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Atonement

Beloved Community Commission

Resolution: An act of atonement towards racial healing and reconciliation

Passed in 2025 at 124th Diocesan Convention:

RESOLVED that the 124th Diocesan Convention commits to supporting the following initiative:

Diocesan Missioner for Racial Reconciliation and Priest-in-Charge of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, Springfield; and be it further

RESOLVED that the Missioner for Racial Reconciliation would lead and promote diocesan initiatives towards racial healing, including Sacred Ground, anti-racism training for postulants and candidates, anti-racism training for clergy, additional training on preaching racial

reconciliation and the theology of reparations, as well as other efforts to be identified in conjunction with the Social Justice Commission; and be it further

RESOLVED that our diocese affirms our intention to fund this initiative for three years at a total cost of $500,000 drawn from our endowment...

Read the full resolution here

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Supporting Information for the 2025 Resolution for Racial Atonement

Racial Reckoning in the Episcopal Church: A Conversation with Stephanie Spellers

‍Resolution: A commitment to healing the legacy of slavery and racism through an act of atonement

Passed in 2023 at the 122nd Diocesan Convention:

Resolved: that the 122nd Convention of the Diocese of Western Massachusetts directs Diocesan Council and invites the congregations and institutions of the Diocese of Western Massachusetts including the Trustees of the diocesan endowment, and others -- in the name of repentance, reconciliation, and accountability to our siblings of color in our Diocese-- prayerfully and purposefully to explore their historic involvement in and present wealth derived from the forced labor of enslaved people, and to explore remedies including the distribution of funds from our unrestricted endowments and from our restricted endowments as may be permissible in acknowledgment of and repentance for the sin and legacy of slavery.

Read the full resolution here

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Read the 2024 Report on the Origins of the Endowment of the Diocese of Western Massachusetts (29 pages)

Read the summary of the 2024 Report on the Origins of the Endowment of the Diocese of Western Massachusetts (1 page)