In Georgia: coming to terms with the legacy of slavery

From a column in The Macon Telegraph by Catherine Meeks:

The organizers of this event in the Diocese of Atlanta have the right idea. They are focusing on oral history and providing opportunities for people to tell their stories. The stories of the wounds that have come from slavery, segregation and racism have within them the cure for the injuries.

More below the fold:

The voices continue to need to be heard and all are not African American. One of the most powerful voices at this recent event was retired Bishop Duncan Gray from the Diocese of Mississippi. He told with such quiet humility the story of laying down his life in the face of expressions of Mississippi racist fear and rage. He talked about how he was simply doing what he felt called to do as a Christian.

He was a young priest trying to shepherd his parish and reached out to African Americans as he was trying to build bridges and working to get his parishioners to do the same, because that was what his faith demanded. What a beautiful full and faithful telling of one man’s response to the breach.

Episcopal News Service covered the conference, called “Toward a Full and Faithful Telling.”

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