1619-1919: Finding Ourselves in the History of Racism

Editor's Note: This week's post is written by the Rev. Barbara Ballenger. She has helped to lead St. Martin's Becoming Beloved Community work since 2014.

St. Martin’s efforts at Becoming Beloved Community follow the lead of the Episcopal Church in its church-wide call for racial reconciliation and healing. It is part of the church’s deep reflection on its own complicity in the long legacy of racial oppression. This call is rooted in the scriptures and the Baptismal Covenant, which invite us to a new level of respect for the dignity of every human being that fundamentally challenges and displaces racism.

In August, The New York Times reminded us of a sobering anniversary, the 400th year that the first enslaved Africans were brought to Virginia, anticipating four centuries of race-based oppression in the United States. For Episcopalians, whose Anglican forebears built, blessed, and benefited from the architecture of slavery and its aftermath, this legacy clings to us in ways typical of deep structural sin: fostering social blindness and deafness to the experience of people of color; quieting the Gospel of Jesus and amplifying the agendas of scientific and economic advancement; and centering whiteness in everything from our religious imagery to our church structure. That is why the Episcopal Church has been leading us in a wide-scale effort of racial repentance, reconciliation, and healing. Our Presiding Bishop, the Rt. Rev. Michael Curry, explains this ongoing work well in this brief video.

St. Martin’s has been at the effort for a while, most recently laying out a framework to be even more intentional about how we learn, embody, and advocate racial justice and healing. This 400th anniversary does put the work in a long and painful perspective, however, and it invites us anew to take a hard look at how we engage with our own individual and collective history around racism, and how we participate in healing the racial wounds in the Body of Christ.

This program year, St. Martin’s will offer several opportunities to engage in the ongoing work of Becoming Beloved Community. I encourage you to make time to participate, bringing your insights and stories to the effort.

Here is a look at what lies ahead:

• Sunday, Sept. 29 Parish Forum (9:15 a.m.) – Finding Ourselves in the 400 Years: What the Spirit is Saying to the Church about its Legacy of Racism. Featuring a short film by Katrina Brown and a discussion of local racial history by diocesan historian, David Contosta.
• Wednesdays, Oct. 9-Nov. 6 (7 p.m. to 9 p.m.) Beginning Beloved Community Workshop. This five-week series, developed in 2015 and 2016 by St. Martin's parishioners and staff, provides an introduction to the individual and collective work of racial understanding and healing central to our Becoming Beloved Community efforts. Recommended for all parishioners and ministry leaders. Learn more and register here.
• Wednesdays, Jan. 8 -29, (7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.) Wellspring-led discussion of the book, Waking Up White, by Debby Irving. The author writes: "My hope is that by sharing my sometimes cringe-worthy struggle to understand racism and racial tensions, I offer a fresh perspective on bias, stereotypes, manners, and tolerance."

In addition to these educational offerings, committees of parishioners and staff will continue to follow the recommendations of our Becoming Beloved Community Strategic Plan, by working on the following this year:

• Developing a process for recruiting, hiring, and retaining people of color onto our program staff.
• Creating a training process for parish ministry leaders to build leadership skills grounded in racial justice and healing. This will be developed this year, and formally launched during the 2020-21 program year.
• Strengthening our public witness against racial injustices in our community, led by our Community Engagement Committee.
• Engaging all our parish committees and outreaches in the work of Becoming Beloved Community.

The Becoming Beloved Community effort at St. Martin’s is overseen by the Vestry, the clergy, and the Becoming Beloved Community Team, a committee of parishioners whose mission is to support the implementation of the BBC Strategic Plan. It is led by Justina Barrett, The Rev. Carol Duncan and The Rev. Barbara Ballenger.

To learn more about the parish’s Becoming Beloved Community efforts and find resources for engagement, visit the racial justice page under Community Engagement at StMartinEC.org.

Blessings,
The Rev. Barbara Ballenger
Associate for Spiritual Formation & Care

Over My Head

The Rev. Jarrett Kerbel

Swimming in the deep end was a rite of passage in my childhood. When could I swim well enough to slip under the floating line into the deep water where the big kids swam? On that special day when permission was given - when I graduated from the “guppy” swim class to be a “fish” - courage was summoned. Tiptoes pushed off into the mystery of swimming where I could sink twelve feet down. Confidence came from risking it. Comfort slowly followed as anxiety faded in the joy of play.

Moving into the deep end, getting in over my head, happens again and again in life. As a leader, I am not sure I am allowed to admit when I am over my head. But as a faith leader, over my head is just a fact of life. With God we are always in over our head. God is always drawing us into the deeper water of God’s mysterious inner life, so life in faith (i.e. trusting and living in Christ) will always return us to the status of beginner, learner, guppy.

One way I know that St. Martin’s is heading in the right direction is that I feel my competence challenged. I feel like I am in over my head. That is a good indication that we are in the realm of faith. Our Becoming Beloved Community work reminds me all the time that I am a beginner even though I have done anti-racism training for 20+ years. Dismantling the imprint our racist culture has put in my soul and psyche is a startlingly deep task.

In fact, I would like to suggest that the illusion of competence and confidence I carry as my “birthright” as a white male are products of unearned and unreflective privilege. So healing from racism for me will entail acknowledging this, and then risking incompetence and disorientation. Faith draws me into this in the hope that God’s will is to heal me and draw me into a more whole version of myself, stripped of the marks of sin.

Leadership means inviting you to go with me on this uncomfortable and disorientating journey of faith. You won’t be able to look to me for answers because I am in this struggle with you. We can, however, look to each other for goodwill, support, prayer, and compassion as we do some hard learning together.

Blessings,
The Rev. Jarrett Kerbel
Rector

Editor's Note: 
On Sunday, March 3 at our 9:15 a.m. parish forum is an opportunity for us all to discuss this journey together during "Talking Beloved Community" with our Becoming Beloved Community team. Read more here.

Values: Roots and Branches

Our 125^th Anniversary Questions have been these:

1.     What did our founders set in place 125 years ago that we still value today?

2.     What will we establish that will cause gratitude 125 years from now?

During Lent, we offered a Parish Values Clarification process to explore these questions. The staff and the Vestry also set aside time to reflect on the values of the parish using the same model that examines accidental values, aspirational values, and core values. The work was previously recorded on this blog. An ad hoc committee worked during May and June to analyze the data and prepare our findings. 

The results of this exercise will guide the Vestry, lay-leadership, and staff as we seek to build on the strengths of our church community and grow into the community we aspire to be.

The Core Values of the parish are those values that set St. Martin's apart from other worshipping communities. They are long-standing attributes and ones that we are willing to pay a price to preserve and perpetuate. Without these values, St. Martin's would not be recognizable as the church we know and love.

The core values we identified are below. They form a Trinitarian pattern thanks to an insight by Pam Prell during the vestry discussion that produced the final result:

1.     Learning leads to God.

2.     We encounter Christ in caring for others and in receiving care.

3.     We strive for beauty in worship, physical spaces, and life together. Creativity is inspired by the Holy Spirit.

St. Martin's is a community of life-long learners who find education enhances our insights about God and does not detract from faith, as is commonly believed. Our parish avidly cares for each other, lending the support of listening ears through Stephen Ministry, hand-holding, warm embraces, meals during crisis, Wednesday SUPPER, and so much more. Finally, St. Martin's is deeply grounded in the Episcopal belief that life in God’s presence is beautiful. Whether God’s presence is celebrated in liturgy, music, nature, architecture, food, art, or community engagement – the result is inspired, transcendent beauty restored to God’s creation. Contrary to common belief, the Anglo-Catholic or the “high church” movement celebrated beauty in music and liturgy as part and parcel of a belief in the goodness of God’s creation and the potential goodness of a just social order. Oxford Movement clergy were as adamant about social justice as they were about liturgy. Both equally reflect the glory of God.

The aspirational values we identified were extremely clear across the groups that participated in the process. The Vestry will take up these aspirational values and surround them with goals and objectives so that we can track our progress toward their realization. The aspirational values:

1.     Community Engagement and Social Justice

2.     Unconditional Welcome and Inclusion

3.     A community that calls forth the gifts of all its people

4.     Becoming a Racism-Free and Diverse Community that reflects the City where we worship

During Annual Meeting (Sunday, June 15 after 10:00 a.m. service), we will have table discussions that invite the parish community to discuss our Core Values and our Aspirational Values by asking the questions: Where will these values lead us? Who will we become as we grow into these values? As a community we will use our imagination and grow our vision of our future together in Christ.

- The Rev. Jarrett Kerbel

Naming Our Values: Discussion Part 1

Image from http://www.360dpi.net/what-are-your-core-beliefs/

For the next few weeks, we will use this blog as an extension of our Values Clarification work being done in Parish Forum at 10 a.m. and over lunch after our 11:15 a.m. service. You are welcome to come to the blog and see where the work is taking us each week. This will also serve as a way for people who were unable to attend one session to "catch up" and feel welcome at subsequent sessions. This week's discussion was on Aspirational Values. Next week we will move on to Accidental Values, and then finish out on the 23rd with Core Values.

ASPIRATIONAL VALUES

From the Two Sunday Forum Sessions on March 9 and the Vestry Retreat of March 8

Below you will find summaries of the “Aspirational Values” discussion from the weekend of March 8 and 9.  Below is a condensation of the responses from the general gatherings of members based on vote totals.  This is followed by the summary results of the Vestry discussion and then raw results from the Forum gatherings arranged according to the tables where people sat.  We are posting these results to stimulate discussion and reflection between our gatherings so we enter each forum prepared for a deep and enriching discussion. 

“Aspirational Values” are values we hope to more fully embody in our community in the future.

Aspirational Values – Sunday Forum Summary with Vote totals

•       Community Engagement/Social Justice  50

•       Unconditional Welcome and inclusion  46

•       Including  & encouraging the gifts & calling of all members 26

•       Diversity/Anti-Racism  19

•       Growth in Faith/Spirituality 11

•       Vision for our Youth Program 11

Aspirational Values – Vestry Version

• Anti-Racist* Community where all types of privilege (race, class, gender) are dismantled so all are welcomed and equally heard and served.  Are we ready for EVERYBODY?
• A Community that calls forth the gifts of its people.  A community of Lay-Leaders where leadership is cultivated and supported.  Where leadership development is a well-defined institutional function.
• A community that serves as a portal for seekers of Jesus, where we develop our ability to do ‘spiritual outreach’ and tell about the benefits we derive from our relationship with God. 

*Anti-Racist is a term in our Diocese that refers to structural racism more than personal racist attitudes. Structural racism are all those factors that value people of color differently, restrict equal opportunity, and contribute to social and economic stratification based on race.

Aspirational Values – Raw Data from tables

·       Social Justice [7] – people suffering at the hands of others

o   Preferential options for the poor i.e. north Philadelphia

o   People in the penal system unjustly placed there

§  Those born into poverty

o   Advocacy for Social Justice

·       Unconditional Welcome [5]

o   Acceptance vs tolerance

§  Women

§  Diverse ethnic groups

·       Growth in our faith [11] – spirituality

o   Building on those set in place for us

o   Strengthen the church and community in our faith in God

O   O   O

·       Tithing [2] – in pledging and diocesan contributions also to wider-world causes, involving labor, talent, time

·       Radical Hospitality [9] – (or is it a Core Value)

·       Beauty in Worship [5] – place, music, liturgy

o   (Or accidental? Over-emphasized? Too costly and distracting?)

·       Being aware of engaging people to use their special [+4]– builds a sense of community

·       Pro-Diversity – richness of talents celebrated, encouraged

·       Growing sense of responsibility [6] – for engaging in our wider community – as in POWER or other groups.

O   O   O

·       Drawn back after first visit– open, engaged [1]

·       Sense of purpose in community [2]

·       Active Welcome [1]

·       Attracted to announced activities

·       Radical Welcome [1]

·       Genuine, not imposed [1]

·       Friendly [1]

·       Feel known as a person here

·       There is space for everybody in activities [1]

O  O  O

·       Open, inclusive, not our table but God’s table [2]

o   We give back, care about the vulnerable [2]

·       Vitality attractive to youth

·       Intellectual rigor and vigor, though provoking [3]

·       Life of Christ at center more than death of cross [1]

·       Energizing, making faith real [2]

·       Relational [1]

O  O  O

·       Making change happen [2]

·       Being open—to people, to ideas [2]

·       Valuing youth [1]

·       Outreach [4]—Could we be more involved with the community?

·       To be inclusive, e.g. eccentric [1]

·       Welcoming [4]

·       Deep spiritual longing, development, formation [2]

·       Integrate old and new – ideas, members [1]

·       Integrate newcomers [2]

·       More caregiving – in the sense of more spread out among more people [9]

O  O  O

Anti-racist/all inclusive congregation

·       Respect for individual

·       LANGUAGE! [1]

·       Where is Jesus in all this?

O  O  O

·       Nurture a spirit of engagement + volunteerism [9]

o   Diverse menu of opportunities

·       Awareness of our individual gifts and ministries [3]

·       Create a more inviting atmosphere/exterior/campus [3]

·       Increase diversity [4]

o   Race [1]

o   Age

o   Ethnicity

o   Sexuality

O  O  O

·       Value all members of congregation [4]

·       Welcoming within church and greater community [5]

·       Advocacy [like POWER] + Action [11]

·       To be rather than seem to be [4]

·       Diversity of gender, race, faith [5]

·       Listening to our call [6]

o   Finding new challenges and taking them on [1] (ex. Barbara Dundon – Africa)

·       Financial Generosity [4]

·       Tapping People resources

·       Community Engagement [9]

o   Does church already have a mission statement?

·       St. Martin’s NOW a Welcoming Place? [11]

o   “You are not part of apostolic core!”

·       Greeting your neighbor-reaching out

·       Communion practice explained – Communication

·       Everyone is welcomed to the table [2]

·       All responsibility of inclusion cannot be on the Rector. [1]

o   “Should be broader.”

·       Wellspring– participating organizational component [2]

o   “Deepens Word of God”

·       Evangelism? [1]

o   (Awkward)

o   If they’re core values

o   “It’s that we are never going to ask you what you believe.”

·       Core Value [7]—Hospitality and “Power of Attraction”

·       We do well for very young children – but that changes when children grow beyond early years [2]

·       Clarity and Communication [3]

·       Use of dots is now a core value

·       Welcome new visitors but continue this welcome beyond the first few visits—engagement into the future; more inclusion [6]

·       Make community engagement beyond the financial, in areas of poverty and inequality [9]

·       Vision for our youth program [11]

o   More active – service

o   Intentional hiring of minister for this mission