(L-R) Episcopal Bishop of Atlanta Robert C. Wright, Absalom Jones Episcopal Center for Racial Healing Director Dr. Catherine Meeks, Anglican Bishop of Cape Coast (Ghana) Victor Atta-Baffoe, Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Michael B. Curry at Center Dedication in 2017 – Photo Don Plummer.
ATLANTA – The Absalom Jones Episcopal Center for Racial Healing is seeking a new director as part of a planned transition.
The new executive will succeed the Center’s founding Executive Director Dr. Catherine Meeks who will retire at the end of 2023.
The Center posted its job description on The Episcopal News Service on July 11. Read the announcement.
Meeks, who has led the Center since its inception in 2017, will become executive director emeritus. While stepping away from daily management, Meeks will continue to advise the Center.
She will also continue her work as a retreat leader and conference keynoter. In October, Meeks and Poet/Philosopher, David Whyte are set to co-lead “Drinking from Poetry’s Well: The Search for Freedom, Hope, and Healing” the 2023 Lansing Lee Conference at Kanuga Conference Center in North Carolina.
Prior to leading the Center Meeks was chair of Beloved Community, the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta’s racial reconciliation training program. Atlanta Episcopal Bishop The Right Rev. Rob Wright appointed Meeks to lead the Center.
Wright and Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Michael B. Curry established the Center as a churchwide resource to train church leaders in ways to address healing the racial and ethnic divides in the Episcopal Church. Since then, the Center has become more sought after than anticipated within the Church and by other Christian denominations and faith traditions.
The Center’s work under Meeks’ leadership has expanded its antiracism training from that affecting African Americans to Asians, Latinix, and Indigenous people. The work now also includes scholarship, advocacy, and a growing catalog of online offerings.
Meeks has augmented the Center’s core mandate by her writing, speaking engagements and a blog, a podcast, webinars, a book study club, and supporting scholars through the Center’s Bishop Barbara C. Harris Justice Project.
The Center maintains a virtual library containing hundreds of resources. It has also invested in scholarly work including the creation of an antiracism curriculum for youth.
Visit the Center’s website for more information.
