Urban Caucus Calls Episcopalians to Envision a Post-racist Church
Episcopal News Service. March 5, 1992 [92058]
Ariel Miller, Editor of Interchange, the newspaper of the Diocese of Southern Ohio
Black, white, Asian, and Spanish-speaking Episcopalians representing regions from the Dominican Republic to the state of Washington challenged each other to envision a "post-racist church" at the annual meeting of the Episcopal Urban Caucus (EUC) in Cincinnati, February 26-29.
Participants addressed the theme "A Church for All Races, a Church to End Racism," calling each other and the wider church to face the reality of racism, to repent, and to lead the way to a post-racist society.
Bishop Herbert Thompson of Southern Ohio described the Episcopal Church as "wonderfully placed and poised to lead a fractious, tribalistic, fearful nation and world into a new day." He called on participants to "appreciate, receive, welcome, and enable the gifts that each of us brings."
Thompson asserted that there is a built-in flexibility in Anglicanism to respond to different cultures. "In America we have often assumed that the Anglican liturgical and theological traditions don't adapt well to other cultures -- yet the reality is overwhelmingly to the contrary," he said.
Responding to Thompson's address, delegates spoke passionately of the tension they experience between the reconciling potential of the Episcopal Church and the reality of the current situation. Spanish-speaking participants, for example, expressed anguish at the persistent stereotypes and even invisibility attached to Episcopalians who are labeled "Hispanic," although they come from an immense diversity of ethnic, cultural, and geographical backgrounds.
"We agreed that there is a sense of superiority if we approach racism from the point of view of 'accepting' one another," said Pat Simpson-Turner of the Union of Black Episcopalians in the Diocese of Chicago, describing the debate in a workshop on multicultural parishes. "The idea of 'embracing' fits better. Instead of the 'melting pot,' we prefer the salad bowl image, where each ingredient has an individual taste," Simpson-Turner said.
Some participants said that limited financial resources on the national level may threaten the Episcopal Church's ability to respond to the overwhelming need in the inner cities.
"The future of the empowerment ministries would appear to be quite grim," said Diane Porter, the executive of Advocacy, Witness, and Justice Ministries at the Episcopal Church Center in New York. Porter addressed the EUC following the decision by the Executive Council to reduce financial support for national programs by 35 percent.
"Our job is to hold our church's feet to the fire until we live into our collective responsibility to feed, heal, and liberate those who are in any kind of bondage," Porter insisted.
The Rev. Canon Edward Rodman of Massachusetts reviewed resolutions regarding racism from the General Convention, and the results of the racial audit questionnaire filled out by the General Convention delegates.
Although the audit revealed some telling differences among ethnic groups in their perceptions of the church, delegates to the convention in Phoenix agreed overwhelmingly (82 percent) that the Episcopal Church is called to fight for cultural diversity.
The audit also revealed that 62 percent of General Convention participants agreed that issues facing people of color are often referred to committees for further study rather than receiving direct action. Furthermore, 70 percent of the audit's respondents felt that the church was paying inadequate attention to the problem of racism in the church.
Since more than 73 percent of the survey respondents were white, the results revealed a powerful mandate for the church to improve its behavior on racial and ethnic reconciliation.
One participant suggested that the defeat of a paid holiday honoring Martin Luther King, Jr., by Arizona voters was an ironic twist of providence for the General Convention. "That's why the Episcopal Church spent at least some time on institutional racism," said Byron Rushing of the Diocese of Massachusetts.
The EUC will work with the national church on implementing diocesan racial audits and helping dioceses to adopt General Convention's resolutions on racism as their own. In addition, the EUC will monitor the national church's progress on racism.
At the final session of the meeting, participants and the board laid out the EUC's work for the year ahead. Their goals include adopting a common definition of racism and multiculturalism, and collecting and disseminating models of current anti-racism work.