October 27, 20194 pm

WASHINGTON NATIONAL CATHEDRAL

COMMEMORATION OFTHE 400th ANNIVERSARY OF the introduction of

AFRICAN SLAVERY IN AMERICAA Service of Remembrance, Reflection, and Response

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Slavery in British Colonial North America, 1619–1776

Twenty million Africans were captured for the slave trade. More than half died before they reached the coast.Between one million and 2.2 million enslaved individuals died during shipment to the New World. It was called the “Middle Passage.” It took as long as ten weeks. Approximately 400,000 enslaved individuals were brought to the British North American colonies and the United States by the African slave trade before it was outlawed in 1808.

Slavery in the United States, 1776–1860

Total number of enslaved individuals in the British North American colonies and the United States between 1619 and 1865: 5 million. Between 1790 and the beginning of the Civil War in 1861, more than one million enslaved individuals were sold and moved to the deep South to work in the cotton fields. Countless generations of enslaved families were separated forever. The breeding of enslaved individuals for labor and for sale became ever more widespread. More than three and a half million individuals were born into slavery.Number of U.S. Presidents who owned slaves: 12. They were: George Washington (between 250-350 slaves); Thomas Jefferson (about 200); James Madison (more than 100); James Monroe (about 75); Andrew Jackson (fewer than 200); Martin Van Buren (one); William Henry Harrison (eleven); John Tyler (about 70); James Polk (about 25); Zachary Taylor (fewer than 150); Andrew Johnson (probably eight); Ulysses S. Grant (probably five).There were few laws protecting the slaves, since most whites believed that Africans were only partly human (three-fifths was the fraction fixed by the Founding Fathers in 1787).Total population of the United States in 1860, according to census reports: 31,443,321.The total number of enslaved individuals in the United States in 1860: 3,953,760.Enslaved individuals as a percentage of the United States population in 1860: 13%.Increase in enslaved individuals in the United States from 1850 to 1860: 23.39%.Number of free Black persons in United States in 1860: 487,970. Proportion of Blacks in the United States in 1860 who were enslaved: 89%.

Abolition and Anti-Slavery Movements in the United States

There were no anti-slavery societies, newspapers, or magazines before the American Revolution.Quakers originated the anti-slavery movement in the North American colonies.In 1827, there were approximately 130 anti-slavery societies in the United States: 106 were in the slave South.In 1838, there were an estimated 1,406 abolitionist and anti-slavery organizations in the United States, with approximately 115,000 members.America was the second to the last country in the Western hemisphere to abolish slavery. Brazil was the last country, ending slavery in 1888.

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Historical NoteFour hundred years ago in August of 1619, the White Lion, a privateer ship, arrived at an English settlement in Virginia, then known as Point Comfort. On board were more than twenty captives seized from the Kingdom of Ndongo, Angola, in Africa and transported across the Atlantic. These dislocated and violated individuals were the first documented enslaved Africans to set foot in English North America—ushering in the era of slavery in what would become the United States.

The people’s responses are in bold.

Musical Prelude Oh! What a beautiful city David Hurd (b. 1950)Reverie William Grant Still (1895-1978)Adoration Florence B. Price (1887-1953)Deep River Adolphus Hailstork (b. 1941)Adagio and Fugue in F minor A. HailstorkO sacred head, sore wounded D. HurdHis eye is on the sparrow Charles H. Gabriel (1856-1932)By and by Negro spiritualSoon Ah will be done (with the troubles of the world) Negro spiritualI want Jesus to walk with me Anonymous

Introit Precious Lord Howard University Chorale Thomas Dorsey (1899-1993), arr. Arnold Sevier (b. 1949)Precious Lord, take my hand, lead me on, let me stand.I am tired. I am weak. I am worn.Through the storm, through the night, lead me on to the light.Take my hand, Lord and lead me home.

When my way grows drear, precious Lord, linger near.When my life is almost gone, at the river, Lord I stand.Guide my feet and hold my hand.Take my hand, Lord and lead me home.

COMMEMORATION OFTHE 400th ANNIVERSARY OF the introduction of

AFRICAN SLAVERY IN AMERICAA Service of Remembrance, Reflection, and Response

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The people stand as able.

Opening Procession As by the streams of Babylon The cantor introduces the refrain, then sung by all. Thomas Campion (1557-1620)

The cantor sings the verses.

As by the streams of Babylon, far from our native soil we sat, Sweet Zion, thee we thought upon, and every thought a tear begat. RefrainAloft the trees that spring up there our silent harps were pensive hung: Said they that captive us, “Let’s hear some song which you in Zion sung.” RefrainIs then the song of our God fit to be prophaned in foreign land? O Salem, thee when I forget, forget his skill may my right hand! RefrainFast to the roof cleave may my tongue If mindless I of thee be found: Or if, when all my joys are sung, Jerusalem be not the ground. RefrainRemember, Lord, how Edom’s race cried in Jerusalem sad day, Hurl down her walls, her towers deface, and stone by stone all level lay. Refrain(Psalm 137:1-5, paraphrase)

The Welcome and Bidding The Very Reverend Randolph Marshall Hollerith The Reverend Canon Rosemarie Logan Duncan

Welcome in the name of Christ who sets all free. We remember that 400 years ago with the arrival of a ship to the Virginia shore and the sale of African people as property, chattel slavery in this country was born. We gather to mourn the acts of many European forbears of this nation and leaders of the church and their complicity in the institution of slavery and legal segregation. We come to acknowledge and confess the ways in which the legacy of slavery is manifested in our country today and our participation in ongoing forms of racism through our attitudes, institutional structures, and the conduct of our daily lives.

Today,We remember and pray:For the hanged and beaten.For those shot, drowned, and burned.For the tortured, tormented, and terrorized.For those abandoned by the rule of law. As descendants of the enslaved, we gather to thank God for preserving our people through the hard days of slavery and segregation; for sustaining us in times of rejection and persecution; for providing us with faithful and persevering ancestors on whose shoulders we proudly, yet humbly, stand; and for giving us hope, strength, and courage for the living of our lives in the days ahead. Today, We will remember:With hope because hopelessness is the enemy of justice.With courage because peace requires bravery.With persistence because justice is a constant struggle.With faith because we shall overcome.

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Call to Worship Bishop Wright What does the Lord require of us?All To do justice; to love kindness; and to walk humbly with our God.Bishop Wright We come to remember, reflect, and respond;All We come to worship our God.

Hymn Rock of ages Sung by all. Toplady

Opening PrayerBishop Wright The lord be with you. All And also with you. Bishop Wright Let us pray.

Gracious God, we remember the first African people brought to this country on the shores of Virginia in 1619. We grieve their suffering and the suffering of generations of their descendants under the institution of slavery. We come now to hear their voices, long ignored, silenced, and dismissed; who yet cry out from their graves, “do not forget my chains.” We give thanks for the commitment and courage of abolitionists, black and white, male and female, who gave much and risked much to end the cruelty of slavery in the United States. We have come to reflect, in penitence, on the destructive power of a terrible evil, and seek forgiveness for the sins associated with slavery and the legacy of racism. And we come before you, O God, to respond in hope, by committing ourselves in prayer to the work of ending racism and discrimination, and by building the beloved community where all are judged not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

The people are seated.

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RemembranceVoices of the Enslaved The slave narrative is an account of the life, or a major portion of the life, of a fugitive or former slave, either written or orally related by the slave personally. Between 1760 and 1967, more than 200 slave narratives were published in England and the United States. 

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Olaudah Equiano (1745-1797)A reading from The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African

Olaudah Equiano, known later as Gustavus Vassa, soldier sailor, explorer—Olaudah Equiano led a remarkable life by the standards of any age. One of the earliest narratives, writing as a former slave in the 1700s, Equiano left powerful testimony on the brutality of enslavement that became the model for a new genre, the slave narrative. In this excerpt, the young Equiano describes his entry into a slave ship on the coast of Africa.

Harriet Tubman (1820?-1913)A reading from A North-side view of Slavery. THE REFUGEE: on the Narrative of Fugitive Slaves in Canada, Benjamin Drew

Originally named Araminta, or “Minty,” Harriet Tubman was born on the plantation of Anthony Thompson, south of present-day Madison and Woolford in an area called Peter’s Neck in Dorchester County, on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Tubman was the fifth of nine children of Harriet “Rit” Green and Benjamin Ross, both slaves.

Psalm 137:2-5 Daryl L. A. Hunt (b. 1970)

The cantor introduces the refrain, then all repeat.

The cantor sings the psalm. All sing the refrain.

Aloft the trees that spring up there our silent harps were pensive hung: Said they that captive us, “Let’s hear some song which you in Zion sung.”Is then the song of our God fit to be prophaned in foreign land? O Salem, thee when I forget, forget his skill may my right hand! RefrainFast to the roof cleave may my tongue If mindless I of thee be found: Or if, when all my joys are sung, Jerusalem be not the ground.Remember, Lord, how Edom’s race cried in Jerusalem sad day, Hurl down her walls, her towers deface, and stone by stone all level lay. Refrain

(paraphrase)

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Moses Roper (c. 1815-April 15, 1891) A reading from Narrative of the Adventures and Escape of Moses Roper, from American Slavery, 1848

During his childhood, Moses Roper was sold frequently. Traveling with his masters and often attempting to escape, he experienced and witnessed the cruelties of slavery. After many abortive efforts, in July 1834 he finally successfully escaped to Savannah, Georgia, where he signed as a steward on a coastal merchant vessel. He eventually sailed for England in 1835 where he gained some notoriety with the publication of his narrative and making the case for the abolition of slavery in America. Sometime after 1861, Roper returned to the United States, where he lived the life of an itinerant lecturer, traveling from place to place discoursing on various subjects, including “Africa and the African People.” His death was reported in several newspapers as April 15, 1891.

Anthem De Profundis (Out of the Depths) Howard University Chorale Mark O. Fax (1911-1974)Out of the depths have I cried unto you, O Lord;Lord, hear my voice.  Let thine ear be attentive to my pleading.If thou, Lord, shouldst mark iniquities, who, O Lord, shall stand;But there is forgiveness; forgiveness with Thee, that Thou mayest be feared.I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait for the Lord, and in His word do I hope.My soul waited for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning.Out of the depths have I cried O Lord, let Israel hope in the Lord.For with Him, there is mercy and plenteous redemptionHe shall redeem Israel from her sins.

(Psalm 130)

ReflectionVoices of AbolitionistsThe abolitionist movement was a social and political push for the immediate emancipation of all slaves and the end of racial discrimination and segregation. Advocating for emancipation separated abolitionists from more moderate anti-slavery advocates, who argued for gradual emancipation, and from “Free-Soil” activists who sought to restrict slavery to existing areas and prevent its spread. Radical abolitionism was partly fueled by the religious fervor of the Second Great Awakening, which prompted many people to advocate for emancipation on religious grounds. The abolitionist movement became increasingly prominent in Northern churches and politics beginning in the 1830s, which contributed to the regional animosity between North and South leading up to the Civil War. From the 1830s until 1870, the abolitionist movement attempted to achieve immediate emancipation of all slaves and the ending of racial segregation and discrimination.

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Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) A reading from The Injustice and Impolicy of the Slave Trade, and of Slavery of the Africans, preached before the Connecticut Society for the Promotion of Freedom, and for the Relief of Persons Unlawfully Holden in Bondage at their annual meeting in New Haven, Connecticut, September 15, 1791.

Jonathan Edwards was a North American revivalist preacher, philosopher, and Congregationalist Protestant theologian. Edwards is widely regarded as one of the America’s most important and original philosophical theologians. The son of early America’s preeminent theologian and Princeton’s third president, strongly opposed slavery throughout his life and career as a minister—becoming a leading antislavery activist of the 18th century and one of the few abolitionists Princeton ever produced.

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AnthemCan’t give up now Cathedral Band Curtis Burrell (b. 1945)There will be mountains that I will have to climb. And there will be battles that I will have to fight. But victory or defeat it’s up to me to decide but how can I expect to win, if I never try. I just can’t give up now, I’ve come too far from where I started from, nobody told me the road would be easy, and I don’t believe he’s brought me this far to leave me. Never said there wouldn’t be trials, never said I wouldn’t fall. Never said that everything would go the way I want it to go. But when my back is against the wall and I feel all hope is gone, I’ll just lift my head up to the sky and say “help me to be strong,” oh I just can’t give up now. I’ve come too far from where I started from. Nobody told me the road would be easy and I don’t believe he’s brought me this far to leave me. Oh, I know you didn’t bring me out here to leave me lonely, oh no, even when I can’t see clearly, I know that you are with me so I can’t, I just can’t give up now. I’ve come too far from where I started from. Nobody told me the road would be easy and I don’t believe he’s brought me this far to leave me.

Angelina Grimké Weld (1805-1879) From a speech at an abolitionist conference at Pennsylvania Hall, Philadelphia, on May 16, 1838. The building was destroyed by mob arson the next day.

Angelina Grimké Weld was an American political activist, women’s rights advocate, and supporter of the women’s suffrage movement. She and her sister Sarah Moore Grimké are the only known white Southern woman who became abolitionists.

Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) From the oration “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?”, delivered in Corinthian Hall, Rochester, New York, July 5, 1852.

Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, February 1818, Tuckahoe, Maryland—died February 20, 1895, Washington, D.C.) was one of the most eminent human-rights leaders of the 19th century. His oratorical and literary brilliance thrust him into the forefront of the U.S. abolition movement, and he became the first black citizen to hold high rank in the U.S. government.

Separated as an infant from his slave mother (he never knew his white father), Douglass lived with his grandmother on a Maryland plantation until, at age eight, his owner sent him to Baltimore to live as a house servant with the family of Hugh Auld, whose wife defied state law by teaching the boy to read. Auld, however, declared that learning would make him unfit for slavery, and Douglass was forced to continue his education surreptitiously with the aid of schoolboys in the street. Upon the death of his master, he was returned to the plantation as a field hand at 16. Later, he was hired out in Baltimore as a ship caulker. Douglass tried to escape with three others in 1833, but the plot was discovered before they could get away. Five years later, however, he fled to New York City and then to New Bedford, Massachusetts, where he worked as a laborer for three years, eluding slave hunters by changing his surname to Douglass.

A Reading from the Gospel according to Luke Luke 4:14-21 Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone. When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

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The people stand as able at the introduction to the hymn.

HymnThere is a balm in Gilead Sung by all. Negro spiritual

The people are seated at the invitation of Canon Douglas.

Words of Reflection The Reverend Canon Kelly Brown Douglas

Anthem I' ll never turn back no mo’ Howard University Chorale arr. Hall Johnson (1888-1970)Jesus my all to heav’n is gone.I’ll never turn back no mo’.He whom I fixed my hopes upon,I’ll never turn back no mo’.

No mo’, my Lord.I’ll never turn back no mo’.

His track I see and I’ll pursue.I’ll never turn back no mo’.The narrow way ’til Him I view.I’ll never turn back no mo’.

No mo’ my Lord. I’ll never turn back no mo’.

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A Litany for Forgiveness and Healing Dn. Hollerith God, our Creator, you have made all humankind in your image and likeness. We give thanks that

we are all your people, beautifully and wonderfully made in the many races and cultures that dwell on your Earth.

All We acknowledge together our fault—in not always seeing one another as your children, and in viewing one another as unworthy of your grace and mercy.

Amazing Grace Sung by the cantors. New Britain

Amazing grace! how sweet the sound,That saved a wretch like me!

I once was lost but now am found, Was blind but now I see.

’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,And grace my fears relieved;

How precious did that grace appearThe hour I first believed!

Cn. Duncan Thus says the Lord of hosts: Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another; do not oppress the widow, the orphan, the alien, or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another. (Zechariah 7:9-10)

Leader We, the children of European descent, acknowledge that our nation and its wealth were built on the bodies of God’s children who were stolen from their homes, separated from their families, imprisoned, chained, starved, sold, and forced to labor until death.

Leader We understand that centuries of slavery created prosperity beyond the plantation; that this web of death increased wealth for those who built the ships, shouted from the auction blocks, bought the cotton, and smoked the tobacco.

Leader We acknowledge with sorrow that slavery was at the very center of this city of Washington— with slave pens and markets highly visible near the United States Capitol and White House, and in the shadow of our churches, where people of faith worshipped week after week. We confess that our churches and our faith leaders have been complicit in perpetuating slavery and racism; that they have too often failed to stand with the oppressed.

Leader We recognize that emancipation did not bring freedom; that the inhumanity of slavery lived on through Reconstruction and Jim Crow, and is enshrined in the laws, customs, and institutions of this country; and that the descendants of the enslaved, and all who look like them, bear the unfair burden of this heritage.

Leader We acknowledge that as the legacy of slavery has forced untold burdens onto God’s children of African descent, this same legacy has made us, the children of European descent, the inheritors of unearned privilege that we have not shared with all of God’s children.

Leader We confess that by what we have done and by what, through blindness and willful ignorance, we have left undone, we have sinned; we have kept silent when we ought to have spoken. We mourn that this keeps us from living in full and loving relationship with our neighbors of African descent.

Leaders, together Lord, forgive us.All We ask God’s forgiveness for our sins of commission and omission, and we beg the forgiveness

of our neighbors.

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Amazing Grace Sung by the cantors.

The Lord has promised good to me, His word my hope secures;

He will my shield and portion be As long as life endures.

Cn. Corsello And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. (Luke 18:7-8)

Leader We who are children of African descent mourn for our ancestors who were enslaved, bound in chains, brought to this unfamiliar land, bought and sold as chattel, and who suffered hard labor and brutal and inhuman conditions.

Leader We grieve that our ancestors were denied the very rights upon which this country was founded, and even 100 years after slaves in the United States were granted their freedom, our federal, state, and local governments perpetuated laws that allowed us to be treated unfairly and unequally.

Leader We give thanks for people of all races and faiths who spoke out against slavery and segregation; who have stood in solidarity with us in our on-going struggle for freedom and equality; and for those who continue to pray and work for a time when all are welcomed as equal, honored, and valued members of our society.

Leader We praise you, O God, for all the saints, who have walked before us and given their lives to secure freedom for enslaved and the oppressed. We thank you for their witness and faithfulness to your commandments.

Leader And we ask your forgiveness, O God, for the times that in our weariness, frustration, and impatience, we have failed to see all of your children as being entitled to your mercy and love.

Leaders, together Lord, forgive us.All We ask God’s forgiveness for our sins of commission and omission, and we beg the forgiveness

of our neighbors.

Amazing Grace Sung by the choir.

Through many dangers, toils, and snares,I have already come;

’Tis grace that brought me safe thus far, And grace will lead me home.

The people stand as able.

Leader God, in your mercy, grant us grace to see one another as you see us all—humankind made in your image and likeness. Forgive us all our sins, and restore us to right relationship with you and with one another, so that our wounds may be healed.

All Hear us, gracious God.Leader Make us conscious of the ways in which our blindness prevents us from seeing systems of oppression

that continue to harm any of your people, and help us stand together to eradicate the lingering effects of racism that continue to divide us.

All Hear us, gracious God.

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Leader Reconcile us to you, and to one another, that we may be refreshed and renewed for your work which lies ahead. Help us to undertake the difficult and long-overdue task of being in conversation with one another and working hand in hand with one another that your Kingdom may come.

All Hear us, gracious God.Leader He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice,

and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8)Leaders, together Lord, have mercy.All Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.

Amazing Grace Sung by all.

When we’ve been there ten thousand years, Bright shining as the sun,

We’ve no less days to sing God’s praiseThan when we’d first begun.

The Peace

Bishop Carl There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Let the peace of Christ be with you.All And also with you.

The people greet one another with a sign of God’s peace and are then seated.

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Offertory Hymn

An offering is received to support the Cathedral’s ministry of sharing God’s love with the world.

Please sit for the first portion of the offertory music, standing and singing the final refrain.

We’ve come this far by faith Albert A. Goodson (b. 1933)

Don’t be discouraged when trouble’s in your life. He’ll bear your burdens and move all misery and strife. That’s why… Refrain

Just the other day I heard someone say he didn’t believe in God’s word; but I can truly say that God had made a way and he never failed me yet. That’s why… Refrain

Response

Commitment to Freedom & the Building of Beloved Community

Bishop Wright Sisters, brothers, and siblings in Christ, we know it to be true that the arc of history is long and that is bends toward justice. Though laws are passed and milestones reached we still have far to go to realize God’s beloved community in our midst. We live in the bend of that arc. Let us, then, being mindful of what has passed and what has yet to be accomplished lift our voices in prayer to the God who grants us liberty and in whose perfect love all things have their ending.

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Prayers of the People

Leader As we come together on this day, the church invites us to give thanks for the resilience and cultural contributions of people from the African diaspora. Therefore, let us offer our prayers to our loving, liberating, and life-giving God.

Silence

Repairing God, help us to lift every voice and sing, ’til earth and heaven ring, ring with the harmonies of liberty for all your children, that our divisions may cease and we may be one. By your might;

All Lead us into the light.Leader Reconciling God, we have come over a way that with tears has been watered, we have come, treading

our path through the blood of the slaughtered, give us grace to see in each other the face of Christ. By your might;

All Lead us into the light.Leader Resilient God, keep us forever in your path, we pray, lest our feet stray from the places, our God,

where we met you in gift of friend and stranger, in the crucible of fortitude and struggle, that we never forget the ancestors who have brought us thus far by faith. By your might;

All Lead us into the light.Leader Restoring God, yet with a steady beat, our weary feet have come to the places for which our parents

sighed, inspire us with the energy to run with perseverance the race that is set before us, keeping our eyes fixed on you. By your might;

All Lead us into the light.Leader God of Hope, stony the road we trod, bitter the chastening rod, born in the day that hope unborn

had died, revive in us your people that sense of hope that never fails so that we can make new this old world in the name of Jesus our brother.

All Amen.

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Hymn Lift every voice and sing Sung by all. J. Rosamond Johnson (1873-1954)

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Lift Every Voice and Sing—often called “The Black National Anthem”—was written by James Weldon Johnson and was first performed by 500 school children in celebration of President Lincoln’s Birthday on February 2, 1900 in Jacksonville, Florida. The poem was set to music by Johnson’s brother, John Rosamond Johnson. Lift Every Voice and Sing was written at a pivotal time, when Jim Crow was replacing slavery and African-Americans were searching for an identity. Author and activist James Weldon Johnson wrote the words as a poem, which his brother John then set to music. Two key events led to its being named the Negro National Anthem: In 1905, Booker T. Washington endorsed it, and in 1919, it became the official song of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). The song became a rallying cry for black communities, especially in the South. But its influence reached well beyond those boundaries.

A Prayer of CommitmentBishop Wright The love of God in Christ Jesus has power to set all people free. In this power let us commit ourselves

to work for the healing and transformation of our communities. All Gracious and liberating God; lift us beyond the burdens of pain and guilt, build our memories

into life-giving resolve, give us the vision of a new creation and beloved community, strengthen us to act and strive for justice and peace among all people, as we respect the dignity of every human being. Amen.

Dn. Hollerith O God, who created all peoples in your image, we thank you for the wonderful diversity of races and cultures in this world. Enrich our lives by ever-widening circles of fellowship, and show us your presence in those who differ most from us, until our knowledge of your love is made perfect in our love for all your children; through Jesus Christ our Lord. 

All Amen.

The Blessing

Bishop Wright blesses the people and the people respond, Amen.

Dismissal

Cn. Corsello Go forth into the world in peace; be of good courage; hold fast that which is good; render to no one evil for evil; strengthen the fainthearted; support the weak; help the afflicted; honor everyone; love and serve the Lord.All Thanks be to God.

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Retiring Processional musicTotal praise Richard Smallwood (b. 1948)

Verse sung by cantors.

Lord, I will lift mine eyes to the hills, knowing my health is coming from you, your peace you give me in times of the storm.

Sung by all.

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permissions

Cover photograph by Luc De Leeuw.

Participants

Officiating Clergy

The Right Reverend Carl Walter Wright Bishop for the Armed Forces and Federal Ministries, The Episcopal Church

The Very Reverend Randolph Marshall HollerithDean, Washington National Cathedral

The Reverend Canon Kelly Brown DouglasCanon Theologian, Washington National Cathedral

The Reverend Canon Dana Colley CorselloCanon Vicar, Washington National Cathedral

The Reverend Canon Rosemarie Logan DuncanCanon for Worship Washington National Cathedral

Readers

Eleanor BoomhowerNational Cathedral School

Nia Brown National Cathedral School

The Reverend Canon Paula E. ClarkCanon to the Ordinary, Episcopal Diocese of Washington

Quincy Corsello Duke Ellington School of the Arts

Duane Gelderloos Washington National Cathedral

Jory HolmesDuke Ellington School of the Arts

The Reverend Canon Leonard L. Hamlin, Sr.Canon Missioner, Washington National Cathedral

The Reverend Patrick L. KeyserPriest Associate, Washington National Cathedral

Paula B. Mays Washington National Cathedral

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The Reverend Melanie Mullen Director of Reconciliation, Justice and Creation Care, The Episcopal Church

Ken MyrieWashington National Cathedral

Margaret RawlsWashington National Cathedral

The Venerable L. Sue von RautenkranzArchdeacon, Episcopal Diocese of Washington

The Reverend Dr. Wesley S. Williams, Jr.Priest Scholar, Washington National Cathedral

The Reverend Charles Wynder, Jr.Staff Officer, Social Justice and Advocacy Engagement, The Episcopal Church

Musicians

Canon Michael McCarthyDirector of Music, Washington National Cathedral

Thomas M. Sheehan Organist & Associate Director of Music, Washington National Cathedral

Daryl L. A. HuntAssociate Director of Music for Contemporary Worship, Washington National Cathedral

The Cathedral Band

Howard University ChoraleDr. Eric Poole, Director

Soul in Motion

Welcome and Bidding quoted text taken from The National Memorial for Peace and Justice, Equal Justice Initiative, Montgomery, Alabama. Call to Worship by The Reverend Canon Rosemarie Logan Duncan based on Micah 6:8. Gospel taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, Copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the Na-tional Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Litany of Healing and Forgiveness based on The Litany of Prayers for Forgiveness, Healing, and Reconciliation by The Reverend Dr. Dorothy Wells, 2018, and prayers by the Commission to Dismantle Racism, Episcopal Diocese of Western North Carolina, 2011, adapted by Michelle Dibblee and Canon Duncan. Prayers of the People by the Union of Black Episcopalians provided for broad use in recognition of the 400th Anniversary of the arrival of the first enslaved Africans in Jamestown, Virginia, Copyright 2019, The Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America. All rights reserved. Prayer of Commitment based on prayer from the service to commemorate the bicentenary of the abolition of the Slave Trade Act, Westminster Abbey, March 27, 2007, adapted by Canon Duncan. As by the streams of Babylon. Text: after Psalm 137. Music: Thomas Campion. Public domain. Rock of ages, cleft for me. Text: Augustus Montague Toplady (1740-1778), alt. Music: Thomas Hastings (1784-1872). Public domain. Psalm 137 Refrain. Daryl L. A. Hunt. Used by permission. All rights reserved. There is a balm in Gilead. Negro spiritual. Public domain. Amazing grace. st. 1-4, John Newton (1725-1807), alt.; st. 5, from A Collection of Sacred Ballads, 1790. Public domain. We’ve come this far by faith. Text and music: Albert A. Goodson, Copyright 1993, Manna Music. Reprinted under One License #A-709283. Lift every voice and sing. Text: James Weldon Johnson (1871-1938). Music: J. Rosamond Johnson. Public domain. Total praise. Text and music: Richard Smallwood, Copyright 1996, Bridge Building Music. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Cover photograph by Luc De Leeuw.

30 Wisconsin Avenue, NW · Washington, DC 2006www.cathedral.org · @wncathedral

Resolution of the 75th General Convention of The Episcopal Church

Resolved, That the 75th General Convention of The Episcopal Church declare unequivocally that the institution of slavery in the United States and anywhere else in the world, based as it is on “ownership” of some persons by other persons, was and is a sin and a fundamental betrayal of the humanity of all persons who were involved, a sin that continues to plague our common life in the Church and our culture; and be it further

Resolved, That The Episcopal Church acknowledge its history of participation in this sin and the deep and lasting injury which the institution of slavery and its aftermath have inflicted on society and on the Church; and be it further

Resolved, That we express our most profound regret that (a) The Episcopal Church lent the institution of slavery its support and justification based on Scripture, and (b) after slavery was formally abolished, The Episcopal Church continued for at least a century to support de jure and de facto segregation and discrimination; and be it further

Resolved, That The Episcopal Church apologize for its complicity in and the injury done by the institution of slavery and its aftermath; we repent of this sin and ask God’s grace and forgiveness; and be it further

Resolved, That the 75th General Convention of The Episcopal Church through the Executive Council urgently initiate a comprehensive program and urge every Diocese to collect and document during the next triennium detailed information in its community on (a) the complicity of The Episcopal Church in the institution of slavery and in the subsequent history of segregation and discrimination and (b) the economic benefits The Episcopal Church derived from the institution of slavery; and direct the Committee on Anti-Racism to monitor this program and report to Executive Council each year by March 31 on the progress in each Diocese; and be it further

Resolved, That to enable us as people of God to make a full, faithful and informed accounting of our history, the 75th General Convention of The Episcopal Church direct the Committee on Anti-Racism to study and report to Executive Council by March 31, 2008, which in turn will report to the 76th General Convention, on how the Church can be “the repairer of the breach” (Isaiah 58:12), both materially and relationally, and achieve the spiritual healing and reconciliation that will lead us to a new life in Christ; and be it further

Resolved, That to mark the commencement of this program the Presiding Bishop is requested to name a Day of Repentance and on that day to hold a Service of Repentance at the National Cathedral, and each Diocese is requested to hold a similar service.

The Episcopal Church, Columbus, 2006 (New York: General Convention, 2007), pp. 664-665, Journal of the General Convention.