The spiritual, “Sit at the Welcome Table,” was a double entendre. When slaves, who were unwelcome at their masters’ tables, sang about the “welcome table,” they were singing about someday sitting down together at the table with and being welcomed by those who had once been their oppressors, as...

As Episcopalians, as often as we go through the liturgy, we confess our sins to God, the things we have done and the things we have left undone. The part we play in our sins of commission are often more readily recognizable and thus more likely to be confessed and repented of than in our sins of...

Author, intellect and activist, W. E. B. DuBois, said “Although the Episcopal Church was the first American Church to receive Negro members, the growth of that membership has been small. This was the one  great church that did not split on the slavery question, and the result is that its Negro...

Defying odds, challenging systems, and keeping the faith, were the ongoing struggles of the African American preacher. At times it may have seemed that he carried the weight of the world, but if not the world, then certainly the weight of a people.

In 1883, during the Sewanee Conference, southern bishops had met to devise a proposal to be voted upon by General Convention that would formally segregate Black and White Episcopalians. While the proposal failed to pass, southern dioceses, in retaliation, set up “colored convocations” as...

The Opening Eucharist took place at 7:00 p.m. where Bishop Ryan preached on the topic, “Be a light for the world!”

Virginia Theological Seminary took what appears to be an unprecedented step this week by announcing that it had set aside $1.7 million for a slavery reparations fund – something considered but not yet enacted by other institutions of higher education that historically benefited from slave labor.

The Union of Black Episcopalians (UBE) continues a tradition of more than 200 years of Black leadership in the Episcopal Church working to remove racism from the Church, promote inclusion and stimulate the growth and development of Black clergy and membership.