One of the most important roles churches can play in the work of reparations is the cultivation of communities of vulnerability… a way of living with ourselves, with God, and with others, where our deepest wounds are not concealed by but centered in the life of faith.1
I invite you to do something vulnerable and brave, for the sake of love.
On January 24, 2025, at Washington National Cathedral, I will preside and preach at “A Service Toward Repentance,” a liturgy of truth-telling and repentance for harms done within our diocese to Black persons, from the enslavement era through the present.
As your bishop, I invite all clergy to be present and, if you wish, to vest (purple stoles) and process in the service. I also invite every congregation to be represented, not only by those who are delegates to Diocesan Convention, but as many who would like to attend. The service will be live-streamed for those who cannot be physically present.
Why would we express remorse, if we ourselves are not personally culpable for the crimes of slavery, the cruelty of segregation, the inequities, prejudices and unexamined biases embedded in our culture, and our church?
We do this for love’s sake.
While we are not the first generation to address racial harms of our diocese, collectively we have allowed ourselves to gloss over, forget, and remain ignorant of our history—a mixed, complicated racial history with lasting impact. Nor has there ever been a public acknowledgment of our church’s complicity in the assumptions of white supremacy that justified slavery, segregation, and other harms of racism.
Perhaps you are among those who don’t believe that such an expression of remorse is necessary or helpful. Still, I invite you to come, to hear what others have endured, and to risk discomfort, for the sake of love.
Perhaps you are among those who have been waiting for such an acknowledgment, not only for yourselves, but for your ancestors who endured countless indignities, yet fought for their rightful place in our church. Perhaps you’ve given up waiting, rightfully skeptical of such a gesture after silence for so long. Still, I invite you to come, to hear some of your stories told, your pain acknowledged, and to receive an apology from your church.
We may wonder what impact such a service will have. Is it a token expression of regret or a genuine act of repentance, including a commitment to address the lasting impact of past harms?
The answer depends on our readiness to show up for one another in a spirit of vulnerability and love.
The service is being planned with utmost care as a time of prayer, song, story-telling, confession, and a commitment to take steps toward restitution. We will give thanks for those of our past who, in their time, moved our church and country closer to our spiritual and civic ideals of equality under God, and pledge to do our part now.
The evening begins with a shared meal, starting at 5:30 p.m.; the liturgy follows at 7:00 p.m and will last approximately 90 minutes. Please register here and indicate if you would like to have dinner beforehand.
The gathering on January 24th is one of the fruits of the Committee on Diocesan Reparation’s work, a group called into being two years ago at our Diocesan Convention. At this year’s Convention, which begins the next day, we will consider three resolutions on reparations.
Please take a few minutes to watch this short video, an introduction to the work of the Committee. On the reparations page of our website, you can also find a wide range of resources to ground us in this moment.
In truth, I feel vulnerable as we plan this Service Toward Repentance, and certainly in preparing to preach that evening. Yet as the ninth bishop of this diocese, there is no place I would rather be. I hope that you will join me in that vulnerable space, with open minds and hearts, praying for God’s grace to guide us on the path of true repentance, reparation, and healing.
1Duke Kwon and Gregory Thompson, Reparations: A Christian Call for Repentance and Repair (BrazosPress, 2021), 189
