“For the Diocese of Washington reparations is the spiritual practice of the beloved community. It involves a process to remember, repair, restore, and reconcile historical and continuing wrongs against humanity that can never be singularly reducible to monetary terms, but must include a substantial investment and surrender of resources. Reparations is principally concerned with the harms done to those most hard pressed by the system of injustice and speaks to the health of all humanity.”
– Working Definition of Reparations by EDOW Reparations Task Force, 2022
Holding this definition, we are honored to invite you to join “Repairing the Breach: Reparations as Healing – EDOW’s evening with Dr. Catherine Meeks” on Saturday, May 21, 2022, 4:30-6:00 p.m. EST at Calvary Episcopal Church in DC.
This dynamic presentation & panel discussion will focus on “Repairing the Breach: Reparations as Healing” in an effort to continue laying the foundation for EDOW’s commitment to remembering, reckoning and reconciling our histories pertaining to racism. With such an amazing keynote speaker found in Dr. Catherine Meeks, Director of The Absalom Jones Center for Racial Healing, we knew it would be a gift to put her in conversation with powerful leaders in our community. We are excited to have our local clergy, the Rev. Dr. Gayle Fisher Stewart and the Rev. Peter Jarrett-Schell join as panelists alongside Mr. Don Edwards, a trusted diocesan and wider church colleague and advisor for the work of racial equity & healing. We are in for a treat!
Registration is requested. Please RSVP here.
*Please note, we will observe appropriate COVID-safety protocols for this event.
About the speakers:
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Catherine Meeks, Director of The Absalom Jones Center for Racial Healing
Panelist: The Rev. Dr. Gayle Fisher Stewart, President of the DC Chapter of The Union of Black Episcopalians
Panelist: The Rev. Peter Jarrett-Schell, Chair of the EDOW Reparations Task Force and Rector of Calvary Episcopal Church
Panelist: Mr. Don Edwards, Founder, CEO and a principal of Justice and Sustainability Associates
The Work Continues – Save the Date!
Building from the Repairing the Breach: Reparations as Healing – EDOW’s evening with Dr. Catherine Meeks event, we’ll have the opportunity to continue with this work in the coming months. We invite you to mark your calendars for The Diocesan Reparations Symposium on Saturday, October 1, from 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. at Calvary Episcopal Church.
We’ll hear from historians researching the history of Diocesan participation in chattel slavery, EDOW congregations investigating their own legacies with race and racism, and Black community leaders working on the question of repair in the DMV.
The Rev. Dr. Kelly Brown Douglas will deliver the keynote, laying out the theological and spiritual foundations for reparations work. Participants will leave with concrete next steps to share with our congregations.
Registration for this event will open in late May. For now, please save the date!
