"Confronting the Past: Changing the Future" will begin on October 3, 1-6 p.m. with a reception and workshops focusing on the following:

• Narratives of the Episcopal Church, slavery and Jim Crow segregation
• The use of scripture to support slavery
• The continuing reality of institutional racism in the church and society
• Examples of initiatives for the "repairing of the breach" (Is. 59:12)

"As you know the Episcopal Church is committed to eradicating the sin of racism and a number of resolutions have been passed by General Convention to require anti-racism training of all of the leadership of the Church," said the Rev. Jayne Oasin, program officer for Anti-Racism and Gender Equality.

She said that, although to date 80 dioceses and members of national committees and commissions have complied with the training mandate, the church still has a long way to go "to incorporate an anti-racist sensibility in all of the congregations" and that sadly, "few of our congregations reflect the rich diversity of God's creation."

In a March 21, 2006 pastoral letter to the church marking the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the House of Bishops revisited its 1994 pastoral letter "The Sin of Racism," which stated that "the essence of racism is prejudice coupled with power. It is rooted in the sin of pride and exclusivity which assumes 'that I and my kind are superior to others and therefore deserve special privileges.'"

The bishops issued a new pastoral letter "on the pervasive sin that continues to plague our common life in the church and in our culture. We acknowledge our participation in this sin and we lament its corrosive effects on our lives. We repent of this sin, and ask God's grace and forgiveness."

Citing the importance of this gathering, Oasin said "unless we learn the lessons of history we will be doomed to repeat its mistakes."

"When we honestly and forthrightly look at the past -- the past of our church and this country -- as painful as that may be, we can begin to create a new future of justice and equity," she explained.

Further information is available here.