This fall, St. Matthew’s is offering a set of learning and discussion opportunities for racial reconciliation. It begins with a virtual viewing of the documentary, Traces of the Trade: a Story from the Deep North, hosted by Dain and Constance Perry, members of the slave-trading family featured in the film. The film recounts their New England family’s involvement in the slave trade in the 18th and early 19th centuries and the journey of today’s family members to learn about it. <link coming to document with details>

That will be followed by a Zoom-based offering of the 11-session Sacred Ground print and film-based dialog series on race and faith from The Episcopal Church. Meeting every two weeks, participants learn about and reflect on the history of racism and its effects in American society. They will study the experience of Indigenous, Black, Latino, and Asian-Americans, as well as going deep into topics like slavery. In the dialog sessions, participants reflect on their own history as well as the course material; prior participants have found this to be a helpful, rich exposure to history they hadn’t seen before. <link coming to document with details>

Some Background

At his installation in November 2015, Presiding Bishop Michael Curry inspired us to dismantle racism. In the following months a task force developed a framework with which to do this work, Becoming Beloved Community. The framework accents the fact that this is a journey by describing it in the structure of a labyrinth with four primary types of activities: Telling the Truth, Proclaiming the Dream, Practicing the Way, and Repairing the Breach.

History of St. Matthew’s Involvement

St. Matthew’s has hosted the Union of Black Episcopalians workshop One Human Race several times. These sessions helped participants understand the history of racism in Austin and its impact on the entire community.

In 2020, a St. Matthew’s small group engaged in racial reconciliation efforts with three focus areas: Pray, Learn, and Act. Members prayed together weekly and used a Facebook page to discuss what they were learning from videos and books. In 2021, the small group organized an offering of Sacred Ground, part of the Becoming Beloved Community materials. That first cohort was followed by annual offerings of Sacred Ground.

Prior to each offering of Sacred Ground series, we offer a taste of the kind of material to be covered. Such offerings have included a viewing of Traces of the Trade, a documentary that was the trigger for developing Sacred Ground. The documentary follows ten cousins in the DeWolf family who examine the history of their family’s involvement in the slave trade, making a trip together to the site from which their ancestors gathered African people into slavery. They were surprised by their history, including the involvement of the church.

What is Sacred Ground?

Sacred Ground is a film- and readings-based dialogue series on race, grounded in faith. Small groups are invited to walk through chapters of America’s history of race and racism, while weaving in threads of family story, economic class, church involvement, and political and regional identity.

The 11-part series is built around a powerful online curriculum of documentary films and readings that focus on Indigenous, Black, Latino, and Asian/Pacific American histories as they intersect with European American histories.

The series dialogues are done in two-hour sessions, every two weeks, generally on Thursday. We allow two weeks between sessions to give participants sufficient time to see the videos and read the articles.

The final sessions of the series focus on next steps. Using the Becoming Beloved Community framework, participants reflect on what they’ve learned and how to take action on their own, as a small group at St. Matthew’s, or in broader contexts.

Examples of Actions Taken

  • A team established a Dismantling Racism lending library, to engage more members of St. Matthew’s in learning about racism, an ongoing resource for adults and children.
  • Another team developed a clothing closet at Wooldridge Elementary School at the request of school personnel. This Faith in Action project will coordinate and maintain the clothing closet.
  • After the second series, the relationship at Wooldridge Elementary School was expanded to add a Christmas project for St. Matthew’s, where members of the congregation can support families at the school. A mentoring program is also under discussion.
  • Several have become Volunteer Deputy Registrars, to then assist local residents to be able to vote.
  • Several have become deeply involved in the work of the Health and Justice Advocacy Network (HJAN). This group of clergy and lay members of the Diocese of Texas advocates at the Texas Legislature on matters of health and faith, as well as promoting voting by members of their congregation.

Related Work

In parallel with the initiation of Sacred Ground at St. Matthew’s, a small team formed to learn more about the Indigenous Peoples in this area of Texas. That work intersects with material studied in Sacred Ground. The team developed St. Matthew’s Land Acknowledgement, and it coordinates an annual focus on education and worship activities related to Indigenous Peoples each November.

The Faith in Action small group was formed before the first offering of Sacred Ground. Actions of that group are now subsumed by HJAN activity.

More Information

St. Matthew’s Resources

  • Visit the library in Huffman Hall to borrow from the Dismantling Racism Lending Library, suitable for adults, youth, and children.
  • For offerings of Sacred Ground at St. Matthew’s and for related events and presentations, watch the “Upcoming Events” section of the St. Matthew’s home page.


External Resources

If you want to learn more or get involved, please contact Tissie.Elliott@gmail.com or Joyce.Statz@gmail.com.