Episcopal Church to hold 'Day of Repentance' to apologize for participation in slavery
Posted October 10th, 2008
Atwo-day solemn observance has been planned for Oct. 3-4 at the historic African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas in Philadelphia, Pa., where the Episcopal Church will publicly apologize for its involvement in the institution of transatlantic slavery. Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori will serve as celebrant and preacher at the October 4 service of repentance.
"This gathering is of vital importance because this is a stain on the church that's been around for a long time," said John Vanderstar, Executive Council member and author of resolution A123, which called for the occasion. "I strongly believe that the church needs to confront its past and change its future." The 2006 General Convention resolution A123 declared that the institution of slavery in the United States and "anywhere else in the world" was and is a sin, and mandated that the church acknowledge and express regret for its support of slavery and for supporting "de jure and de facto segregation and discrimination" for years after slavery's abolition.
The resolution also asked the Presiding Bishop to call for a "Day of Repentance and Reconciliation" and to organize a service.
"[By publicly apologizing] it will show that this is not an Episcopal problem, this is not a Christian problem, this is a human problem that we have marginalized and oppressed others, that we have not regarded every one as God's equal creation but we're not going to be that way anymore," said the Rev. Jayne Oasin, program officer for Anti-Racism and Gender Equality for the Episcopal Church.
"To say that we are in the midst of change is to understate the case," said the Rev. C. David Williams, president of the Union of Black Episcopalians. "When we factor in the Obama phenomenon in this country and around the world, and couple it with the Congress of the United States as it prepares to give apology for the nation's part in the heinous human crime of Slavery, the Presiding Bishop's call for this "Day of Repentance" is extraordinary."
