When Bishop Paula Clark took office in September, she was eager to find ways for the diocesan staff to reconnect with one other and build trust after several years of pandemic-related disruption and a long transition between bishops. As the staff strengthened its bonds, she reasoned, it would be well-positioned to look critically at the needs of the entire diocese as it emerged from the pandemic.

To accomplish these goals, she asked staff members to participate with her in Sacred Ground, an eleven-session Episcopal Church program about race that relies on books, articles, and videos to provide participants with history and perspectives about race and racism in the United States.

“We’re a very diverse diocese, and I thought that Sacred Ground would only heighten our sensitivity to the needs of the diocese,” Bishop Clark said. “It’s a way for the diocesan staff to get to know each other’s stories. It gives us a way of learning together and engaging challenging information, and candidly discussing it in a safe space, in a deeper and authentic and honest manner.”

The staff began Sacred Ground in January and has completed seven sessions so far, meeting together as regularly as schedules allow.

Rebecca Elfring-Roberts, the diocese’s assistant treasurer, appreciates the program’s pace, and finds that she is retaining more than when she has attended two-or-three-day intensive antiracism programs or trainings.

“We can have heavier content and not feel it has to be digested immediately. I couldn’t have read these Howard Thurman texts and come to a three-day meeting prepared to discuss it fully,” she said, referring to “Jesus and the Disinherited,” a book by renowned theologian Howard Thurman that is a core text of the Sacred Ground curriculum. “‘Read the preface and then we’ll talk about it is a much easier way to dive deep into these texts.”

Thurman, who taught at Boston University for more than a decade, knew Martin Luther King Jr. when the young pastor was a doctoral student there, and was also a friend of King’s father, Martin Luther King Sr. The younger King is said to have carried “Jesus and the Disinherited” with him during the Montgomery Bus Boycott and often quoted Thurman in sermons and speeches.

“It’s been valuable to do this over time rather than as a one-off,” Elfring-Roberts said. “It will serve us as we continue to grapple with this and hold ourselves accountable. I can see us reading other books, going to events, engaging in anti-racist conversation. The longevity is valuable, even with the required time commitment of reading and meetings.”

Doris Jones, the receptionist at the diocesan office, had never been part of a program like Sacred Ground, but was ready to give it a try after Bishop Clark asked the staff to participate.

“It was like being back in school with all the reading,” she said, but by the second session, she had learned to pace herself.

She has found the material surprising and enlightening. “I’ve learned so much, I’ve almost felt embarrassed by how uninformed I was,” she said. “Now, I don’t feel so alone: others felt uneducated, especially about the experiences of Native Americans and Latinos.” She described the readings and conversation as “stirring up a lot of emotions and compassion for what others have gone through.”

Elfring-Roberts, who has served on the bishop’s staff for twelve years, agreed. She credits the staff’s high level of trust for the Sacred Ground group’s ability to have deep conversations and share stories and experiences. While she initially had some concern that in a staff setting, hierarchy might inhibit honesty, it hasn’t seemed to be an issue among the bishop’s staff, she says.

“I’ve really valued the opportunity to grow together as a team, especially with a new leader,” she said.

For Jones, the experience has provided some professional context. “I’ve been on diocesan staff for three years and have felt welcomed and a part of the team from the beginning,” she said. “In my position as receptionist, however, I am able to observe so much that goes on here. I see others not being treated as well as I have been treated.”

Bishop Clark, who has participated in Sacred Ground twice before, hopes that the program’s readings will have staying power for the staff and, ultimately, for the people of the diocese. “’Jesus and the Disinherited’ as well as ‘Waking up White’ [another core text of the program] gave me insights I wouldn’t have had otherwise,” she said. “It was the start of my own quest to learn as much as I could about Howard Thurman and know what was on his mind.”

Jones recommends that other groups thinking about Sacred Ground follow the staff’s lead in taking a slow approach to Thurman and the program’s other readings. “Take your time, absorb the readings, the videos, the other material,” she said. “Some folks don’t necessarily speak up right away. Sharing discussion questions in advance and offering time to ponder will allow people like me to be more ready to participate.”

Elfring-Roberts plans to recommend the program to her congregation and believes it will strengthen the staff’s ongoing work. “The content and the conversations we’ve had have been helpful,” she said. “I appreciate the balance of specifically church-related material and broader material. I hope the diocese will hold us accountable as we try as a staff to be intentional in all our dealings with others.”

photo: the Bishop’s staff in 2022