On Ash Wednesday Province II of The Episcopal Church will present a Slave Trade Lament and Repentance online featuring prayers, collects, and reflections. The Diocese of Newark is a member of Province II, along with the dioceses of Albany, Central New York, Cuba, Convocation of Churches in Europe, Haiti, Long Island, New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, Rochester, the Virgin Islands, and Western New York.
The Slave Trade Lament and Repentance will begin with a video introduction by Presiding Bishop Michael Curry. In his moving address, Presiding Bishop Curry calls on all to recognize the sin of slavery and to lament its aftermath.
The Slave Trade Lament and Repentance is based on the Stations of the Cross from the Book of Occasional Services. Each station will be presented by a different member diocese of Province II and will include a reflection, a lament, and prayers. The Diocese of Newark is represented by the Rev. George Dredden of Trinity & St. Philip's Cathedral in Newark, who gives the reflection, and E. V. Janopaul of St. Peter's Church in Mountain Lakes, who reads the prayer. Dredden and Janopaul are co-chairs of the diocesan Racial Justice and Healing Commission.
