Sacred ground - our ongoing journey to love our neighbor as ourself

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What is Sacred Ground?

Sacred Ground, a film-based dialogue series on race and faith, is one tool that supports the Episcopal Church’s long-term commitment to racial healing, reconciliation and justice under the banner of Becoming Beloved Community.

You can find more about Sacred Ground here: Sacred Ground

What does participating in Sacred Ground look like?

At St. Luke’s we formed a group of fifteen people and met every other week over the course of eleven sessions. On our own time, we watched the videos and read material that prepared us for our next conversation.

You can look at detailed notes of two of our classes here.

What are you doing about it?

We are currently discerning how we are going to continue to live into our baptismal covenant of respecting the dignity of every human being. We are going to strive to make every aspect of our Church reflect the justice that we want to see in the world, and we want to expand our relationships so we can hear the whole chorus of voices that sing God’s praises, and who call for justice.

We look forward to telling you more as we continue on this journey. In the meantime you can follow this link to learn how we are helping our music ministry reflect this promise.

Is this just about the experience of African Americans?

No. Sacred Ground provides an in-depth look at how many groups of people in our United States have endured pain, violence, death, and physical and cultural genocide as a result of government laws, religious practices, and individual’s monetary and psychological needs to dehumanize others.

We looked at the effects on

Black people brought here expressly to be enslaved and who lost all rights to their own lives, liberty, and family
Indigenous Peoples whose cultures and land rights were violated
Latinos, long-time residents whose land was stolen
Chinese who came for the Gold Rush but encountered all kinds of restrictions
White factory workers who lost their way of life and were threatened by job loss.

Small snapshots from the multiple videos and short essays will remain in your mind. Overall, the course is a call out of complacency and into taking action to show love for our neighbor. It reminds us that our neighbors are very much like ourselves.