Justice Ministry Spotlight: God Calls Us Into Becoming Beloved Community

The Anti-Racism Commission was established by the Diocese of Newark at convention in 2011. Today, we recognize the vital and ongoing formation necessary to combat the sin of racism in our communities so that we may live into God’s mission of Becoming Beloved Community. As a diocese we continually strive to live into our Baptismal promises, particularly when we seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving our neighbor as our self, and as we strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being and all of God’s creation.

To help the Diocese follow Jesus and live into The Way of Love, the Anti-Racism Commission intends to sponsor a new resolution for the 151st convention that expands requirements in this formation and awareness training and invites fuller participation by all the people of the diocese. The intent for this diocesan ministry is to transform the Diocese, not just provide training. The resolution will also amend the current canon for Anti-Racism Formation (training) from every 5 years to every 3 years to comply with the canonical change passed by General Convention 2024. We and previous participants know that this is NOT a “one and done” training – together we engage in life-long formation for following the way of love, done in dialogue and relationship with others.

We continually refresh our dialogues based on feedback and new content. During the Commission’s sabbatical time since spring of 2024 (not offering the Dialogues), we have been designing new content to engage anti-racism awareness and formation, in addition to the Dialogues. The opportunities to engage with others do not focus on “blaming and shaming”, rather on learning in community and establishing a shared understanding of the ways oppressive systems and structures have led us away from fully sharing the abundance of God’s blessings.

The Commission members read books and articles and are guided by “A Framework for Anti-Racism and Reconciliation Training” from The Episcopal Church’s Executive Council Committee on Anti-Racism, as well as in conversation with the Rev. Stephanie Spellers, retired Canon for Evangelism and Reconciliation in The Episcopal Church. She confirmed our content was right on target and provided input we are using to enhance our current curriculum and processes. During these months of reformation, we also have identified other opportunities to engage in this aspect of Christian Formation by creating and supporting multiple avenues for wider participation, including at the parish and regional ministry network (RMN) levels.

Recently Bishop Hughes, and Jim Wallis, our 150th Convention keynote speaker, cracked open our lack of being a moral voice as Christians in our communities. We abdicated our presence in the town square – and our communities and parishes are struggling. The time is now for us to reclaim our voice and action as Christians Becoming Beloved Community.

This call to action is for everyone – whether lay or clergy, elected or appointed to diocesan or parish leadership. We each made, and regularly reaffirm, the promise in our Baptismal Vow to “seek and serve Christ in all persons, continue in the apostles’ teaching, persevere in resisting evil, and whenever you fall into sin, repent and return, strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being. In the context of the present societal divisions, fueled by white Christian nationalist rhetoric and political polarization, we need to “amp up” the importance of this work that we do, conveying that silence is NOT okay. We all must participate in the transformation of each of us, based on our presumed divisions and fears of others. We all are called for such a time as this – to renew our attention to and ability for dialogues across difference and to recognize our common desire for beloved community.

Our formation and transformation are for our Christian communities as well as the many contexts in which we find ourselves – work, vocation, politics, hobbies. We as the church, and Diocese of Newark, have a responsibility to speak as followers of Christ and members of the Episcopal branch of the Jesus movement.

The next round of Anti-Racism Dialogues, (combined onsite and online) are scheduled for March 22 (onsite in Newark), and online March 29 and April 5, 2025. The Commission encourages everyone to sign up and participate in these sessions. Registration details will be shared via diocesan email, in The VOICE Online, and on the Anti-Racism Commission webpage.