Commission to Dismantle Racism and Discrimination

Vision of The Commission

Download the Commission’s Vision Statement

Mission and Goals of The Commission

The mission and goals of the Commission are “to promote greater understanding, training and practice of dismantling racism and furthering reconciliation and justice, both by laity and clergy within the Church.”

Racial Reconciliation

“Reconciliation is the spiritual practice of seeking loving, liberating and life-giving relationship with God and one another, and striving to heal and transform injustice and brokenness in ourselves, our communities, institutions and society.”

(from The Episcopal Church’s Racial Reconciliation Team)

Pledge of Faith and Action Against Racial Injustice

I acknowledge and promise to reject injustice stemming from racism within my thoughts or actions. I will commit to accomplishing one or more acts of reconciliation as I reflect upon practices aligned with Jesus and beloved community. I will “turn from the powers of sin, hatred, fear, injustice and oppression toward the way of truth, love, hope, justice and freedom.”

Download the 2024 Pledge and resources for fulfilling it.

Grants

Dismantling Racism & Discrimination Grants

Membership

Helen Harper (Chair), Matthew Lincoln, Rose Sconiers, Susan Woods, Kim Rossi,  Diana Leiker, Leann McConchie, Ann Tillman, Thomas Tripp, Michelle Cray, Denise Clarke-Merriweather, Hal Payne, Christian Eshelman, Lillian Davis-Wilson, Marc Gutierrez, Deanna Scharf, Joseph Croskey, Stacey Fussell, Mark Elliston, Tracy Schliep, John Ranney, and Caleb Raught

History

The Diocese of Western New York’s Commission to Dismantle Racism and Discrimination was reborn in September 2018 when the Very Rev. Dr. Kelly Brown Douglas, dean of Episcopal Divinity School at Union Theological Seminary, visited the diocese to meet with the commission and give a public lecture.

“She presented fascinating information on the origins of racism in this country and on the particular ways segregation remains a significant issue in Buffalo, and she challenged us with her call that it isn’t up to Black people to explain racism to white people,” Canon Cathy Dempesy-Sims said. “Rather, it is up to white people to make the effort to listen and learn from others on how to bridge the divide that leads to the indiscriminate murders of Black people in this country.”

In the spring of 2019, the Bishop James Theodore Holly Chapter of the Union of Black Episcopalians (UBE), which includes several commission members, hosted the UBE’s Northeast Regional Conference in Niagara Falls. The weekend event included conversations based on Becoming Beloved Community, the Episcopal Church’s vision document on racial reconciliation, which includes the four quadrants of the Becoming Beloved Community labyrinth:  telling the truth, repairing the breach, proclaiming the dream, and practicing the way of love. The conversations were designed to help shape the action plan of the commission. Read a summary of the conversations.

In 2022, the Rev. Matt Lincoln, chair of the Commission, reported to the annual conventions. Watch it on YouTube.

To learn more about the commission and its work, email:

The Rev. Helen Harper, Chair
Susan Woods, First Vice-Chair for WNY
The Rev. Canon Stacey Fussell, NWPA