Rector’s Note: Our Christian Call to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility-4.10.25

At its meeting this week, the St. Peter’s Vestry unanimously passed a public statement providing leadership on the parish’s commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility in our parish programs and practices. It reads:

Vestry Statement: Affirming our Traditional Commitments to the Vulnerable

In response to the dismantling of policies and practices that protect vulnerable people, the Vestry of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church commits to upholding the practices of diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility in our parish programs and practices, guided by the values that flow from our Christian faith, our Episcopal context and our identity as St. Peter’s Church.

These include:

Our Baptismal covenant, which includes promises to renounce evil, commit ourselves to Christ, and “strive for justice and peace among all people, respecting the dignity of every human being.”

Our parish mission, in which we affirm our call to be a people “rooted in God’s love, growing by God’s grace and reaching out to all.”

Our parish charisms which we have discerned as gifts of welcome, caring connection and inviting liturgy.

As we discern as a parish and as individuals of faith how best to stand with, serve and create a safe space for vulnerable people at this time, we reaffirm these values as our guiding principles and call upon all to pray for God’s grace and guidance.

The Vestry agreed that such a statement from parish leadership helps guide our thinking both as a parish and individually as we consider how to respond to people made vulnerable in the current environment of funding cuts, punitive executive orders, and the removal of terms such as diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility from social media of institutions and organizations throughout our communities.

The people affected by these actions are those that St. Peter’s have long served, supported and made safe space for: women, LGBTQIA individuals, immigrants, people of color, people with disabilities, people in poverty, people in need of care, people suffering from unjust structures. The list goes on.

 Meanwhile, the terms that are under attack at this time – diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility -- are sacred words because they guide us to the ideal of the beloved community, the Kingdom of God. Diversity speaks to the holy mix of cultures, beliefs, backgrounds, and abilities that make up our human family. Equity calls us to fairness in how we treat one another and respond to people’s needs. Inclusion resonates in our charism of welcome, creating space for people to be themselves in the context of loving community.  And accessibility makes way for that inclusion, both in our physical spaces and also in our rituals, community gatherings, ministries and leadership.

A neighbor once snarkily called us the “church where anything goes.” But our commitment to practices such as diversity and inclusion revolves around a very consistent story – the story of Jesus’ life among us, and his crucifixion, resurrection and ascension. We tell that story at every liturgy, Sunday to Sunday and beyond. We proclaim it in our written words and live it in our actions. If we’re doing it right, it should be very hard to ignore. That consistent story shapes us as a community and unifies us in our diversity.

Jesus was the ultimate proponent of DEIA, making it possible for all to enter the life of God by the healing and freeing love he has for us as God. And he empowers his disciples to do the same. This is what we proclaim in no uncertain terms as we enter Passion Week this Sunday, as we walk through the painful story of his arrest and state execution, and as we rise with him in joyful victory on Easter Sunday.

That’s why I’m so encouraged by the Vestry’s move to remind us that our identity as Christians calls us to look through the lens of faith and follow the guiding principles of our Christian identity as we consider the many ways God is calling us to stand in solidarity with people seeking justice and solidarity at this time.

As we live into these challenging times, I encourage you to read and reflect upon the Vestry’s statement and consider how these guiding principles of faith are calling to you and shaping you.