Brooklyn Heights church holds ‘Sacred Conversations on Race’

September 23, 2016 By Francesca Norsen Tate Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Dr. Matt Burdette, St. Ann’s Wisdom Year seminarian intern. Photo credit: Katherine Brownlow/courtesy St. Ann & the Holy Trinity Church

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This week, additional police killings of unarmed black males have made a scheduled dialogue about race all the more urgent.

St. Ann & the Holy Trinity Church had already scheduled its next monthly “Sacred Conversations on Race” for this Sunday, Sept. 25. That went on the parish calendar before the shootings of two men — one of whom was dealing with a disabled vehicle — occurred earlier this week. The shootings of Terence Crutch in Tulsa and Keith Lamont Scott in Charlotte sparked protests that had the city of Charlotte on lockdown on Wednesday in the midst of riots protesting the killings. A curfew was imposed there on Thursday.

The Associated Press announced on Thursday that Police Officer Betty Shelby was charged with manslaughter in Terence Crutch’s death. Many believe this decision will help prevent any more civil unrest in that city.

Here in Brooklyn, these and other recent incidents of violence and dignity violations against people of color had motivated St. Ann’s Church, with its history of social justice, to hold dialogues. St. Ann’s Church, like many others in the borough, express the faith community’s commitment to the inherent value of every person.

The Rev. John E. Denaro, and Dr. Matthew Burdette, St. Ann’s Wisdom Year Resident (seminarian intern from the General Theological Seminary) are co-facilitating these monthly conversations, which are intended to create a context in which people can speak and listen to one another, to learn about one another’s experiences and to collaborate in addressing racism in the wider community.

This “Sacred Conversation on Race,” on Sunday, Sept. 25, begins at 12:45 p.m. and runs for about an hour, Dr. Burdette told the Eagle on Friday. It will take place in St. Ann’s Parish Hall at 157 Montague St. (corner of Clinton Street). All are welcome and encouraged to attend. For more information and a calendar of upcoming events, visit stannholytrinity.org. Occasional guest speakers will be featured.