Parish History Projects: Telling the Truth about Race and Racism

All parishes in the Diocese of Washington are encouraged to examine their histories from the perspective of race and racism.

“The stories that we all tell (or don’t tell about the past) determine how we live the Gospel in the present and future. Parish history projects aren’t an exercise in shaming or disremembering. They are an act of holy “re-membering” that which is so deeply a part of all of us. They situate us in God’s larger narrative of sin… and repair and redemption.”

The Rev. Dr. Maria A. Kane, rector at St. Paul’s, Waldorf and member of the Committee on Reparations

Faith and Tobacco - a history of St. Thomas' Parish in Prince George's County, Maryland

Ad offering bounty for return of a runaway enslaved person

Conducting a Parish History Project

Conducting a Parish History Project

We invite you and your congregation to undertake a parish history project so that together, we may engage in the work of truth telling to better discern how to be a more equitable and racially just diocese.

Here are some resources to help get you started:

Congregational History Partners

Our Congregational History Partners are a group of congregations whose members support and encourage one another as they uncover and share their faith communities’ histories with racism and race.

We meet virtually on the first Saturday of each month at 11:00 a.m.

Ascension, Gaithersburg
Ascension, Silver Spring
Calvary, DC
Christ Church, La Plata
Christ Church, Rockville
Good Shepherd, Silver Spring
Grace, Silver Spring
Our Saviour, Brookland
Our Saviour, Hillandale
Redeemer, Bethesda
St. Columba’s, DC
St. John’s, Beltsville
St. John’s, Lafayette Square
St. John’s, Norwood
St. John’s, Georgetown
St. Peter’s, Poolesville
St. Phillip’s, Laurel
St. Thomas, Croom

Parish History Spotlight: St. Columba’s

St. Columba’s Parish, located in affluent Tenleytown in Northwest Washington, D.C., is today among the largest and wealthiest parishes in the Diocese of Washington. But St. Columba’s has not always been prosperous, and the surrounding Tenleytown community has not always been so predominantly white. Understanding how St. Columba’s grew from its mission chapel origins to its current status called for an examination of the lasting effects of deliberate and systemic racist policies and practices in the United States since the 1700s, specifically including in Washington, D.C., Tenleytown, and The Episcopal Church.

In 2022, the parish dug into its past to create a starting point for discussion, action, and visioning for a more just and equitable future.

Read St. Columba’s Church, Tenleytown and Race: A Racial History of St. Columba’s Parish