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May 2002
Continuing the journey of reconciliation-anti-racism day
I declare May 5 as Anti-Racism Day in our diocese of Newark.
I would ask that at all of our services on Saturday evening
and Sunday we pray for reconciliation in our world and for
an end to racism in every form in our nation, our cities,
our corporations, our churches, and in ourselves.
I reflected in my message in April on the work done at the
House of Bishops on reconciliation and encouraged you to
look at how you might participate in Christ’s reconciling
work, personally, and within your district or in our diocese,
and globally.
I want to encourage you to continue that work and to focus
especially on the areas of violence and racism. We have two
very important events happening in our diocese in May, that
provide an opportunity for each of us to engage in personal
and communal reflection, conversation and action about these
two very great sins.
The first event, “Sharing the Power,” takes
place May 4 and is facilitated by the Mission to Dismantle
Racism. You will find the details of this event in this issue
of The Voice. I call this to your attention because you know,
as do I, that the evil of racism and the sin of violence
that may be engendered by racism continues to be rampant
in our country, in our communities, and still in many of
our hearts. Here in our diocese of Newark, we have at our
Diocesan Convention, pledged ourselves to eradicate this
sin. We’ve required anyone running for an elected diocesan
leadership position to take anti-racism training. I can tell
you that to date more than 850 individuals, from over 90
of our congregations and nearly all of the major organizations
and commissions of our diocese have taken this training.
These are numbers of which we can be very proud. But, we
all know that a few hours conversation is only a beginning.
We must continually examine our attitudes and behaviors and
be in conversation with others who see the face of Christ
in the other and not the face of a stranger. I hope you will
make the May 4th event a priority in your life. Both Paul
Moore and Michael Battle are eloquent spokespersons concerning
this important part of our lives.
Racism is not the only area of our lives that we need to
continually examine – There is also the violence that
we perpetrate against neighbors, family members and colleagues
either through physical, sexual and emotional abuse or through
acts of rage and violence, often directed at gay and lesbian
people, at women, and at children. On May 21, we will welcome
the Rt. Rev. Jon Bruno, Bishop of Los Angeles, and a team
of 12 young people who are in the midst of a pilgrimage across
America to speak about and with us on violence.
“Rosa Parks kept her seat on a bus, and that moment
defined the rest of the civil rights movement,” Bishop
Bruno said in a recent interview outlining the tour, which
includes return-route pilgrimages to Atlanta, Montgomery
and Memphis sites honoring the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr. “As our own van moves across country, the
young people and I will contemplate, from our own bus seats,
how we can act more courageously to see that peace and justice
prevails over violence now and into the future.” This
event, “Hands in Healing” is described on the
front page of The Voice.
Reconciliation and a renunciation of violence and of racism
requires courage, requires faith, requires love. If we begin
with love, with the love of Christ, and continue in faith
that Christ is with us, then we will find the courage to
confront our faults and flaws and to discover how to be reconciled
to each other. Let us continue this journey together.
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