By the Rev. Miguel Bustos
There’s lots of news on the Sacred Ground front: news about changes in Sacred Ground’s leadership and news about ways to leap from Zoom to an in-person gathering of the Sacred Ground community this summer.
First, after four years leading the extraordinary growth of the Sacred Ground program and community, preceded by half a year of writing the foundational core curriculum, Katrina Browne is stepping into a new role as strategic consultant for Sacred Ground.
“It feels like the right moment to step back and welcome new leadership,” Browne said. “It has been an incredible honor to support the initiative of lay leaders and clergy across the church who have taken the curriculum and journeyed with it in their own locally relevant ways.” She will continue to be of service in an advisory manner, but the day-to-day care and leadership of Sacred Ground has migrated to a new leader.
We are pleased to welcome Lallie Lloyd, who has begun to serve as lead consultant for Sacred Ground. Lloyd joined an early pilot circle of Sacred Ground at her congregation on Cape Cod in Massachusetts. After George Floyd’s murder in May 2020, she helped gather and support 12 facilitators who led almost 100 people through Sacred Ground.
Lloyd comes to us having served as the founding executive director of All Our Children, a movement in support of Episcopal congregations’ partnerships with their local schools to advance education equity. She has more than 20 years’ experience in education equity policy, during which she worked for a number of major national foundations and large urban school districts. She serves on the vestry of St Mary’s Episcopal Church in Barnstable, Massachusetts, and over the years has been both appointed and elected to servant leadership in the wider church, including several interim bodies and twice as deputy to General Convention from the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts. Lloyd is the author of “All Our Children, the Church’s Role in Education Equity” and has master’s degrees from the Wharton School of Business and Episcopal Divinity School.
Sacred Ground takes another big step this summer. We’re inviting Sacred Ground participants—past, present, or future—to a gathering in connection with “It’s All About Love” in Baltimore. At 2 to 5 p.m. on Sunday, July 9—just before the festival officially begins—you’re welcome to the Baltimore Convention Center to meet-and-greet, connect, and celebrate with others who share the Sacred Ground journey. If you want to help with this event or stay updated on details, email sacredground@episcopalchurch.org and let us know.
This summer’s gathering will be the first in what we hope will be a series of in-person regional gatherings with the Sacred Ground community, with a special eye toward encouraging and equipping each other for justice and action in our communities. Stay tuned for ways to meet up on Sacred Ground.
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The Rev. Miguel Bustos is The Episcopal Church’s manager for racial justice and reconciliation.