St. Paul’s Reconciliation Weekend 2024
A weekend of contemplative events and services to recommitting ourselves to the ongoing work of truth telling, repair, and racial justice and healing to foster God’s Beloved Community. This year we are excited to host Dr. Catherine Meeks as our featured preacher, workshop leaders, and forum speaker. Dr. Meeks is the founder and retired Director of the Episcopal Church’s Absalom Jones Center for Racial Healing. Events include:
- Friday, October 18, 3:30 p.m. until 8 p.m.: Walking with the Enslaved: The Church’s Role in Slavery pilgrimage and dinner (please register below, limit 25 people). NOTE: This iteration of the pilot program will be particularly geared for those with mobility issues. We are renting a passenger bus and the pilgrimage will involve minimal or optional walking.
- Saturday, October 19, 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.: Racial Healing Workshop with Dr. Catherine Meeks with lunch included, Scott Hall (please register below, no limit). Racism’s roots can be located deep inside of human beings in the unknowns of their souls. Racial healing requires an investigation into those unknowns and seeking to allow the light of consciousness and love to heal them. Please join Dr. Catherine Meeks to explore those roots and ways to remedy their impact internally and externally.
- Sunday, October 20, 10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m.: Reconciliation Sunday with liturgy of racial healing featuring guest preacher Dr. Catherine Meeks followed by a Faith and Action Forum at 11:30 a.m. (in Scott Hall) on reparative actions with Dr. Meeks and The Rev. Dr. Lee Hill, Canon for Racial Justice and Healing for the Diocese of Virginia (no registration required)
Dr. Catherine Meeks is a national leader of racial healing and an esteemed retired professor of African American studies. She is the founder and former executive director of the Absalom Jones Center for Racial Healing, and the author of several books and podcasts. A sought-after teacher and workshop leader, Dr. Meeks is a recipient of the President Joseph R. Biden Lifetime Achievement and Service Award. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia.
Please contact Rev. Gwynn Crichton for more information (gcrichton@stpaulsrva.org).