2025 ASP Trip Blog
Check back daily for a blog update on the ASP Trip!
Sacred Ground Group at
St. Mark's
Explore issues of race and faith with other St. Markers. Become an agent of change in our church and world.
St. Mark’s Sacred Ground group is a continuation of a program developed by the National Episcopal Church to explore the intersection of race and faith and encourage meaningful conversations around these topics. Together, we are exploring our own beliefs and attitudes about race as we learn more about America’s history of racism. We are learning more about Indigenous, Black, Latino, and Asian/Pacific American histories as they intersect with European American histories. We are working to become agents of change in our church and the world.
All are encouraged to join the journey this year as we have discussions, field trips, and film screenings to look closer at these issues.
St. Mark's Land Acknowledgement
During the COVID pandemic, two St. Mark’s groups formed (Sunday morning and Tuesday evening) to explore the National Episcopal Church Sacred Ground curriculum. Meeting on Zoom, we watched videos and read essays and books in order to expand our understanding of Race in America. Much of the curriculum focused on American history most of us were never taught.
As we learned about the histories of Indigenous, Black, Latino, and Asian-Americans and the intersections of those with White history and Christian faith, a subgroup formed to address the harms done to Indigenous people. That group met with Joseph Standing Bear of Midwest SOARRING. After much research and consultation, a St. Mark’s Land Acknowledgement Statement was crafted and approved by the St. Mark’s Vestry on August 31, 2022.
Read the Land Acknowledgement Statement and learn more about its development by clicking the button below.
Understand that this is sacred ground and it hurts to walk here. But at the same time, I “need” to walk here, I need the strength, the sense of purpose, the knowledge of self, that walking here imparts. … What do I want from you? I want you to be my sister and to walk here with me. I know it’s a hard walk. I know it causes you pain. But this much I also know: If ever we learn to tread this ground together, there’s no place we can’t go. —Leonard Pitts, Jr.
LENTEN SERIES – 4 Wednesday nights in Lent - 2025
The Sacred Ground Lenten Series will take place on 4 Wednesday evenings during Lent. Together we will share a simple
meal and watch part of a video each night, with a discussion following.
On March 12 and 19 we will watch Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Deep North, a documentary about the DeWolf family, an Episcopalian family from Rhode Island who discovers their deep ties to the slave trade.
On March 26 and April 9 we will view The 13th, a documentary exploring the 13th amendment abolished slavery. The filmmakers argue that the exception for punishment by involuntary servitude began the practice of criminalization of African Americans.
March 12 Traces of the Trade - dinner & film 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. Mahon Hall
March 19 Traces of the Trade - dinner & film 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. Mahon Hall
March 26 The 13th - dinner & film 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. Mahon Hall
April 9 The 13th - dinner & film 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. Mahon Hall
