The Executive Council of the Episcopal Church met at the Kanuga Conference Center and Camp near Hendersonville in the Episcopal Diocese of Western North Carolina, which is still recovering from the disastrous flooding of Hurricane Helene last fall, and as Western Alaska is experiencing unprecedented coastal flooding caused by Typhoon Halong.
Following the opening addresses, the council heard from Beth-Sarah Wright of the Absalom Jones Center for Racial Healing. In her presentation, “Authentic Leadership Through the Lens of Dignity,” Wright explained a process of deciding to learn; being willing to listen deeply; understanding that honoring differences is honoring dignity; being willing to lean into discomfort; and to act with courage. She walked council members through the differences between debate and dialogue: For instance, with dialogue, finding common ground is the goal. In debate, winning is the goal; in dialogue, one listens to understand, find meaning, and agreement. In debate, one listens to find flaws and counter arguments.
Her DIGNITY lens includes Diversity (who is here/who is missing?), Identity (our identity is our anchor), Growth (are we willing to grow and change?), Nurture (become imagineers), Integrity (are we doing what we say we’re doing?), Transparency (know the purpose, tell the story), and Yield (what do we want our work to yield?). And she centered a quote from Henry David Thoreau, “It is not what you look at that matters . . . it’s what you see.”
Wright asked the council to look again at the baptismal promises; do we hear them differently if spoken by an organization or a community? What new pathways could be opened by basing our work in the baptismal covenant? For instance, if the promise says, “I believe in God the Father, Creator of heaven and earth,” then The Episcopal Church is saying, “We affirm God as the source of life, creation, and human dignity,” and we show that by our work—Creation Care Task Force, environmental resolutions, and sustainability audits.”