News and Events on Reparations
Catch up on diocesan reparations news and events and subscribe to the Diocesan Bulletin to receive the latest updates about reparations in the Diocese of Washington.
News on Reparations
The below articles first appeared in the Diocesan Bulletin newsletter.
- Parish History: The Stories That We Tell (08/24/2023)
- The Policy Working Group of the Committee on Diocesan Reparations (08/20/2023)
- The Education Working Group of the Committee on Diocesan Reparations (07/27/2023)
- Taking Our Next Faithful Steps Toward Diocesan Reparations (07/13/2023)
- Committee on Diocesan Reparations – Members Announced (05/22/2023)
- Diocese of Washington Passes Resolution on Reparations (02/02/2023)
Repairing the Breach: 2022 Symposium on Reparations
On October 1, 2022, representatives from parishes across the diocese came together in person and online to reckon with our diocesan history of participation in anti-Black racism and learn more about the legacy of benefit we have received from that participation.
This symposium laid the groundwork for presenting a resolution publicly acknowledging these harms at the 2023 Diocesan Convention.
Agenda and Materials
Materials from the event include:
- The Repairing the Breach: A Symposium on Reparations packet (PDF) with:
- The symposium agenda
- A biography of the keynote speaker, The Rev. Dr. Kelly Brown Douglas, Dean of Episcopal Divinity School at Union Theological Seminary and Canon Theologian at Washington National Cathedral
- Small group exercises from the symposium
- An Analysis of Current Reparations Programs in the United States (PDF)
- Questions generated by symposium participants (PDF)
During a final breakout session, participants generated these questions in response to this challenge: What would mean, and what would it require, for the diocese and its congregations to make reparations for the harms of racism?
Video Highlights and Presentations
- Keynote address: Why Reparations? | The Rev. Dr. Kelly Brown Douglas
- Historical involvement with chattel slavery in the Diocese of Washington | Franklin A. Robinson, Jr., archivist with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History
- Presentation: Enslavement in the Church of Maryland, 1692-1864 (PDF)
- Testimonials from Parish History Projects:
- Closing remarks and next steps | The Rev. Peter Jarrett-Schell, chair of the Reparations Task Force
- Call to action | The Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde
- Full video of the symposium