Spirituality & Race Mission

This mission will transform and change as necessary; but like all faith formation, it never really ends!

We’ve learned that there is a desire to break down the barriers of geography, race, class, etc. that separate us and prevent us from becoming the body of Christ. We’ve learned that we have to be flexible, meeting people in the many different stages of life and learning that they find themselves. We’ve learned that we need a spirituality that is not a palliative, but a robust practice that strengthens and renews us to answer the prophetic call to justice.

A Prayer for Spirituality and Race by Sister Vee

Beloved One:
May your holy reign of justice and peace
Come on earth and in heaven.
Give us today neither poverty nor riches,
But only our daily bread;
So that we may never turn from you,
Either in bitterness from want,
Or in arrogance from plenty.
Beloved One, you are always forgiving us;
Give us grace to turn to each other  with the same forgiveness.
Beloved One, we walk a wilderness road
That is often dark and beset by evil;
Be our steadfast companion, our light, and our sure rescue;
For you are Love:  Uncreated, Incarnate and Everlasting.
Amen.

Anti-Racism Curriculum

Canons require clergy, people running for elected office within the diocese, and people in the ordination process to take anti-racism training. Click the button below to learn about and register for the Diocese of Michigan anti-racism curriculum.

There has been remarkable participation in what we’ve done so far; obviously, immediately after George Floyd was murdered, there was a heightened sense of reckoning. We’ve followed up that momentum by framing our response as part of our faith, as part of what it means to embody Christ in the world. Our book studies in Advent and Lent have been particularly well attended; our short courses offer one-time, hour long dives into specific topics and are small-group discussions; we’ve also partnered with the Episcopal Divinity School at Union Theological Seminary to create and participate in a two-year program called Anglicanism and Social Justice, which gives a theological ground to our work around racism, poverty, sexuality, and gender equality, as well as environmental justice. Lay leaders in our Diocese also worked to create Diocesan-wide participation in the Sacred Ground curriculum, a program developed by the national Church to create Beloved Community through small-group dialogue circles.