2026-2027 Sacred Ground Program 

In the summer of 2020, following the murder of George Floyd, the congregation of St. Paul’s recognized that there was something major missing in our collective understanding of race in America. How could something like this happen, here, today? Part of the effort to answer this question was the launch of Sacred Ground at St. Paul’s. Over the next year, six Sacred Ground circles formed and walked through the program together – grappling with the history of race in this country, the reality of present-day injustice, and the imperative of our shared belief that each of us is a beloved child of God. 

That initial effort has borne fruit in many ways, and one of the most evident was the discernment and ultimate decision that the journey of Sacred Ground was so important that it should be shared with the whole community. Funded by a generous donation from Caroline Russell, in the winter of 2022 St. Paul’s launched the most substantial interfaith Sacred Ground program in the country – offering more than 30 all-community circles over the past several years and spawning Sacred Ground programs in several nearby congregations, as well as a number of follow-up programs that have arisen in response to community needs. 

The impacts of this work have been evident in a number of initiatives within St. Paul’s and beyond. At the same time, questions remain: how do we deepen our exploration of the issue of race in the context of our faith? How do we come together as a church community through the work of healing and justice? How do we discern – collectively and individually – our path forward, in the knowledge that it will be different from the path that brought us here?

All the while, the work of Sacred Ground continues at the national level. For the past two years, St. Paul’s’ Sacred Ground coordinator, Andrea Lauerman, has been coordinating the program for The Episcopal Church as well. The Episcopal version of the is currently undergoing a major review and revision process, to be completed this summer. While the eleven-session structure will remain, many materials are being updated and several “threads” are being developed throughout the program. Themes such as spiritual processing, practicing having conversations in a way that builds community, and discerning meaningful “next steps” are all key to the updated materials.

Amidst the unanswered questions at the local level and the changes at the national level, the Sacred Ground advisory group and the St. Paul’s leadership team have grappled with the next steps for our program. The result of this discernment process is that the focus for the coming program year (beginning in September) will be on Sacred Ground circles within St. Paul’s. This will be a full-circle moment for the congregation: an exciting opportunity to deepen our church community and our collective understanding of our history and present-day realities. And we will do all of this in the context of our shared faith. 

This does not mean that we are ending the interfaith program. It simply means that St. Paul’s will not be sponsoring interfaith circles in the fall of 2026. We will remain open to the guidance of the Holy Spirit and attentive to the needs of the local community to help us discern future paths from the program. We welcome any and all input on this topic!

Folks may be wondering at this point, “is this new initiative for me?” and the answer is YES!

Perhaps you were a part of one of the original circles in 2020. A lot has changed in the curriculum, in the world, and within St. Paul’s since then! We encourage you to walk the journey together with a new circle and to see what might unfold.

Perhaps you have participated in an interfaith circle. The current program is an opportunity to engage in a different way – with an attentiveness to how the material from Sacred Ground intersects with our Christian faith and commitment to building Beloved Community as a church.

Perhaps you haven’t yet had the chance to join a Sacred Ground circle. Now is the time to participate in this important formation program! The genius of Sacred Ground is that it is centered around shared learning and relationship-building dialogue. None of us have it all “figured out”, we are simply grappling together with how we got to where we are as a society when it comes to race and how we can work together to find a different way. A way full of God’s healing, love, and justice. 

You are truly welcome here.