Racial Healing
St. Stephen’s offers opportunities to learn about the racial history of our city and country and to engage in present day efforts of racial healing and reconciliation.
Sacred Ground
St. Stephen’s Church continues to hold space for conversations about race, structural racism, and injustice. Many members of our community have participated in Sacred Ground, a program where small groups discuss these issues in a non-judgmental, non-confrontational atmosphere.
Sacred Ground groups meet regularly–usually every other week–for two hours.
This peer-led, small group-based Episcopal Church dialogue series uses two core books, Waking Up White, by Debby Irving, and Jesus and the Disinherited, by Howard Thurman, as well as documentary films and short videos. Space is limited and registration is required. Groups meeting now began their time together in January 2024; we’ll announce upcoming groups soon.
Civil Rights Pilgrimage
Last year two members of our community, parishioner Kim Schmidt and staff member Anna Jones, participated in a civil rights pilgrimage. Kim and Anna joined Episcopalians from other churches to visit sites in the south which played important roles in the civil rights movement of the 1960s, guided by a participant in that movement. The pilgrimage came to the attention of our rector, the Rev. John Rohrs, through his relationships with the clergy and people of Christ Church in Raleigh, N.C., where he once served on the staff. The Rev. Mary Fisher Davila of Christ Church (formerly of St. Stephen’s) has taken part in these pilgrimages in the past and was present for this one, as well. This video describes the experience, which we hope to make available to more St. Stephen’s parishioners in the future.
St. Stephen’s Racial Healing Commission
St. Stephen’s Racial Healing Commission is envisioning and planning opportunities to further the reflection and engagement of parishioners in the vital work of racial healing. This is both inner and outer work, comprised of learning, self-reflection, and study, as well as active engagement with community partners seeking to build relationships and heal the wounds of systemic racism.
Many of our parishioners who have participated in Sacred Ground are looking for next steps and additional ways to deepen their engagement in the work of racial healing. This commission works alongside clergy and staff to facilitate those next steps. It functions as a joint commission of the Adult Formation Committee and the Outreach Committee, with committee representatives joining additional at-large members invited from the broader parish. Staff liaisons are the Rev. Cate Anthony and Anna Jones, with support from the Rev. John Rohrs.
Ham Cemetery
Just down Three Chopt Road from St. Stephen’s Church, in the corner of Bandy Field, lies a hidden cemetery where an estimated 100 people are buried. These are the mortal remains of descendants of enslaved people who labored on the Green plantation. The plantation’s land encompasses this whole area, including the land on which St. Stephen’s is built. After emancipation, some of those enslaved persons garnered enough money to buy a piece of land and they built houses and thrived in this community until the land was claimed by eminent domain in 1955. The houses were razed and the cemetery was lost.
A local organization called the Friends of the Sons and Daughters of Ham Cemetery is working with descendants and University of Richmond archaeology students to map the cemetery and restore its dignity and beauty. St. Stephen’s is an emerging partner in this holy work happening in our own back yard.
Want to know more?
To get involved in one of these opportunities, or ask a question,
please be in touch with the Rev. Cate Anthony.