Anti-Racism Training

I just got back from the three day anti-racism training that you have to take at some point if you are going to be ordained in the Episcopal Church. Several groups do such training. The one I took was called Crossroads and we took it down at LSTC (the Lutheran Seminary in Hyde Park).

I think the thing I learned the most about (and I post this in some jest because the subject matter was so intense I have to laugh or go crazy at this point) is ecumenical relations. This training contained some folks from the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago (including Seaburians), The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago (as opposed to a columned- or buttressed-diocese), and the Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America.

Each group sat at their own table, no doubt to further ecumenical inbreeding. We were going around the room the first night to introduce ourselves, where we were from, and why our diocese/archdiocese/synod/klingon high council thought racism was a problem.

The Lutherans went first. No problem there. About the 3rd Catholic to speak made some reference to "the true church" while glaring at the Lutheran pastor (a woman) wearing a clerical collar. At the mention of "the true church" the aforementioned Lutherans immediately started foaming at the mouth. Meanwhile at the other end of the room, us Episcopalians were eating jelly doughnuts and drinking bottled water, while no doubt bewailing our manifold sins and wickedness.

It was at this point that I realized we were playing a gigantic game of ecumenical scrabble because it dawned on me that one could spell, ironically, the word "reaccuse" from the acronyms of ECUSA, RC, and ELCA.

I know now why I don't do ecumenical work...