The Episcopal Church & Native Peoples Webconference Recording now online

Carol Gallagher is the first American Indian (Cherokee) female bishop in the Episcopal Church and first Indigenous female bishop in Anglican Communion. Carol offers both her personal experience and churchwide perspective as theAssistant Bishop for Native Ministries in Montana and Bishop Missioner for the Bishops' Native Collaborative. Carol contextualized the conversation with a brief history of the Anglican/Episcopal Church's relationship with Native people, explored the implications of a predominance of Indigenous peoples in urban areas yet a limited focus of the Episcopal Church, and her efforts to raise up and train Native leaders for the church.

Maine's Bishop Steve Lane, Canon for Advocacy Heidi Shott and John Dieffenbacher-Krall talked about the long-standing work of the Diocese of Maine Committee on Indian Relations supporting the sovereignty rights of the Penobscot Nation and other Wabanaki tribes, building understanding between local congregations and their Wabanakineighbors, and promoting the repudiation of the Doctrine of Discovery. They also covered the ground-breaking work of the Wabanaki-State Child Welfare Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the efforts of Wabanaki Reach, a group that trains allies to advocate and build bridges between Native people and Maine citizens.

Elizabeth Ring, Maine's representative to the Province 1 Task Force on Multicultural Awareness and Cultural Competency facilitated the presentation with James McKim, Province 1 Representative to the Episcopal Church Executive Council's Antiracism Committee and its Chairperson. The Rev. Karen Brown Montagno, Chair of the Province 1 Task Force on Multicultural Awareness and Cultural Competency was our chaplain.

This web conference is part of a monthly series hosted by Province I's Cultural Competency and Multicultural Awareness Task Force. The series is designed to raise awareness, provide resources, and offer hopeful approaches for talking across difference and celebrating diversity. Previous conversations are recorded for continued access and can be found on the province I website at https://www.province1.org/exploring-diversity-videos. For more information, check the Province I website at http://province1.org or contact Julie Lytle at executive.director@province1.org.

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