Service of Repentance, Healing and Reconciliation

The Most Reverend Katherine Jefferts Schori (left) and the Rt. Rev. G. Porter Taylor deliver the message of repentance, healing, and reconciliation to parishioners attending the Repairing the Breach Service at Trinity Episcopal Church in Asheville.  Photo: Urban News

Held at Trinity Episcopal Church

By Johnnie Grant

The Most Reverend Katharine Jefforts Schori, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church USA, delivered the keynote message of “Repentance, Healing and Reconciliation” at Trinity Church in downtown Asheville on Saturdy, April 9.

In her message Rev. Schori stated, “We are here to be reminded that God has broken down these walls for us. That none of us will be complete unless we can eliminate what binds us. We should be praying for courage to reach beyond what has separated us.”

The Right Reverend G. Porter Taylor, bishop of the Diocese of Western
North Carolina, extended an official apology for the diocese’s
complicity in the institutions of slavery and segregation. As members of
the congregation listened intently to the message delivered, all were
reminded of the part they should play in the elimination of racism.
Those present celebrated God’s power to heal past and present wounds
through the power of love. The service included an opportunity for
healing prayers and other elements to help embrace a future of hope, a
renewed life, and spirit.

During the past two years, the entire WNC Diocese has prepared for this
service. Last spring, and this past fall, the Commission to Dismantle
Racism sponsored several workshops with people from a number of parishes
to lead in this “truth and reconciliation” process.

Parishioners from Asheville area and Western North Carolina Episcopal churches gather for the Reconciliation service.  Photo: Urban News

Parishes were
encouraged to continue the process of exploring the painful dimensions
of our history; both to learn from it, and to seek ways of becoming
“repairers of the breach.” As a result, many parishes have sponsored
classes and discussions around race and injustice. Some have begun
exploring the painful racial dimensions of their own parish histories.
Others have collected oral histories from people who lived through
segregation and the civil rights movement of the 1960s. A few have
reached out into their communities and begun to build bridges across
historic racial divides.

On the diocesan level, Rev. Jim Abbott, Rector of St. Matthias’ Church
of Asheville, is currently in the process of writing a diocesan history
entitled Unfinished Journey: Facing Our Past to Find our Way Forward in
Our Quest for Racial Healing, Equality and Reconciliation in the Diocese
of NC/WNC, which will be available next fall.

For more information, or if you have historical material which you think
might be helpful to Fr. Abbott and his history book Unfinished Journey,
you may contact him at (828) 285-0033 or [email protected].