CLERGY AND LAY LEADER UPDATES

The Race and Social Justice Formation Committee is asking for your help to discern how the diocese can better support anti-racism work in our churches.

As part of our commitment to our mission strategy priority of Racial Reckoning, Justice and Healing, we are asking every congregation to share its wisdom, what works and what doesn’t, and how anti-racism work has impacted the congregation overall. Your answers also serve as an inspiration to other congregations and a way to share your learnings beyond your church walls.

We anticipate the following reflection questions will take a maximum of 30 minutes to answer.

Penick Village, a faith-based continuing care retirement community in Southern Pines, has deep Episcopal roots. Since 1957, the Mother’s Day Offering has helped fulfill Bishop Edwin Penick’s promise: “No resident should have to leave due to financial hardship.” This tradition continues today.

Your gift to the 2026 Mother’s Day Offering helps fund around a million dollars’ worth of financial assistance provided each year. Every donation, large or small, helps sustain this mission.

Penick Village also invites ECW groups to visit the campus for a tour and to experience the ministry their donations support. To coordinate a date, email Carrie Dugas.

Looking for a way for your church community to follow Jesus by supporting immigrant neighbors? Siembra NC, a local immigrant rights organizing group, offers a variety of trainings to help communities grow in solidarity and faithful action with immigrant neighbors.

These include:

• ICE Watch Trainings, which help participants identify and respond to ICE presence in their communities;
• 4th Amendment Workplace Trainings, equipping businesses and organizations to understand and uphold the rights of immigrant workers under threat of ICE; and
• Wage Theft Trainings, supporting efforts to address and prevent the exploitation of workers.

Feel free to reach out to the Rev. Liam Barr if you have any questions.