WEDNESDAY, MAY 12, 6:30 P.M., via Zoom

UPDATE: Follow-up Conversation to Absalom Jones Center “Dismantling Racism” Training

If you participated in a session of the day-long Absalom Jones Center’s “Dismantling Racism” program, come join in a follow-up conversation via Zoom with your fellow Saint Markians. Dean Thomason, Canon Daugherty, and Canon Ross have all taken the training and look forward to talking with others who participated at any point these past three months, to share about our thoughts, feelings, and take-aways. If you would like to join the conversation, please email Canon Ross: nross@saintmarks.org.

And if you are interested in registering for the Absalom Jones Center “Dismantling Racism” training, there are still dates available in the coming months: https://www.centerforracialhealing.org/training  This great program out of Atlanta is focused on increasing racial understanding, healing, and reconciliation. Although there is no charge to take the training, pre-registration is required no later than one week in advance. (And note: it’s offered Eastern Time, so starts at 6 a.m. for us West Coasters!)

TRAININGS VIA ZOOM RUN FROM 6 A.M. TO 1 P.M. PACIFIC TIME
SELECTION OF DATES AVAILABLE, BEGINNING IN AUGUST

CATHEDRAL DISCUSSION GATHERING ON WEDNESDAY, MAY 12

While the world is meeting via Zoom, the Saint Mark’s community has an opportunity to participate in Dismantling Racism Trainings with The Absalom Jones Episcopal Center for Racial Healing in Atlanta, Georgia, focused on increasing racial understanding, healing, and reconciliation. Let’s take advantage of this significant resource – and then share our learning and reflections in an upcoming Zoom gathering on the evening of Wednesday, May 12 at the cathedral! The Absalom Jones Center provides tools and experiences that allow faith communities to engage in dismantling racism through education, prayer, dialogue, pilgrimage, and spiritual formation.

Six people per date from one community are permitted to sign up for a seven-hour training, which is scheduled on many upcoming weekdays and Saturdays. Although there is no charge to take the training, pre-registration is required no later than one week in advance. Register here. (Note that Zoom classes are offered only until it is safe to meet in person again, as classes are filling up quickly, so sooner is better!) Questions? Contact: Canon Nancy Ross: nross@saintmarks.org.

In the cosmology of North and South American peoples, Turtle Island is the geographic region covering Canada, United States, Central America, and South America. Join together online Sunday, April 25, at 11:00am to worship Jesus with Episcopalians from all over the Diocese of Olympia led by our Circles of Color and focused on the languages, cultures, and experiences of the First Peoples of Turtle Island, with a specific focus on communities from within Province 8. This online service is a chance for diocesan-wide worship, learning, connection, and conversation, as well as an opportunity to give our working clergy a Sunday off from preaching and presiding.

The One Service will include a Town Hall webinar after worship with Bishop Rickel and members of Circles of Color to process the worship experience and go deeper into dialogue around issues of race and culture in our diocese, with special attention to the experiences of Indo-Hispanic/Indigenous peoples and a specific focus on communities from within Province 8. And join us beginning at 10:00am for a musical prelude featuring music from churches across the diocese! All are welcome, and congregations are encouraged to “attend” together in whatever ways you can – viewing parties, online watch parties, or whatever means are safe and responsible given the state of the pandemic at that time.

Follow the link below for the full schedule and links to access the service and the Town Hall.

FULL SCHEDULE AND LINKS

Canon Walter Brownridge leads Q&A and concluding reflections 

SUNDAY, APRIL 11, 12:30-2 P.M., via Zoom. Register at this link. 

Introductory presentation by Canon Brownridge occurred SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 1-2 P.M., via Zoom. See video below. 

Community discussion with small breakout groups occurred WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24, 6:30-8 P.M.

Gather via Zoom on February 28 at 1 p.m. with Saint Mark’s Theologian-in-Residence, The Rev. Canon Walter Brownridge, for an introduction to acclaimed African-American religious leader and theologian Howard Thurman’s legacy (watch here or above). Canon Brownridge’s presentation leads off an invitation to read for Lent Thurman’s foundational work Jesus and the Disinherited, exploring the Gospel as a manual of resistance for the poor and disenfranchised. (You may recall that Canon Brownridge discussed Thurman in his sermon of January 17.) We will follow up on March 24 for an online discussion of the book together with Saint Mark’s clergy at 6:30–8 p.m.

Howard Thurman was a pastor, teacher, preacher, writer, and mystic. He played a guiding role in many social justice movements and organizations of the twentieth century. His writings formed the spiritual foundation for the modern, nonviolent civil rights movement and he was a key mentor to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In Jesus and the Disinherited, Thurman interprets the teachings of Jesus through the experience of the oppressed and discusses nonviolent responses to oppression.

Register for the concluding discussion on March 24 at this link. Questions? Contact Canon Jennifer Daugherty at jkdaugherty@saintmarks.org.