ACE: Sacred Ground

All are invited to join an 11-week ACE series called Sacred Ground, beginning Sunday, July 19.

Sacred Ground is part of Becoming Beloved Community, the Episcopal Church’s long-term commitment to racial healing, reconciliation, and justice in our personal lives, our ministries, and our society. Click here to learn more about Sacred Ground from Presiding Bishop Michael Curry. This series is open to all, and 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.

Participation in the weekly Sacred Ground sessions will require watching videos and reading short articles each week prior to the Sunday group meeting. Depending on the number that sign up, we might break up into smaller groups as we are all 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.

The curriculum uses films and readings to introduce stories, images, and language for grasping racial identity and experience across the spectrum. More than a teaching tool, Sacred Ground aims to call us from our small worlds and small screens and into intentional, sustained circles in which we can pray, watch, share our own stories, reflect, wonder, reckon, heal, and commit to action. Think of it as a “pilgrimage in place.”

As Dr. Catherine Meeks, an Episcopal leader in this work, likes to say: No one needs to accomplish total healing instantly; just be “a shade braver” than you were the day before. Every time you do, you should pause, breathe, and look around. You will notice you are, indeed, standing on sacred ground.

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May God make us brave. May God root us in our own and others’ absolute belovedness. May God grant us a vision for beloved community and lead us with care and boldness on the sacred path toward that dream. Amen.