Virtual Exhibit Booth
Welcome to our virtual exhibit booth for the 80th General Convention of The Episcopal Church. Our booth is museum-like experience dedicated to the mission and ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland and our history, highlighting our work in truth and reconciliation and reparations. New content will be added until the start of Convention on July 8. Learn more about us, our history and truth telling and our community of love!
The Trail of Souls: A Journey Toward Truth and Transformation
A documentary presented by the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland, directed and edited by Mr. Lee Emmons
For decades, the people of the Diocese of Maryland have been working toward racial justice, reconciliation, and reparations. Many congregations committed themselves to a journey deep into their history, illuminating their present and leading them into a future with a renewed commitment to racial reconciliation. The result is a project called the Trail of Souls, a pilgrimage into the past and a transformative journey toward truth and reconciliation. Learn the story of the steps on our journey so far and of the hope we have for a future of continued transformation.
The Trail of Souls: A Journey Toward Truth and Transformation Timeline
On September 12, 2020, the 236th Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland passed Resolution 2020-06, creating a $1,000,000 seed fund for reparations. On May 26, 2022, the diocese began returning those funds to the Black community in the form of grants to organizations who are working to repair the breach that is systemic racism in Maryland while building up Black communities around the diocese. We have created a timeline of slavery and racism in the state of Maryland and in our diocese. Please click the image or button below to visit and learn more about the Trail of Souls: our journey from truth to transformation.
David’s Reparation to the Family of Saul
a homily by the Rev. Diana Carroll.
Learn how the Biblical concept of making reparation goes back to ancient times – the David narrative. “This passage spoke to me, because in it we witness a really important in David’s life – the moment when David makes reparations to the family of Saul.” David restores all the lands of Saul to his grandson and insists he eat at David’s own table.
Honoring Enslaved Persons Buried in the Hasselbach Family Graveyard
featuring the Right Rev. Eugene Taylor Sutton
and Mr. Waymon Wright. Producer, Mr. Lee Emmons.
Learn about one of the Trail of Souls pilgrimage sites in the Diocese of Maryland, located at the Claggett Camp and Conference Center in Buckeystown, Maryland.
Sutton Scholars® High School Enrichment Program
producer Ms. Lee Timmons.
Learn about our four-year program for high school students that shapes lives and inspires youth to build a better Baltimore through relationship building and the teaching of life skills, financial literacy and communication skills. This is a restorative program, in line with our commitment to be “repairers of the breach.” (Isaiah 58:12)
From the Archives: How Does the Episcopal Church Make Decisions?
by Diocesan Archivist Mary Klein
In our booth we will feature stories and artifacts from our in-depth archives, including a timeline of slavery and systemic racism in our state, diocese and congregations. We will tell the story of where we have come from and who we are together today as a community of love.
Through the diocesan ministries of our Bishop’s Appeal, our Community of Love thrives!
Our youth will be loved unconditionally and given a safe place to grow and flourish. * Our Sutton Scholars will sharpen the soft skills needed to become leaders in their community. * The history of our churches and diocese will be preserved for generations to come. * You are challenging violence and injustice of every kind through Truth and Reconciliation. * And so much more. Learn more about our ministries.
Our Claggett Center is rich in history dating back to prehistoric times.
In more recent times, John Hasselbach purchased this 300-acre farm with its stately mansion in 1811. At his death in 1840, the plantation was supported by the labor of 34 enslaved house servants and farm laborers. Today, Claggett offers outreach camping programs for children of who are victims of an opioid-addicted environments, summer camps, spiritual programs for youth and adults and more. Claggett also hosts a multitude of secular and religious non-profit groups, including educational institutions and social justice organizations. Learn more about Claggett, its rich history and its lively ministry today.
Grants take a step toward righting the wrongs of slavery
by Jonathan Pitts, Baltimore Sun, March 2022
“Priests, parish leaders and congregants, meanwhile, often conspired to exclude Black Episcopalians, and a number of new churches… were built with the aim of helping white congregants flee their increasingly diverse older neighborhoods and parishes. More recently, the diocese consolidated findings that most, if not all, of its churches constructed before 1860 were either built by enslaved people or by people who benefited financially from slave labor.”
