“If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to Godself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to the divine self, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us.”
– 2 Corinthians 5:17-19
“What is past is prologue.”
– William Shakespeare, The Tempest
“You have to tell the whole story, so you can write a new story.”
– The Rt. Rev. Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows
++++++++++
As we look towards the future of All Saints Church, it is vital that we understand our past—where relationship has been broken and where we have failed to live up to our own core values of courageous justice, ethical stewardship, radical inclusion, and joyful spirituality.
Paul writes that the central mission of we who walk with a revolutionary Jesus is reconciliation—bringing together what is broken and healing that which has been wounded. In the church, reconciliation is a sacramental process with five specific steps:
- Self-examination
- Confession
- Repentance/Reparation
- Amendment of Life
- Absolution/Living a Reconciled Life
The first step in the sacramental process of reconciliation is self-examination—learning from the past where we have gone astray and where healing is necessary. We have to do this, not out of an act of shame or self-flagellation but because, in the words of Bishop Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows: “You have to tell the whole story, so you can write a new story.” (You can watch some highlights from her sermon on the story of Christ Church Cathedral in Missouri, and the part slavery and racism played in that story here.)
- The Land We Are On The Land group has recently completed its report to the Vestry and has compiled its findings in a written paper. See our Land Acknowledgement here.
- Stained Glass and White Iconography The Stained Glass group is currently working on its report to the Vestry.
- St. Barnabas Church The St. Barnabas group is beginning its work of telling the story of All Saints’ role in necessitating the creation of a separate church rather than welcoming African Americans into its congregation.
What Happens Next?
While no story can ever be fully told, at some point we will have told the story as fully as we can and the work of these groups will be over. The group on the Land has now reached that stage. Upon completion of the task of Telling The Whole Story, a new working group will be established to help All Saints take the next steps in the process of reconciliation.
The next step is for us all to listen deeply, and determine where there has been wounding and broken relationship, and—centering the voices of those who have been wounded and marginalized—exploring what repentance and reparation looks like, and how we decide to follow that call. Then together we will, taking all we have learned, make new commitments to live together in a new and reconciled way into the future. What we learn on this journey will be fed into our strategic direction work, our work on intentional culture for staff and congregation, the PACES work on campus refreshment, and the ongoing work of liturgy, formation and service that is our common life.
We tell the whole story as best we can so we can write a new story—a story that will carry us into a new and reconciled future of radical inclusion, courageous justice, joyful spirituality and ethical stewardship.
“If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to Godself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to the divine self, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us.”
– 2 Corinthians 5:17-19
“What is past is prologue.”
– William Shakespeare, The Tempest
“You have to tell the whole story, so you can write a new story.”
– The Rt. Rev. Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows
++++++++++
As we look towards the future of All Saints Church, it is vital that we understand our past—where relationship has been broken and where we have failed to live up to our own core values of courageous justice, ethical stewardship, radical inclusion, and joyful spirituality.
Paul writes that the central mission of we who walk with a revolutionary Jesus is reconciliation—bringing together what is broken and healing that which has been wounded. In the church, reconciliation is a sacramental process with five specific steps:
- Self-examination
- Confession
- Repentance/Reparation
- Amendment of Life
- Absolution/Living a Reconciled Life
The first step in the sacramental process of reconciliation is self-examination—learning from the past where we have gone astray and where healing is necessary. We have to do this, not out of an act of shame or self-flagellation but because, in the words of Bishop Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows: “You have to tell the whole story, so you can write a new story.” (You can watch some highlights from her sermon on the story of Christ Church Cathedral in Missouri, and the part slavery and racism played in that story here.)
- The Land We Are On The Land group has recently completed its report to the Vestry and has compiled its findings in a written paper. See our Land Acknowledgement here.
- Stained Glass and White Iconography The Stained Glass group is currently working on its report to the Vestry.
- St. Barnabas Church The St. Barnabas group is beginning its work of telling the story of All Saints’ role in necessitating the creation of a separate church rather than welcoming African Americans into its congregation.
What Happens Next?
While no story can ever be fully told, at some point we will have told the story as fully as we can and the work of these groups will be over. The group on the Land has now reached that stage. Upon completion of the task of Telling The Whole Story, a new working group will be established to help All Saints take the next steps in the process of reconciliation.
The next step is for us all to listen deeply, and determine where there has been wounding and broken relationship, and—centering the voices of those who have been wounded and marginalized—exploring what repentance and reparation looks like, and how we decide to follow that call. Then together we will, taking all we have learned, make new commitments to live together in a new and reconciled way into the future. What we learn on this journey will be fed into our strategic direction work, our work on intentional culture for staff and congregation, the PACES work on campus refreshment, and the ongoing work of liturgy, formation and service that is our common life.
We tell the whole story as best we can so we can write a new story—a story that will carry us into a new and reconciled future of radical inclusion, courageous justice, joyful spirituality and ethical stewardship.