Racial Justice and Healing
Record turnout for RISC event
George Copeland, Richmond Free Press
More than 1,700 people attended RISC’s (Richmonders Involved to Strengthen our Communities) Nehemiah Action on March 19—an increase of more than 500 people over last year and 200 more than this year’s goal. Thank you to the 20 people who attended in the name of St. John’s Church!
The turnout was critical in showing our strength to the invited public servants who attended: four city council members, six mayoral candidates, and three city council candidates. These attendees made the following commitments:
Affordable Housing: Council members Lynch, Addison, and Lambert agreed to call upon the mayor to transfer the $6M owed to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund.
Healthy Homes: The Council members committed to support a budget amendment for an additional $2M in funding for mobile home repair and replacement.
Gun Violence: All six mayoral candidates in attendance (Andreas Addison, Michelle Mosby, Maurice Neblett, Harrison Roday, Garrett Sawyer, and Bridget Whitaker) agreed to attend the RISC Group Violence Intervention (GVI) roundtable on May 20 and the Mayoral Candidates’ Forum on August 29. The aim of RISC, with this request, is to ensure that GVI is implemented city-wide by the next mayor of Richmond.
RISC’s Justice Ministry Celebration (the fourth and final big Assembly of our RISC year) will take place on Monday, June 3, at 6:30 pm. For more information about this event or RISC in general, contact Sarah Mattingly.
RISC is a grassroots, direct-action organization made up of 24 congregations throughout the Richmond Metro Area. Founded in 2002, RISC uses the power of large numbers of people to hold our public officials accountable and solve critical community problems. St. John’s joined RISC in 2020.
In our baptismal covenant, we are called to love our neighbor as ourselves and are asked, “Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?” And we respond, “We will, with God’s help!”
Micah 6:8 tells us: “ … And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
Please contact Katherine Schutt for more information about the Justice Ministry.
St. Peter’s and St. John’s are joint recipients of the Diocese of Virginia’s 2021 Meet Me in Galilee Award
The Rev. Dr. J. Lee Hill, Missioner of Racial Justice and Healing in the Diocese of Virginia, presented the 2021 Meet Me in Galilee Award on behalf of the diocese's Committee on Race and Reconciliation at joint worship service on January 30, 2022.
St. John's and St. Peter's won the award in recognition of the success of our joint first Juneteenth Celebration commemorating the emancipation of African-Americans from slavery.
Sacred Ground
Sacred Ground is part of the Episcopal Church’s long-term commitment to racial healing, reconciliation, and justice in our personal lives, our ministries, and our society. The program is open to all and is especially designed to help white people talk with other white people in a format grounded in our call to faith, hope and love.
Contact Catherine Brown for more information.
ReWork Richmond
Most workforce development programs focus on finding entry-level jobs that, over time, don’t financially sustain families because they rarely address the actual barriers to securing and retaining living-wage employment.
ReWork Richmond is different. Instead of placing individuals in minimum wage positions offering limited upward opportunity, ReWork is strategically structured to accompany its members on the long walk to living-wage employment by providing a comprehensive range of personal support and employment sourcing services. For the past three years, St. John’s has offered our support through board involvement, volunteer assistance, and outreach grants