D016 Continued Funding of The Beloved Community
The 78th General Convention of The Episcopal Church recognized, by the adoption of Resolution 2015-C019, that, despite repeated efforts at anti-racism training as well as racial justice and racial reconciliation initiatives—including the passage of more than 30 General Convention resolutions dating back to 1952, that the abomination and sin of racism continues to plague our society and our Church at great cost to human life and human dignity.
And, in the wake of the brutal, overtly racist murders of nine of our Christian brothers and sisters of Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church on June 17, 2015; numerous inexcusable deaths of unarmed black men and youth at the hands of law enforcement personnel; and the moral atrocity of mass incarceration in which a hugely disproportionate number of persons of color have been unfairly caught in the net of an unjust criminal justice system, the 78th General Convention established as a top priority of The Episcopal Church in the upcoming triennium the challenging and difficult work of racial reconciliation through prayer, teaching, engagement, and action.
2015-C019 charged the Presiding Bishop, President of the House of Deputies, Vice President of the House of Bishops, and Vice President of the House of Deputies to lead, direct, and be present to assure and account for the Church’s work of racial justice and reconciliation. They articulated a framework for that work, entitled Becoming Beloved Community: The Episcopal Church’s Long-term Commitment to Racial Healing, Reconciliation and Justice, which directs additional work in the area of racial reconciliation.
As we head into this next triennium, we are faced with the realities of a resurgence of white supremacy, the increased normalization of personal and institutionalized fear of people of color, and overtly dehumanizing policies being enacted on refugees and immigrants—in addition to all of the injustices that prompted the 78th General Convention to pass 2015-C019.
As the 79th General Convention did by the adoption of Resolution D002, which allocated $750,000 for the purposes herein, we again call upon our Church to make an investment of significant resources to home in on and build capacity among our current and future leaders within The Episcopal Church in order to impact the practices of telling the truth, repairing the breach, practicing Jesus’ way of love, and proclaiming the dream of Beloved Community.
In order to continue to make our commitment to Becoming Beloved Community a reality in a world that desperately needs it, local churches, dioceses, and agencies must continue to have the resources to engage this work in their contexts. We believe that these grants will continue to make it possible for churches, dioceses, and other agencies of The Episcopal Church to continue to live into the commitment of the Church to Becoming Beloved Community in new and life-giving ways. In the same way that communities of practice have developed from the Genesis Church Planting grants that were given in the 2015-2018 triennium, Resolution D002 made it possible for a network of grant recipients to share best practices, resources, etc. among themselves and with the whole church. Provinces and dioceses that have been unable to afford to provide the canonically mandated trainings have been able to do so. These grants have also made it possible for the development of much-needed culturally appropriate and relevant resources that have been broadly shared with the church through the Absalom Jones Center for Racial Healing.
Explanation
The 78th General Convention of The Episcopal Church recognized, by the adoption of Resolution 2015-C019, that, despite repeated efforts at anti-racism training as well as racial justice and racial reconciliation initiatives—including the passage of more than 30 General Convention resolutions dating back to 1952, that the abomination and sin of racism continues to plague our society and our Church at great cost to human life and human dignity.
And, in the wake of the brutal, overtly racist murders of nine of our Christian brothers and sisters of Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church on June 17, 2015; numerous inexcusable deaths of unarmed black men and youth at the hands of law enforcement personnel; and the moral atrocity of mass incarceration in which a hugely disproportionate number of persons of color have been unfairly caught in the net of an unjust criminal justice system, the 78th General Convention established as a top priority of The Episcopal Church in the upcoming triennium the challenging and difficult work of racial reconciliation through prayer, teaching, engagement, and action.
2015-C019 charged the Presiding Bishop, President of the House of Deputies, Vice President of the House of Bishops, and Vice President of the House of Deputies to lead, direct, and be present to assure and account for the Church’s work of racial justice and reconciliation. They articulated a framework for that work, entitled Becoming Beloved Community: The Episcopal Church’s Long-term Commitment to Racial Healing, Reconciliation and Justice, which directs additional work in the area of racial reconciliation.
As we head into this next triennium, we are faced with the realities of a resurgence of white supremacy, the increased normalization of personal and institutionalized fear of people of color, and overtly dehumanizing policies being enacted on refugees and immigrants—in addition to all of the injustices that prompted the 78th General Convention to pass 2015-C019.
As the 79th General Convention did by the adoption of Resolution D002, which allocated $750,000 for the purposes herein, we again call upon our Church to make an investment of significant resources to home in on and build capacity among our current and future leaders within The Episcopal Church in order to impact the practices of telling the truth, repairing the breach, practicing Jesus’ way of love, and proclaiming the dream of Beloved Community.
In order to continue to make our commitment to Becoming Beloved Community a reality in a world that desperately needs it, local churches, dioceses, and agencies must continue to have the resources to engage this work in their contexts. We believe that these grants will continue to make it possible for churches, dioceses, and other agencies of The Episcopal Church to continue to live into the commitment of the Church to Becoming Beloved Community in new and life-giving ways. In the same way that communities of practice have developed from the Genesis Church Planting grants that were given in the 2015-2018 triennium, Resolution D002 made it possible for a network of grant recipients to share best practices, resources, etc. among themselves and with the whole church. Provinces and dioceses that have been unable to afford to provide the canonically mandated trainings have been able to do so. These grants have also made it possible for the development of much-needed culturally appropriate and relevant resources that have been broadly shared with the church through the Absalom Jones Center for Racial Healing.