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2022 ANNUAL REPORT: EQUITY & JUSTICE

Be strong and of good courage . . . for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
Joshua 1:9

In 2022, we continued to make progress deepening our commitment to become a more equitable and just diocese, focusing our equity and justice energy on Creation Care, LGBTQIA+ cultural competency, and continued antiracism work.

In late May, Missioner Hazel Monae left diocesan staff to discern a new path. We welcomed Rudy Logan as Interim Missioner for Equity and Justice in August. Rudy hit the ground running, reaching out to leaders and teams in the diocese with a primary focus on equity and justice ministry and liaising closely with the Reparations Committee to prepare for the October’s reparations symposium. We are grateful to report that after the interim period, Rudy accepted our offer to serve as Missioner for Equity and Justice.

Below, we share our diocesan efforts over the last year to move closer to becoming a people that embodies Jesus’ Way of Love, loving our neighbors and ourselves as God loves his only Son.

Hazel Monae, Missioner for Equity and Justice and Dora Currea, Co-chair of Washington National Cathedral Sanctuary Ministry at the #WeAreEssential Fast for Freedom for Excluded Workers in June 2021
Deacon Ethan Bishop Henchman knits beside a Pride Month banner
Parishioners preparing food for Our Saviour Hillendale's Soup to Go ministry

HIGHLIGHTS OF 2022

What did we do this year? We: 

  • Offered a course on LGBTQIA+ Competency and Humility through the School for Christian Faith and Leadership
  • Commissioned the Task Force on Black Ministries at Convention (read their report to Diocesan Council)
  • Following one of the recommendations from the Task Force on Black Ministries, Diocesan Council established a permanent Committee on Black Ministries to continue the work that was begun by the Task Force and to work on the other recommendations in the report. Appointments to the committee will be made in 2023
  • Commissioned the Creation Care Task Force at Convention (read their Parish Engagement Report)
  • Through a multi-parish network, provided migrants bused from our southern border with food, shelter, medical care and a pastoral care  
  • Participated in Trail 2 Truth: Eyes Wide Open, a Province III youth event focused on encouraging a deeper understanding of Christ’s call to justice
  • Offered Becoming Beloved Community antiracism training in Spanish  
  • Updated the name of the EDOW Refugee Response team to better reflect its mission as helping all refugees and migrants, no matter their country of origin
  • Hosted the Repairing the Breach: Reparations as Healing panel discussion in May with Dr. Catherine Meeks, Mr. Don Edwards, the Rev. Dr. Gayle Fisher-Stewart, and the Rev. Peter Jarrett-Schell to help continue laying the foundation for our commitment to reckoning with racism as a diocese 
  • Marched as a diocesan contingent at the annual Capital Pride Parade, and hosted our first diocesan-sponsored table at the Pride Festival the following day
  • Participated as a diocese in the Poor People’s and Low-Wage Workers’ Assembly Moral March on Washington and to the Polls
  • At General Convention in Baltimore, MD, Bishop Mariann joined Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, host bishop the Right Rev. Eugene Taylor Sutton, and others for a march calling for an end to our nation’s epidemic of gun violence
  • Bishop Mariann and Presiding Bishop Michael Curry joined bishops from around the Anglican Communion attending Lambeth Conference in signing a statement affirming and celebrating LGBTQIA+ people
  • Held Repairing the Breach: A Symposium on Reparations at Calvary Episcopal Church on October 1 with 80 people participating in person and 75 online, representing all regions of the diocese
  • Offered a companion curriculum through the School for Christian Faith and Leadership, Repairing the Breach Course: An Exploration of Reparations in EDOW, to help symposium participants prepare
  • Offered a course on cooperative leadership led by Rudy Logan
  • Committee to prepare for Repairing the Breach: A Symposium on Reparations
  • Joined with Rev. Adam Hamilton, pastor of the Church of the Resurrection to create the BE Campaign, an alternative lectionary leading up to the November midterm elections intended to help us speak to one another clearly, yet with kindness and mutual respect when discussing divisive issues
  • On behalf of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, Bishop Mariann accepted the Saúl Solórzano Justice Award from CARECEN, given in recognition of the work our congregations have done to support migrants coming to the DC area
  • Convened a meeting of the Reparations Committee, Racial and Social Justice Committee, Task Force on Black Ministries and other Black leaders/groups to better align and connect our efforts in all these areas of racial justice as we continue taking our next faithful steps into the future 

TAKING OUR NEXT FAITHFUL STEPS IN 2023

As we turn our attention to the coming year, we will: 

Continue to support diocesan-wide engagement on the work of reparations, including the formation of an Advisory Committee on Reparations if approved by Convention and encourage parishes to participate in education and conversation, particularly around their own history.

Support and amplify congregational initiatives to care for creation, and identify two diocesan-wide goals, including tree planting and preservation, so as to encourage broad engagement and collective impact. 

Work with the regional deans and diocesan deacons to foster collaborative efforts in the work of equity and justice, according to the concerns and issues of different regions of the diocese and measure our success in areas of common concern, including food insecurity, long-term support of migrants and refugees, the need for affordable housing, and gun violence prevention. 

Identify and offer 3 courses through the School for Christian Faith and Leadership related to the equity and justice initiatives in the diocese.