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IN SUMMARY:
Racial Justice Initiative Goings-on
Henrietta Bell Wells Scholarship Update: Fall 2022-Spring 2023
For Spring 2023, the Henrietta Bell Wells Scholarship Committee received submissions from 37 eligible applicants and awarded $2000 per student the spring semester. In Fall 2022, the committee awarded 22 scholarships to eligible students for the fall semester.
Talbot Fund Update: Fall 2022-Spring 2023
Civil Social and Civil Rights Tour Planning Underway ¾ Plans are underway to host a social and civil rights tour to educate clergy and lay leaders about slavery with the hopes of expanding dialogue about its past in the Episcopal Church and the work of the Talbot Fund. Work on this project began in January.
At the URL in this bullet is a summary of racial justice work completed in 2022. It is from our 2023 annual magazine, The Texas Episcopalian. Please note that our annual magazine and council updates are backward looking- in other words, the magazine and council updates include work from the previous year. This shares a wealth of information. We made the first round of awards in grants and scholarships beginning in 2020. Also, important to mention, in 2020, we awarded the first two Texas Pauli Murray scholarships and both of those recipients have completed seminary and are working within our diocese. For a comprehensive update, visit pages 82-103 of the hard copy or online publication by simply clicking here.
For work completed in 2020, if you visit the video, beginning at 2:33, you will see the 2020 scholarship recipients. If you watch from the beginning, you will hear that applications were pending related to churches for a couple of the funds. This video is a comprehensive update produced in 2021 for work done in 2020.Please note that while the Racial Justice Initiative is a very significant project and serves as a trailblazer initiative across the country in Episcopal dioceses and churches, we would be remiss to not mention that our diocesan leadership is rooted in a culture that celebrates these efforts. It’s more than an initiative connected to scholarship awards and other funding; rather, it’s a real movement within our diocese, and the culture is baked into the cake of our daily work. It’s an intentional way of life for us.
It is also significant that in addition to many other endeavors and deep dives into the area of racial justice and reconciliation, Bishop Doyle served on the Houston Mayor’s Police Reform Task Force to impact change to that end. Further, in 2020, he also officially made Juneteenth a holiday within the Diocese of Texas.
Clergy Video Testimonials
The Rev. Victor Thomas, rector of St. James’, Houston, explains how his church benefited from the Rev. Thomas Cain Fund.
The Rev. Rhonda Rogers, rector of St. Francis of Assisi, Prairie View, explains how her church benefited from the Rev. Thomas Cain Fund.
The Rev. Eileen O’Brien, rector of St. James’, Austin, explains how her church benefited from the Rev. Thomas Cain Fund.
The Rev. Lawrence Gwin, vicar of Christ Church, Matagorda, shares what receiving the John and Joseph Talbot Fund means for his congregation.
The Rev. Mike Stone, rector of St. Thomas the Apostle, Nassau Bay, shares what receiving the John and Joseph Talbot Fund means for his congregation.
The Rev. Bill Carroll, rector of Trinity Longview, shares what receiving the John and Joseph Talbot Fund means for his congregation.
Bishop Doyle’s Council 2020 Address: Announcement of Racial Justice Initiative
Bishop Doyle delivers his address before the 171st Council of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas. In it, Bishop Doyle discusses new strides in formation, church planting, facing political division, and racial reconciliation. He announces a $13 million initiative to amplify racial reconciliation efforts in the Diocese of Texas.
(See 24:30 for details about this initiative)
Transcription of Bishop’s Council 2020 Address: Announcement of Racial Justice Initiative
What is the Racial Justice Initiative?
Watch this video update, presented at the 172nd Council of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas on February 17, 2021, to learn more about the initiative, namesakes of the scholarships and funds, and the first recipients of these awards.
Press Release Feb. 12, 2020
The Episcopal Diocese of Texas Commits $13 Million to Fund Racial Justice Projects to Repair and Commence Racial Healing
In an unprecedented move, the Rt. Rev. C. Andrew Doyle, the ninth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas, presented a Missionary Vision for a Racial Justice initiative that aims to repair and commence racial healing for individuals and communities who were directly injured by slavery in the diocese. The announcement was made at the 171st Diocesan Council held in Waco, Texas, February 7-8, 2020.
The Missionary Vision for Racial Justice initiative includes a $13 million commitment towards racial reconciliation projects and scholarships for the future training and education of people of color.
“The goal is to support the people of our communities who were actually injured by our past actions,” said Doyle. Doyle further explained to the clergy, delegates and members of the diocese, that he recently met with 38 representatives of the Historic Black Churches to invite their future collaboration and support. He worked for many years to dream with leaders and implement this initiative. “I have sought to undergird this work with the best theological and practical ideas in this present moment and from across the church to reinforce and amplify remedies and imagine a different trajectory for our future.”
The Bishop of Texas also reminded annual council attendees that the Rt. Rev. Alexander Gregg, the first bishop of the diocese, including parishioners, had household slaves. “People don’t realize that our first congregation, Christ Church, Matagorda, was built by slaves. This is our truth. It is the truth of this diocese,” said Doyle.
Doyle added that although clergy and laity alike have spoken out against slavery, racism and even courageously stopped lynching in our communities, other leaders, on the contrary, have defended slavery, white supremacy, and remained silent. Furthermore, Doyle also shared that he believes some lay leaders in the nineteenth century and early twentieth participated in lynching.
The Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church, the Most Rev. Michael B. Curry, commended the initiative. “When I read the Missionary Vision for Racial Justice, for a moment, to be honest, it took my breath away … One translation of the word ‘inspiration’ is ‘God breathed.’ What you, the good people of the Diocese of Texas have done together with God is something truly God breathed, inspired!’
The money for the Missionary Vision for Racial Justice Initiative will go to fund the Bertha Means Endowment at Seminary of the Southwest, the David Taylor Scholarship at Seminary of the Southwest, the Pauli Murray Scholarship Fund at Seminary of the Southwest, the Thomas Cain Fund for Historic Black Churches, the Henrietta Wells Scholarship Fund for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), the John and Joseph Talbot Fund for Racial Justice, and the Episcopal Health Foundation Congregational Engagement.