, lay professionals, committees – to join together in a process that includes study, conversation and a service of repentance. The committee piloted the program at St. Barnabas’, Annandale with a great degree of success. Meet Me in Galilee has gained such steam that Crawford and Mildred Robinson, a friend of the committee and a parishioner at St. Paul’s Memorial, Charlottesville, took the program on the road this summer, bringing it to a booth at the exhibit hall of General Convention in Indianapolis to share the program with other members of the Episcopal Church. At their booth was a banner displaying, “Meet Me in Galilee: A Journey from Repentance to Reconciliation.” “Just looking at the banner told most of the story,” said Crawford. t Fall 2012 / Virginia Episcopalian 9