Sacred Ground Circles

“This country was not founded on freedom.  It was founded on stolen land, cleared by slaughter, and built by stolen people, broken by force.” These are the words of Lyle W Fass in an Instagram post entitled “Why Is America Like This.”

How has America become what it is today?

I am Susan Green, a facilitator for the Sacred Ground program, which was developed almost six years ago by the Episcopal Church.  It is made up of books, articles, and videos that challenge participants to travel back in history, peeling away layers of sanitized facts to discover the truth about how America came to be what it is today.

The Sacred Ground program is based on small dialogue circles where participants come together to reflect on the challenging content of the 11-part curriculum, which focuses on Indigenous, Black, Latino, and Asian/Pacific American histories. Woven into these histories are family stories, economic class, as well as political and regional identity.

The circles become communities built upon deep listening and trust as the participants get to know each other.  As the community builds, it is designed to become a safe place to express anger and grief as these emotions well up in the participants’ reflections.

Sacred Ground is a part of the work of Becoming Beloved Community, the commitment, by the Episcopal Church, to racial healing, reconciliation, and justice in our personal lives, our religious communities, and in society.

Well over 1,200 people in our diocese and 25,000 across the country have participated since the initial launch of Sacred Ground.  Our collective outrage over the murder of George Floyd in 2020 kept that momentum alive.  And although that may have waned somewhat, the need to engage in this kind of conversation has not. In fact, today’s current climate of disinformation and polarization increases the value of this program rooted in faith.

On September 2, our new Presiding Bishop, Sean Rowe, spoke to a large gathering of Sacred Ground facilitators and organizers for the launch of a new year of Sacred Ground. He told us how he organized an early circle of bishops to experience the program first hand.  Now considering Sacred Ground to be “a key tool for doing the Lord’s work,” Bishop Rowe emphasized the need to continue through our Christian faith resisting injustice, honoring the dignity of all people, and renouncing evil in the world.

Everyone is invited to participate in Sacred Ground. We welcome repeat participants as well as newcomers. The next informational meeting will be on October 1 from 3-4 pm on Zoom.  The next circle will begin on Wednesday, October 22, 3-5 pm, also on zoom. Watch the diocesan news for more information about the Zoom invitations. Join Nan Hardison, co-facilitator, and me as we delve into the buried truth about why America is like it is.