The Peace and Justice Committee works on the root causes of oppression and violence seeking systemic change. We welcome representatives from all congregations as committee members or as part of our grassroots liaison network. Our committee also serves as a chapter of the Episcopal Peace Fellowship. For information about upcoming meetings please contact Ellen Lindeen.
We are involved in advocacy and education with a special focus on refugee work, gun violence, economic justice, the Middle East, immigration reform, anti-racism work, support for the Standing Rock reservation, and LGBTQ issues.
The committee also administers The Rev. Seiichi Michael Yasutake Peace and Justice Award.
The Rev. S. Michael Yasutake Peace & Justice Award
The Rev. Seiichi Michael Yasutake Peace and Justice Award recognizes those who devote time and talent to the cause of the oppressed in our midst and the lifting up of justice where there is little to none. Each year, the Peace & Justice Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago gives an award to a peacemaker in honor of the Rev. Seiichi Michael Yasutake .
This year the award was presented to two Episcopal priests, the Rev. Michael D. Rasicci and the Rev. Robert Trask, for whom our baptismal covenant—“seeking and serving Christ in all persons, striving for justice and peace among all people and respecting the dignity of every human being”—has defined their ministry. Humility is the quality that their colleagues and congregants always note. These pastors see the marginalized. They transmit a prophetic Gospel message of radical love and Christian responsibility. They view their churches 
as integral participants in a wider community so that faith and action for social justice are harmoniously intertwined.
The Rev. Michael Rasicci
The Rev. Michael Rasicci was ordained in the Roman Catholic Church in Ohio in 1980. He served more than seventeen years in a missionary group, three of those in Colombia, then married and continued three years as a priest in the Polish National Catholic Church in Chicago. He was received as an Episcopal priest in 2000 and has been rector at Calvary Episcopal Church in Batavia since 2002. Read more.
The Rev. Robert Trask
The Rev. Robert Trask discerned his call to the priesthood while serving as a vocational instructor at a Kansas state prison. He received his Masters of Divinity from Trinity Episcopal Seminary and completed his field education at Trinity Cathedral, Pittsburgh. There his mentor, Dean George Warner, nurtured Bob’s passion for social justice. Ordained in in 1984, he served in three dioceses before retiring to Illinois in 2013 and has since served at St. Barnabas in Glen Ellyn and as chaplain at St. Leonard’s Ministries. A dedicated member of Peace & Justice, he has been a board member and volunteer at a number of food pantries, soup kitchens, homeless shelters, and Habitat for Humanity. Read more.
Learn more about the Rev. S. Michael Yasutake and past award recipients:
- 2024: The Rev. Gary Cox
- 2023: Liz and Tom Kohlbeck and Jackie Kraus
- 2022: The Rev. Dr. Anthony Vaccaro
- 2021: Derrick Dawson
- 2020: The Rev. Sandra Castillo and Newland Smith
- 2019: John McLees
- 2018: Wanda Norris
- 2017: The Rev. Dr. Robert Cotton Fite
- 2016: Thomas P. Robb
- 2015: The Rev. Dr. Bonnie A. Perry
- 2014: The Rev. Rod Reinhart
- 2013: Angela Smith
- 2012: The Rev. Jacqueline Lynn
Recording of January 2023 Webinar on Confronting Israel’s Apartheid
On Thursday, January 12, 2023 at 7 pm, the Peace and Justice Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago and Episcopal Peace Fellowship-Palestine Israel Network hosted a webinar on confronting apartheid. The webinar builds on Resolution F-184, approved at the 2021 diocesan convention, that recognized that Israeli treatment of Palestinians constitutes apartheid as defined in international law.
Watch a recording in English with Spanish subtitles and view a transcript of the discussion that took place in the Zoom chat.
April 7, 2022 Workshop Recording of Reckoning and Reconciliation with Our Indigenous Neighbors: A Primer for All Who Seek for Justice
Forum on April 7, 2022 sponsored by the Peace and Justice Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago
Presenters: The Rev. Garth Howe, The Rev. Bob Trask, Mr. Newland Smith, The Rev. Kara Wagner Sherer
Watch the workshop recording on YouTube.
May 19, 2020 Webinar on Resolution G-182: Freedom of Speech and the Right to Boycott