The diocesan Antiracism Commission (ARC) is sponsoring a new one-day, in-person anti-racism training entitled “Faith and Race: Lay Leadership Training,” which will help launch and sustain work in our diocesan congregations to dismantle systemic racism.

The training is designed for church lay leaders in accordance with Resolution F-185 of the 2022 Diocesan Convention, as well as meeting the requirements for The Episcopal Church. This program satisfies the diocesan recommendation for one-day training for lay leaders, including wardens and vestry members, and examines why our faith matters in dismantling systemic racism in the context of our baptismal covenant and The Episcopal Church’s long-term commitment to racial healing, reconciliation, and justice as part of Beloved Community.

The curriculum is based on the Sacred Ground curriculum and uses video, handouts and small group discussion to facilitate the journey from where a parish is to where it wants to be in terms of faith and race. The training is intended to be parish based and to provide an opportunity for lay leadership to talk together openly about opportunities as well as barriers to change. This is training for lay leadership, not clergy.

Course objectives include:

1. personal learning and
2. opening some windows and doors for a parish in terms of thinking about race and racism, including:
   a. what they currently do;
   b. want they would like to do;
   c. thinking outside the box about what could be done; and
   d. what are the barriers to antiracism work in the parish and community.

Content areas to be covered include:

1. Race and white privilege;
2. Indigenous history;
3. Black history and the impact of slavery;
4. Latino history;
5. Asian/Pacific American history;
6. Selective access to the American Dream; and
7. The journey forward.

The diocese will provide two trained facilitators to lead the session. Parishes needs to recruit a minimum of six and a maximum of 10 lay leaders to participate in the training. Two parishes could collaborate to reach the maximum as long as there is approximately an equal number from each parish to make the small group process worthwhile for each parish.

To set up a date and time for this training contact ARC Training Coordinator Ed Manning.