Our Mission & Vision

Our Mission: Our purpose for being

To advance and advocate racial justice in Maine.

Our Vision: What we desire and what compels us

To achieve a more just Maine by living into our baptism: to seek and serve Christ in all persons, respect the dignity of every human being, and transform unjust structures of society.

Episcopal Maine Racial Justice Council

Justice Statement

Hear from Bishop Brown

The Right Reverend Thomas J. Brown, the tenth bishop of Maine shares a statement regarding racial justice and the Episcopal Church in Maine.

Our Work

How we plan to live into our mission and achieve our vision

We will raise awareness of and address the evils of systemic racism in Maine through:

Liturgy

  • Provide liturgical resources for parishes
  • Diocesan services
  • Promote inclusion of multicultural materials as part of worship

Formation

  • Provide educational resources for parishes and individuals
  • Formation opportunities for parishes and the Diocese

Action

  • Raise awareness of opportunities for action
  • Advocate legislative measures that promote racial justice
  • Come alongside those engaged in protests for racial justice

Welcoming Library Project

We have partnered with the Racial Reconciliation Commission in The Episcopal Church in New Hampshire and through a Province I grant, has purchased one traveling Welcoming Library for each diocese. These libraries, curated and created by Portland non-profit I’m Your Neighbor Books, are visiting churches for month-long visits. The library comes in two boxes and includes 30 books about immigrant and New American experiences, a wooden display, and resources for discussion and prayer. Please email Emily Keniston if you’d like to be put on the list to host Maine’s Welcoming Library!

Sacred Ground Program

A major focus for the Racial Justice Council (RJC) is to promote the Sacred Ground program, launched in 2019 by The Episcopal Church, which offers discussion groups led by trained facilitators in order to make conversations about race safe and impactful.

RJC would like to invite you to participate in Sacred Ground in one of  several different ways.

1) Tri-Diocesan Sacred Ground circles shared between Episcopal Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, meeting bi-weekly, online.

2) Sacred Ground circles between the Episcopal Dioceses of Maine and Alabama meeting bi-weekly, online.

3) You can begin a circle in your church, to meet in-person or online!

If you are interested in learning more about one of these opportunities to join a shared circle, please be in touch with Emily Keniston.

Our Members

The Rev. Carol L. Huntington
she/her, retired deacon, Grace Church, Bath, an Anglo white person living in the Abenaki Territory, Wabanaki Confederacy on the shores of the Kinipek

Diane Potter
she/her, Christ Church, Gardiner, European American, white person in Wabanaki Territory

Ted Potter
he/him, Christ Church, Gardiner, European American, white person in Wabanaki Territory

June R. Smoot
she/her, St. David Episcopal Church, Kennebunk, a European-American/white person in Wabanaki territory

Roy Smoot
he/him, St. David Episcopal Church, Kennebunk, a European-American/white person in Wabanaki territory

Tom Van Buren
he/him, St. Brendan the Navigator Episcopal Church, Deer Isle

Contact Us

For more information email diocesan staff liaison, Emily Keniston, St. Ann’s Episcopal Church -Windham, she/her, a white person in the Abenaki Territory and Director of Faith Formation.

Racial Justice Resources