175th Anniversary of the Abolition of Slavery in Connecticut.
Posted on January 16, 2024 by admin No comments
A reflection from Gail Bindley-Taylor, member of the ECCT Racial Healing, Justice and Reconciliation Ministry Network
This past Sunday afternoon, as the wintry weather turned cold and flurries rained down, three groups within our Diocese: the Racial Healing, Justice and Reconciliation Ministry Network (of which I am a member, representing St. Paul’s) the Task Force for Addressing Racism within Title IV, and the Reparations Task Force -all tasked with justice work – held a commemorative service to observe the 175th Anniversary of the Abolition of Slavery in Connecticut. The service of prayer, meditation and music was divided into three parts, the first was our prayers of lament for the sin of slavery, the second segment was prayers of healing and reconciliation and the final section featured prayers of commitment and celebration. The service was beautiful in the simplicity of the worship, the emotional appeal of the music, the moving poetry of the prayers, and the provocative calls to action of each reflection. St. Paul’s was represented by a small group of us that made the trip and were all moved by what we witnessed and more importantly heard and felt. There was the shocking news (for many) that the founding bishop of the Episcopal Church, the first Bishop of Connecticut, and “the rock on whom the Episcopal Church is built,” owned enslaved persons and further, during his tenure there was no evidence to suggest that Bishop Seabury ever took issue with the institution of slavery. As we learnt from a historical account prepared by students of Trinity College “On the contrary, during a … legal dispute over money with his father-in-law … , Seabury obtained ownership of four enslaved men. After … his father-in-law died, … Seabury transferred ownership of three of … them back to … his father-in-law’s estate, while continuing to claim a man named Charles as property.” The front cover of the service bulletin also linked Bishop Seabury to complicity in a system that perpetuated grave injustice and suffering, as we see in the handwriting of a portion of the inventory listing Bishop Seabury’s property at the time of his death. “It includes such mundane things as a Franklin stove, 2 flannel vests, and an Old English bible. It also includes “1 old Negro woman by the name of Nell, 38 years old,” and “1 Negro girl named Rose, about 9 years old.”
However, as our current Bishops Jeffery Mello and Laura Ahrens reminded us, this service was “a moment for repentance of the past and a recommitment of ourselves to the Gospel call of love, justice and equality.” Our Bishops made clear that this was not a time for guilt and shaming, but a time for lamentation, confessing and healing through the prayers and hymns and reflections.
We were also celebrating the actions of our recent annual Diocesan Convention which took the decision to begin making concrete steps towards reparations this year, as a way of making amends for the historical and ongoing impact of slavery. There will be much more to come on this during 2024 from our Diocese as this is a Connecticut wide Episcopal Church effort to address the systemic inequities that persist in our society. I urge each of you to listen to this service with open hearts and minds for as Bishop Mello’s points out in his reflection, it is only by listening that we can know the truth about about racism. This service also introduces our new Canon for Advocacy, Racial Justice and Reconciliation The Reverend Canon D Littlepage who gives a stirring meditation.
Acknowledging how much effort it is has taken to arrive at the point we are today on the road to racial healing, justice and reconciliation, Bishop Mello made a personal commitment to do all in his power as our Diocesan Bishop to continue the work that still needs to be done. He also called on each of us to “walk this journey,” imperfectly but faithfully, loving one another boldly enough to “demand that the work continue, in the belief “that God can transform even the most stony of hearts and the most resistant of minds.” And to that I say “AMEN, may it be so!”