When is Sacred Ground being offered next at All Saints Church?
Our next season of Sacred Ground Circles launches February 24 meeting through July 15, with both in-person an online options.
Registration opens January 25 and space will be limited.
Click here to register.
For more information, email SacredGroundASC@gmail.com.
What is Sacred Ground?
Sacred Ground is a film-and-readings-based dialogue series on race, grounded in faith. Small groups are invited to walk through chapters of America’s history of race and racism, while weaving in threads of family story, economic class, and political and regional identity. Part of Becoming Beloved Community — The Episcopal Church’s long-term commitment to healing, reconciliation, and justice in our personal lives, our ministries, and our society — the 11-part series is built around a powerful online curriculum of documentary films and readings that focus on Indigenous, Black, Latino, and Asian/Pacific American histories as they intersect with European American histories.
The series is especially designed to help white people talk with other white people. Participants are invited to peel away the layers that have contributed to the challenges and divides of the present day – all while grounded in our call to faith, hope and love.
Who created Sacred Ground and Why?
The dialogue series developer and author is Katrina Browne, producer/director of the documentary Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Deep North. Browne is a lifelong Episcopalian who is dedicated to racial justice and healing. As a white woman, she is particularly concerned with the important work white people need to do in conversation with each other, as part of the larger Becoming Beloved Community initiative.
More here: https://www.episcopalchurch.org/sacred-ground/about/
What is the history of Sacred Ground at All Saints Church?
Sacred Ground is not new to All Saints Church. In 2021 a number of parish leaders and staff members assisted in introducing the program here in the Diocese of Los Angeles. Many of those who participated at that time were hoping to widen the circle by creating a parish-wide opportunity to engage with the material. In 2025 our first series of Sacred Ground Circles were launched as part of a wider process for healing relationships which have been wounded by a void in the ability to talk about and embrace each other’s racial history and identity. Over 90 parish members participated in the first series, with a second series set to be offered in the spring of 2026.
PDF version of Intro to Sacred Ground presentation offered by Susan Russell on January 19 in the Forum
Here’s what former Presiding Bishop Michael Curry had to say about Sacred Ground:
See also our “Telling The Whole Story: All Saints’ History of Jim Crow Segregation and St. Barnabas Church” webpage.
