Disciple: As a Christian People
By Alice Freeman
The Executive Council of The Episcopal Church is one of the interim governing bodies charged with accomplishing the ongoing work and tasks set forth at the triennial gatherings of General Convention, the main governing body of the Church. Comprised of 20 members elected at General Convention, 18 members elected by the Provincial Synods, and ex-officio members, including the presiding bishop, the president and vice president of the House of Deputies, the secretary and the treasurer, Executive Council members serve six-year terms. In addition to financial due diligence and addressing resolutions from General Convention, every meeting of Executive Council encompasses some aspect of the Church’s commitment to priority areas, including Beloved Community; The Way of Love; and the ministries of creation care, evangelism and racial reconciliation.
Executive Council meets three times a year in varying locations. The October 2019 meeting took place in the form of a pilgrimage to Montgomery, Alabama. This was not a random selection; though we would give time and attention to a multitude of areas, including the Anglican Consultative Council, Episcopal Migration Ministries, Navajoland mission support, corporate social responsibility, support for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (Saint Augustine’s and Voorhees), Episcopal Relief & Development, the 2020 revised budget, church plantings and grants, and nearly 50 resolutions from General Convention, the primary focus of the gathering was to further the discussion on Beloved Community and racial reconciliation. It is a discussion that must be addressed, and it must begin with truth-telling and acknowledgement. Most of all, this work must be done at every level of the Church, from its main governing body to every diocese, church and parishioner.
THE PAST AND PRESENT
The pilgrimage focused primarily on two museums in Montgomery: The Legacy Museum and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice.
Realizing the possible impact such a pilgrimage might have on participants, all members of Executive Council were asked to read Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson and participate in two webinars to prepare. Stevenson is an attorney, and the founder and director of the Equal Justice Initiative, responsible for creating the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, commonly referred to as “The Lynching Museum.” The Equal Justice Initiative has documented more than 4,000 lynchings in 800 counties across 12 southern states, as well as several hundred more in other states that occurred from 1877 to 1950.
The Legacy Museum chronicles the 400-year history of America’s racial violence and terrorism. Through video, hologram and audio, the cries of an enslaved people are so poignant and painful they seem to pierce the soul causing one to wonder, where was the soul of those who chose to commit such atrocities on God’s creation of man?
The answer was partially answered at the National Memorial for Peace and Justice when I read through tears the words of Mississippi Governor William McWillie in his 1857 appeal to perpetuate slavery, “[a]s a Christian People… it is the duty of the South to keep them in the present position, at any cost and at every peril.” Think about that: As a Christian people….
This is why this work is so important, and this is why your Executive Council, and your diocesan councils and committees, and your church leaders consider reconciliation an urgent priority. Racism is not a thing of the past; its legacy continues to resonate. As Christians—especially as Christians—we must willingly and honestly confront it, or be complicit in its perpetuation.
Alice Freeman is a member of St. Mark’s, Wilson, and an elected Province IV representative to Executive Council from the Diocese of North Carolina.
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