Vision implementation team
In the hope of being more unified and nimbler in our work of implementing our vision of being a renewed people with renewed hearts and renewed spirits, we have reorganized to have a single vision implementation team. This team is made up of lay and clergy leaders from across the diocese and will work with me to support and encourage our collective journey of renewal. The team will be meeting through the fall to determine priorities and will be reporting to Bishop Anna and diocesan council.
Facing systemic racism
James Baldwin said that “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” The ways in which racism and white supremacy have been embedded in the systems and structures of our society are ubiquitous and intentionally hidden from plain view. The version of history that has been primarily told centres the perspectives of and primarily benefits white settlers and their heirs. We have begun an intentional process of facing our past so that we may faithfully encounter the challenges we face in the present. We have partnered with the Kaleidoscope Institute to go through a two-stage process to begin this work. First, we offered clergy, staff and diocesan council the chance to take the Intercultural Development Inventory to assess where on a continuum of cultural competency we were. Second, we are in the initial stages of developing a series of dialogue sessions to engage with the Challenging Racist “British Columbia”: 150 Years and Counting. A small group of people have been recruited to give shape to these workshops, and a larger group of around 20 people will be trained as moderators to offer these dialogue workshops. Our hope is that as we engage in dialogue, new opportunities for faithfulness will emerge. We plan on having these workshops available for November.
Season of creation book study
Season of creation (Sept. 1-Oct. 4) is here, and we invite you to a collaborative reading group on Cynthia Moe-Lobeda’s Resisting Structural Evil: Love as Ecological-Economic Vocation. Taking place on Zoom over four Wednesday evenings (Sept. 15, Sept. 22, Sept. 29 and Oct. 6), this reading group will be hosted by Bishop Anna and led by John Thatamanil, Matt Humphrey, Juli Mallet and me. This collaborative effort will help us encounter Dr. Moe-Lobeda’s work and draw us into a deeper understanding of the ecological crisis we face and its interconnections with racial and economic justice. Cynthia will be joining us in December as a part of the John Albert Hall lectures, and this book study will be a great preparation for her lecture. We recommend joining this reading group with a small group of folks from your community or parish to deepen your engagement. Check out the diocesan website for registration information.
Please reach out if you would like additional information on these initiatives.
