from the VTS Anglican Communion Commentary
10/8/2008
On Saturday, October 4 a number of us from VTS attended a Service of Repentance at historic St. Thomas Church in Philadelphia. The service was part of a solemn two-day observance which constituted a public apology for the Episcopal Church’s involvement in the institution of transatlantic slavery. The service was mandated by the 2006 General Convention resolution A123 which declared that slavery was, is and will always be a sin. The resolution asked the Presiding Bishop to call for a “Day of Repentance and Reconciliation.” The Rev. C. David Williams, president of the Union of Black Episcopalians, said that the Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori’s call for a “Day of Repentance” was “extraordinary.”
In her sermon the Presiding Bishop seemed to let no one off the hook. We heard of the sources of J.P. Morgan’s wealth, even as he initiated the Church Pension Fund. A farm dependent on slaves is part of the early history of Trinity Church in the City of New York. The Presiding Bishop told those gathered that slave labor was utilized in the building of Virginia Theological Seminary. Our church, North and South, benefited from the institution of transatlantic slavery, and there is no shortage of guilt from the top down. The stains of slavery run so deep that a “Day of Repentance and Reconciliation” calls for more days, long days of conversation, repentance and reconciliation. Virginia Theological Seminary will spend the rest of its days dealing with its own stains and involvement in the institution of transatlantic slavery.
In writing resolution 123, John Vanderstar, Executive Council member, said: “I strongly believe that the church needs to confront its past and change its future.” As I listened to the Presiding Bishop’s sermon, I thought of our church and the Anglican Communion and the need we have to “confront” the past and to “change” the future. Our church always needs days of repentance. What are we doing today that will require an apology from those who come after us in the future?
- Barney Hawkins
Showing posts with label Slavery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Slavery. Show all posts
09 October 2008
03 October 2008
Episcopal Church to apologize for slavery: from the Philadelphia Inquirer
Rev. Absolom Jonesfrom the Philadelphia Inquirer:
In what has become the cause du jour this year, the Episcopal Church will publicly make amends for its part in the trans-Atlantic slave trade with a "Day of Repentance" today and tomorrow.
The two-day event at the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas, at 6361 Lancaster Ave., Overbrook, was mandated by a resolution at the church's General Convention in 2006.
The event begins today at 1 p.m. with presentations on the church's role in the slave trade. Tomorrow, the services are scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m.
Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori will conduct the service at the church, founded in 1792 by Absalom Jones, a former slave and the first black Episcopal priest.
Jayne Oasin, staff officer for the New York-based Episcopal Church Center, said that the church can't deny its complicity in slavery even after the trans-Atlantic slave trade was outlawed in 1808.
She noted that some historic Episcopal churches were built using slave labor and that members owned or profited from industries associated with it.
"Slavery went against God's law of equality and justice," she said. "This apology is made to the descendants [of those] who were wronged."
The Rev. Martini Shaw, rector of St. Thomas, said that it's fitting to host this event at the oldest black church.
"I'm absolutely ecstatic and excited about it," he said. "When anyone enters reconciliation and the sacrament of repentance, that is always a good thing," he said.
In part, the resolution declared that the "peculiar institution . . . was and is a sin and a fundamental betrayal of the humanity of all persons who were involved."
The Episcopal Church's apology comes in the wake of several apologies made by government and religious entities recently.
In 1995, the Southern Baptist Church was the first religious organization to denounce its role in slavery. Last year, Virginia became the first state to issue a public apology; several states, including New Jersey and Maryland, followed. Last July, Congress issued an apology.
Critics who oppose the acts of contrition say that it's an attempt to seek reparations and stroke white guilt.
But Shaw sees it as redemption for all those who were involved.
"You can forgive a person for the actions taken. We shouldn't forget slavery, but to forgive the perpetrators." *
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