1115 Marion Street, Columbia, SC 29201  ·   803-771-7800  ·       Clergy

Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina
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Race & Reconciliation

Reconciliation is at the heart of what it means to be a follower of Jesus. When conflict and division surround us we are called to be healers and reconcilers. The work of reconciliation begins as we seek to understand that which divides us. We commit ourselves to this work in our Baptismal Covenant, promising to “seek and serve Christ in all persons “and to “strive for justice and peace among all people."

Members of the diocesan Race and Reconciliation Committee are available to visit with congregations and other groups as we explore our role in this work. Our time together will include story sharing by committee members, activities that help us identify our own stories, and opportunities to hear the experiences of others a key step of living into our Baptismal promises. Committee members will facilitate as we work together to become the community we are called to be as followers of Jesus.


Resources for moving the conversation ahead

Click here for resources from The Episcopal Church around reconciliation

Book suggestions for individual or group study

  • A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America by Ronald Takaki
  • A Stone of Hope: Prophetic Religion and the Death of Jim Crow, by David L. Chappell
  • An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States, by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
  • Becoming the Anti-racist Church: Journeying Toward Wholeness by Joseph Barndt
  • Between The World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
  • Black Pain by Terri Williams
  • Christian Ritual and the Creation of British Slave Societies, by Nicholas Beasley
  • Dwelling Place: A Plantation Epic by Erskine Clarke
  • Free of Charge: Giving and Forgiving in a Culture Stripped of Grace by Miroslav Volf
  • How to be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
  • I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
  • I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown
  • Inheriting the Trade: A Northern Family Confronts Its Legacy as the Largest Slave-Trading Dynasty in U.S. History by Thomas Norman DeWolf
  • Jesus and the Disinherited by Howard Thurman
  • Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
  • Lifting the White Veil: An Exploration of White American Culture in a Multiracial Context by Jeff Hitchcock
  • Living Into God's Dream: Dismantling Racism in America Edited by Catherine Meeks
  • Made for Goodness by Bishop Desmond Tutu and Rev. Mpho Tutu
  • No Future Without Forgiveness by Desmond Tutu
  • Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome by Joy DeGruy
  • Racial Sobriety: A Journey from Hurts to Healing by Clarence Earl Williams
  • Reconciliation: The Ubuntu Theology of Desmond Tutu by Michael Jesse Battle
  • Remember: The Journey to School Integration by Toni Morrison
  • Seeing God in Each Other by Sheryl Kujawa-Holbrook (Editor)
  • Slavery by Another Name by Douglass Blackmon
  • So You Want to Talk About Race, by Ijeoma Oluo
  • Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi
  • The Church Enslaved by Tony Campolo and Michael Battle
  • The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein
  • The Cross and the Lynching Tree by James Cone
  • The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
  • The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
  • Waking Up White and Finding Myself in the Story of Race by Debby Irving
  • Where the Edge Gathers: Building a Community of Radical Inclusion by Yvette A. Flunder
  • White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son by Tim Wise
  • White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Racial Divide by Carol Anderson
  • Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?: And Other Conversations about Race by Beverly Daniel Tatum
  • Yet With a Steady Beat: The African American Struggle for Recognition in the Episcopal Church by Harold T Lewis

Small group studies and resources

Becoming Beloved Community
The Becoming Beloved Community Vision Document and accompanying resources help us to understand and take up the long-term commitments necessary to form loving, liberating and life-giving relationships with each other.

Sacred Ground
Sacred Ground is a film- and readings-based dialogue series on race, grounded in faith. Small groups are invited to walk through chapters of America’s history of race and racism, while weaving in threads of family story, economic class, and political and regional identity.

Beloved Community StorySharing
The Beloved Community StorySharing Campaign seeks to help faith communities and individuals to share and receive stories of faith, race, and difference and to become more effective healers, reconcilers, and ambassadors of Christ in the world.

Be the Bridge 101
When it comes to racial bridge-building for white people, Be the Bridge places a lot of the focus on listening to and learning from people of color. There is also some important internal work that white people need to do. When white people do not understand some of the basic tenets and history of whiteness, it’s hard to fully engage in the work of racial reconciliation.

Traces of the Trade
Traces of the Trade was created to act as a catalyst for heart-to-heart dialogue, education and action. However, we realize that this kind of dialogue is not altogether common and is often difficult. The materials you will find on this page and those we created in partnership with P.O.V. are designed to help you in that process of hosting honest conversations, creating engaging educational experiences, and to prepare your discussion group or classroom to take some form of action together.

Door of Return
In January 2017, a group of 23 pilgrims including Bishop Waldo, Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, their brother and sister bishops, as well as Episcopal Relief & Development leaders, supporters, and several staff members, participated in a Truth and Reconciliation Pilgrimage to Ghana. The three-video series shared here welcomes viewers to join and reflect on the pilgrimage, through the perspectives of three participants.

Dismantling Racism Youth Curriculum
A collaboration between the Absalom Jones Center for Racial Healing and the Office of Youth Ministries of the Diocese of Atlanta began in November of 2016 with the goal of bringing the work of dismantling racism to young people.

My Work To Do
My Work to Do is an online affinity group designed to help white people build stamina for discussing racism, systemic injustice, racial healing, reconciliation, and justice in their everyday lives. Black, indigenous and other people of color allies are welcome with an understanding this is a white-centered (and therefore not always safe) space.


Formation and Training Organizations

  • Speaking Down Barriers (Spartanburg, S.C.)
  • SC Collaborative for Race & Reconciliation (Columbia, S.C.)
  • Be The Bridge
  • Crossroads Antiracism Organizing and Training
  • Duke Center for Reconciliation
  • Kaleidoscope Institute
  • People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond (especially the Undoing Racism Program)
  • Seeing the Face of God in Each Other
  • Traces of the Trade (based on the film of the same name)
  • VISIONS Inc.
  • The Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation
  • Fearless Dialogues



Door of Return

In January 2017, a group of 23 pilgrims including Bishop Waldo, Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, their brother and sister bishops, as well as Episcopal Relief & Development leaders, supporters, and several staff members, participated in a Truth and Reconciliation Pilgrimage to Ghana. Pilgrims prayed and reflected at several sites critical to the trans-Atlantic slave trade, includi…

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Confronting Hate: 2019 Fellowship of South Carolina Bishops’ Dialogue

Confronting Hate: 2019 Fellowship of South Carolina Bishops’ Dialogue

Churches and schools across our state are not immune to the rise of racist theology and rhetoric. So how do we, as Christians, confront this hate in our pews and classrooms? Recognizing the Church's role in confronting hate and working toward ...
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Who Is My Neighbor?

Who Is My Neighbor?

“Who Is My Neighbor?”, is a four-part Lenten Series beginning Sunday, March 10 at 4:00 p.m. sponsored by St. John’s Episcopal Church, 301 W. Liberty St., Winnsboro, SC. Speakers from the Episcopal, Jewish, Muslim and Greek Orthodox faiths w...
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Share this page: Race & Reconciliation
Race & Reconciliation Door of Return

Diocesan Calendar

Friday, 4/16 at 9:00 AM
Commission on the Diocese
Wednesday, 4/21 at 7:00 PM
Embracing Evangelism
Wednesday, 4/28 at 7:00 PM
Embracing Evangelism
Wednesday, 5/5 at 7:00 PM
Embracing Evangelism
Saturday, 5/8 at 12:00 AM
Still Hopes and Finlay House Day - loose offerings to these institutions
Wednesday, 5/12 at 7:00 PM
Embracing Evangelism
Monday, 5/31 at 12:00 AM
Memorial Day
Wednesday, 6/9 at 6:30 PM
Tentative: Ordination to the Diaconate

Commission on the Diocese

Friday, April 16, 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Bishops Compensation Package Convention hospitality committee Centennial Committee 2020 Surplus

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Embracing Evangelism

Wednesday, April 21, 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM

Stories are the heart of evangelism, and everybody has one. Join us as we explore the moments when we’ve experienced God’s loving presence in our lives through Embracing Evangelism, a free, six-part course led by the Rev. Alan Bentrup, Canon for Evangelism & Mission in the Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina. Join us Wednesday nights from 7-8pm starting April 7. Register below to learn more and reserve your spot! Click here to register: https://www.edusc.org/blog/embracing-evangelism/ • Wednesday, April 7 - Introduction • Wednesday, April 14 - Seek, Name, Celebrate • Wednesday, April 21 - The Great Story and Your Story • Wednesday, April 28 - The Stories of Others • Wednesday, May 5 - Invite Everyone to More • Wednesday, May 12 - Go! Discernment and What's Next

Add to My Calendar

Embracing Evangelism

Wednesday, April 28, 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM

Stories are the heart of evangelism, and everybody has one. Join us as we explore the moments when we’ve experienced God’s loving presence in our lives through Embracing Evangelism, a free, six-part course led by the Rev. Alan Bentrup, Canon for Evangelism & Mission in the Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina. Join us Wednesday nights from 7-8pm starting April 7. Register below to learn more and reserve your spot! Click here to register: https://www.edusc.org/blog/embracing-evangelism/ • Wednesday, April 7 - Introduction • Wednesday, April 14 - Seek, Name, Celebrate • Wednesday, April 21 - The Great Story and Your Story • Wednesday, April 28 - The Stories of Others • Wednesday, May 5 - Invite Everyone to More • Wednesday, May 12 - Go! Discernment and What's Next

Add to My Calendar

Embracing Evangelism

Wednesday, May 5, 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM

Stories are the heart of evangelism, and everybody has one. Join us as we explore the moments when we’ve experienced God’s loving presence in our lives through Embracing Evangelism, a free, six-part course led by the Rev. Alan Bentrup, Canon for Evangelism & Mission in the Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina. Join us Wednesday nights from 7-8pm starting April 7. Register below to learn more and reserve your spot! Click here to register: https://www.edusc.org/blog/embracing-evangelism/ • Wednesday, April 7 - Introduction • Wednesday, April 14 - Seek, Name, Celebrate • Wednesday, April 21 - The Great Story and Your Story • Wednesday, April 28 - The Stories of Others • Wednesday, May 5 - Invite Everyone to More • Wednesday, May 12 - Go! Discernment and What's Next

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Still Hopes and Finlay House Day - loose offerings to these institutions

Saturday, May 8, 12:00 AM - 12:00 AM

When: Occurs the second Saturday of May effective 5/8/2010 (GMT-05:00) Eastern Time (US & Canada). Note: The GMT offset above does not reflect daylight saving time adjustments. *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

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Embracing Evangelism

Wednesday, May 12, 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM

Stories are the heart of evangelism, and everybody has one. Join us as we explore the moments when we’ve experienced God’s loving presence in our lives through Embracing Evangelism, a free, six-part course led by the Rev. Alan Bentrup, Canon for Evangelism & Mission in the Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina. Join us Wednesday nights from 7-8pm starting April 7. Register below to learn more and reserve your spot! Click here to register: https://www.edusc.org/blog/embracing-evangelism/ • Wednesday, April 7 - Introduction • Wednesday, April 14 - Seek, Name, Celebrate • Wednesday, April 21 - The Great Story and Your Story • Wednesday, April 28 - The Stories of Others • Wednesday, May 5 - Invite Everyone to More • Wednesday, May 12 - Go! Discernment and What's Next

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Memorial Day

Monday, May 31, 12:00 AM - 12:00 AM



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Tentative: Ordination to the Diaconate

Wednesday, June 9, 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM



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Episcopal Diocese of
Upper South Carolina

1115 Marion Street
Columbia, SC 29201

Tel: (803) 771-7800

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