Inside out: EHF Supports Efforts as Churches Continue Racial Justice Journey in 2022

Eric Moen, senior congregational engagement officer for Episcopal Health Foundation, shares this continued journey of discovery and conversation addressing racial justice and racial reconciliation in Episcopal churches. For the past six years, Episcopal Health Foundation (EHF) has partnered with congregations to help support and organize these efforts. In 2022, that work continued its momentum.

On a weekday evening inside the Brazos Center in Bryan, a story of the slave trade fills the theater screen. When the film ends, nobody walks out. Instead, Dain and Constance Perry step to the front and start a group conversation–a long discussion filled with personal stories, unsettling truth, and desire for understanding.

“It’s through these conversations that we develop knowledge, that we begin to build trust and begin to build community so that together we can begin to break down the walls of racism,” Constance said.

Constance, who is black, and husband Dain, who is white, are leaders of “Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Deep North” documentary film and facilitated dialogues. For more than 18 years, they have held discussions on racism across the country. The couple uses the film as a starting point for churches and community groups to foster conversation and share stories.

The documentary recounts Dain Perry’s New England family and their involvement in the slave trade in the 18th and early 19th centuries. The film shows the realities of the slave trade set against the backdrop of northern business, communities, and residents who condoned and benefited from slave trading. The Episcopal Church is prominent in the story.

Traces of Trade impact

More than 100 community members from neighborhoods across Brazos County participated in the Traces of the Trade event in Bryan. It was organized by St Andrew’s, Bryan, and Brazos Valley African American Museum.

In 2022, St. Andrews, Bryan, and five other communities used the film and the Perrys’ expertise to begin conversations about racial justice. Events included an ecumenical gathering of more than eight congregations in Nacogdoches, plus viewings at St. Stephen’s, Houston; Palmer Memorial, Houston; Church of the Cross, Lake Travis; and St. Matthew’s, Austin. For St. Andrew’s and St. Matthew’s, The Traces of the Trade events are regular offerings, and a vehicle in their ongoing community-wide journey toward racial healing.

Traces of the Trade has also been beneficial in the racial justice journey for Good Shepherd, Austin, and St. Julian of Norwich, Round Rock. The congregations participated in EHF’s Racial Justice Ministry Incubator throughout 2022. The cohort was led by Project Curate, a nonprofit, social impact agency and consultancy that works with religious, academic, and community organizations. The mission is to address and support collaborative responses to intersectional issues relating to racial injustice and inequity.

The nine-month incubator program focused on developing strategies and approaches to ministry that effectively respond to recurring social issues brought about by racism, injustice, and inequity.

“We want to develop a strong and growing network of relationships with organizations and communities within the city, the region and the diocese focused on racial healing,” said the Rev. Channing Smith, rector of Good Shepherd. “We want to become a community that can be relied on by communities of color as friends and family working toward joyful union with God and with one another.”

One Human Race workshop continues unity goal

In addition to Traces of the Trade events and work with Project Curate, EHF supports and encourages congregations to connect with “One Human Race,” an initiative of the Myra McDaniel Chapter of the Union of Black Episcopalians in Austin which is connected to St. James, Austin. EHF urges congregations to follow up the Trades of the Trade gathering with a One Human Race workshop.

“The philosophy behind the One Human Race workshops is that conversations about race should not be divisive,” said Teresa Chang, member of the One Human Race initiative’s executive team and co-creator of the curriculum. “Instead, they should help us to recognize our unity and fill us with purpose. After all, however different our experiences, we are all members of a single human race. We all share and are shaped by a history of profound injustice based on appearance and ethnicity. We all have biases, and we are all on a journey of understanding and growth.”

One Human Race led several workshops as part of EHF’s annual “In Common” gathering for clergy and lay leaders. In March 2022, more than 100 participants representing 42 organizations around the diocese gathered at Camp Allen for “In Common: Better Together,” two days of talks and workshops on the intersections of race and health. In 2023, In Common gatherings will be in Waco and Galveston.

EHF encourages congregations to be on a journey toward racial reconciliation and to not let the film or a One Human Race workshop be a “one-and-done” event. For Christ Church, Tyler, these offerings have been a pivotal part of their ongoing community journey.

Tyler Together and future conversations

In early 2022, EHF profiled the congregation’s work that helped spark a city-wide collaboration of nonprofits and congregations called “Tyler Together.” Prior to becoming rector of St. George’s, Austin, in the summer of 2022, the Rev. Dr. Matthew Boulter described the important impact of EHF’s support during his time as associate rector at Christ Church and the co-creation of Tyler Together.

“You might call it kinship, trusting affection, or simply justice-rooted love,” Rev. Boulter said. “Whatever it is, it makes life worth living, and for me it is a pearl of great price, that brings glory and honor to our justice-loving God.”

To date, 37 congregations participated in racial justice conversations and programs offered and supported by EHF. For more information on ways you can grow your congregational approach to Racial Justice, contact EHF’s Eric Moen at emoen@episcopalhealth.org.