The Doctrine of Discovery established a religious, political, and legal justification for colonization and seizure of land not inhabited by Christians, thus allowing nations to enter the New World of the Americas seizing the land and murdering the Native inhabitants. The effect of this series of papal bulls beginning in 1493 is still felt today by Indigenous Peoples everywhere.  The Episcopal Church in General Convention 2009 repudiated the Doctrine of Discovery, but the work for justice continues.  Come watch “Doctrine of Discovery: In the Name of Christ,” and learn about its history. 

FACILITATOR: The Reverend Diana M. Rogers serves as co-convener of the Journey of Discovery with Indigenous Peoples Ministry Network for ECCT, Priest in Charge at Christ Church Middle Haddam, member of Mission Council, member of Province I Finding a Way Ministry Network, member of Province I Indigenous People’s Justice Network, and advocate for justice for all peoples.

Christianity is growing in leaps and bounds in Africa, Latin America, Asia, and Oceania. Numbers of Christians are declining in Europe and barely holding steady in North America, thanks to our immigrant populations. Given this new reality, what does it mean to do mission in the church today from the standpoint of a western church? How do we find a way to do mission with our brothers and sisters in the Global South that create relationships rooted in attentive listening, mutual respect, vulnerability, transparency, and love? This session will describe some of the projects that Companions in Mission Network has funded this year as examples of a renewed vision for mission in today’s church. We will offer information on grants available to ECCT churches for mission projects to fund travel, sustainable development projects, and communication and publishing initiatives. Come discover how your church can be more involved in local and global mission!

FACILITATORS: For the past 20 years, Bill Schrull has been involved in mission projects supporting the work of two Anglican Dioceses in Tanzania and Kenya.  The projects have ranged from helping implement computer technology at their colleges to building a mission boat to serve the transportation needs of people living on a remote island on Lake Victoria.  Bill and his wife Cathy remain active in working with the two dioceses and annually travel to East Africa to continue to build relationships and cultivate mutual support with their mission partners.

Michele Sigg, PhD grew up a missionary kid in France. She has been studying mission history for the last fourteen years and has a doctorate in the History of World Christianity from Boston University. She has been leading and supporting mission initiatives through her church, St. John’s Episcopal Church, New Haven, including the Blessed Peace Foundation Children’s Home and (soon to be built) School in Makindu, Kenya. She is also the Executive Director of the Dictionary of African Christian Biography (DACB.org), a project that documents the stories of the Mothers and Fathers of African Christianity to serve the church and theological education in Africa.

This workshop seeks to renew and strengthen the work of the Racial Healing, Justice and Reconciliation in parishes and worshipping communities in ECCT. Sponsored by the RHJR Ministry Network, we will share information about the network followed by a panel with representatives from justice ministries in four parishes sharing the work unfolding in their own congregations. Through conversation and guided dialogue, we will explore areas of common ground, opportunities for collaboration, and ways to support one another across the Diocese of Connecticut. Our hope is to generate fresh energy, deeper connection, and a clearer path forward—so that racial healing and justice work in our congregations is not isolated but strengthened through shared commitment and mutual encouragement.

Facilitators: Jilda Aliotta is an active lay member of Christ Church Cathedral. In the early 1990s she was one of the founding members of the Cathedral’s Uyeki Forum on Social Justice and Unlearning Racism.  She is currently a member of the Racial Healing Justice and Reconciliation Ministry Network’s Core Team.  Dr. Aliotta has also been active in racial justice work in her professional capacity as a faculty member at the University of Hartford. She holds a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Minnesota.

Gail Bindley-Taylor is a member of the Racial Justice, Healing, & Reconciliation Ministry Network Core Team with a focus on supporting and encouraging advocacy among parishes of ECCT. At St. Paul’s, Gail has launched the Justice Ministry team, organized the parish’s initial Black History Month and Juneteenth celebrations, and she is the team leader of the parish’s history project team which has recently completed research on the first third of the parish’s 287- year history. In the wider community, Gail has previously been active as a sexual assault advocate with the Centre for Sexual Assault Crisis Counselling in Stamford and as a mentor with Family ReEntry in Bridgeport and as a member of the KAIROS Prison Ministry Women’s Inside team. More recently, she continues to serve as a part of the school-based Norwalk Mentoring Program. In her professional life, Gail has had a long career in broadcast media and communication, including decades of service in the Public Information Offices of the United Nations. She remains actively engaged with the United Nations community as Chair of the Communications Committee of the Association of Former International Civil Servants (AFICS/NY).

In this presentation I will share best practices as well as resources for including social justice topics in children and youth formation. Our young people hunger for a just faith. How can we use scripture, saints, history, and the present moment to help children of all ages live out their baptismal covenant to seek and serve Christ in all persons and respect the dignity of every human being?

FACILITATOR: The Reverend Margie Baker is the Associate Rector at St. John’s West Hartford and a former public high school teacher. She has written articles for Building Faith and is the author of God, Gospel, and Gender: A Queer Bible Study for Teens. When she’s not at church, Margie enjoys reading, running, and spending time with her wife, children, and dog.

This workshop will help you get ready to remember the missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and two-spirit people of Connecticut and North America (Turtle Island).  Learn about why this is an important time for our Indigenous neighbors, and how to show your solidarity with their goals. Watch a short video and take away information and ideas; hear how others are marking the week.

FACILITATOR: The Reverend Diana M. Rogers serves as co-convener of the Journey of Discovery with Indigenous Peoples Ministry Network for ECCT, Priest in Charge at Christ Church Middle Haddam, member of Mission Council, member of Province I Finding a Way Ministry Network, member of Province I Indigenous People’s Justice Network, and advocate for justice for all peoples.

Is your congregation thinking about flying a pride flag? Does your congregation fly a pride flag, and you’re wondering what else you can do? Are you an individual who wants to be a more effective ally to LGBTQ+ people? Do you have questions (like why are pronouns important?) that you’ve been too embarrassed or didn’t know who to ask? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then we invite you to join us for this workshop! Participants will leave this workshop with concrete tools for discernment, discussion, and deepening of your live-giving witness that ALL are beloved children of God. 

FACILITATORS: The Reverend Deacon Jessie Ackerson has been an ordained deacon for 8 years and had the privilege of serving with several parishes.  She is a proud parent of a trans daughter and trans daughter-in-law.  When not serving as deacon, Jessie works for Community Mental Health Affiliates, ensuring their clinicians have the resources to care for the community.

The Reverend Canon D Littlepage serves on the staff of the Episcopal Church in Connecticut as the Canon for Mission Advocacy, Racial Justice & Reconciliation. Prior to becoming a Canon for ECCT, Rev. D served as Rector of Trinity Church, Hartford. While at Trinity, Rev. D was an active member of the Greater Hartford Interfaith Action Alliance (GHIAA) Clergy Caucus, the Asylum Hill Neighborhood Association, and the ECCT Title IV Taskforce, among other endeavors. Before serving at Trinity, they served as the Director of Roxbury-Dorchester Power in Community, a collective founded by four Episcopal parishes and the Diocese of Massachusetts. Throughout their ministry, Rev. D has served with a clear sense of God’s call to celebrate the holiness of God in the margins and to equip and support communities in living the Gospel of God’s love in the world around them.

The Reverends Anita Schell and Rachel Field will offer an overview of An Episcopal Path to Creation Justice. This presentation will offer practical skills for building a transformative culture of climate justice in your parish setting that is rooted in anti-racist organizing principles.

FACILITATORS: The Reverend Rachel Field lives on a small regenerative farm in a cold hollow in the Green Mountains of Vermont surrounded by maple, ash, and hemlock. She is the Program Manager for An Episcopal Path to Creation Justice as well as the Priest Associate at St Mary’s in Northfield Vermont. She has been leading retreats in the Episcopal Church for 20 years and has a deep love of working with the more-than-human world to deepen relationships with Christ and heal from internalized racism. When she’s not gardening or wrangling chickens, she can be found curled up with a good book (probably the Lord of the Rings) and her cat, Eowyn.

A native of Lancaster, PA, the Reverend Dr. Anita Louise Schell has for over 40 years served in congregations and schools in New York City, Philadelphia, Vermont and Rhode Island. She holds degrees in music, English literature, and world religions from Brown University, General Seminary and the Episcopal Divinity School, where she wrote her doctorate thesis on the topic of environmental justice. Most recently Anita served for four years as President of RI Interfaith Power & Light. She is a Board Director for the Swan Point Cemetery in Providence. She currently serves as the Convener of the Environmental Network of the Episcopal Church in CT. Anita is a member of the Alumni Executive Committee of the General Theological Seminary.

This seminar explores the enduring call, courage, and leadership of women in the life of the Church. From Mary Magdalene, the first witness to the Resurrection, to trailblazing leaders such as Barbara Harris, Catherine Waynick, and Laura Ahrens, women have continued to teach, preach, lead, and prophetically witness often in the face of resistance. 

This presentation reflects on authority, perseverance, and the movement of the Holy Spirit across generations. While contexts have changed, the challenges and the calling remain strikingly familiar. Through biblical reflection and contemporary examples, we will explore the parallel threads of faith, resilience, and divine purpose that connect women leaders then and now. The more things change, the more they stay the same yet the Spirit continues to move powerfully through women in ministry.

FACILITATORS: Dr. Paulette Blythe-Russell, is a devoted Christian, educator, and servant leader. A member of St. Martin’s Episcopal Church in Hartford since 2005, she has served as Superintendent of Christian Education, Altar Guild member, vestry member, and currently as President of the Episcopal Church Women (ECW) for Connecticut. She earned her Doctorate in Educational Leadership from the University of Hartford in 2014. A passionate advocate for diversity and restorative justice, Dr Blythe-Russell, has supported at-risk students and young mothers in achieving academic success. An award-winning TESOL educator and mentor, her global outreach and community service continue to impact lives locally and internationally.

The Reverend Evelyn Wheeler was ordained a priest in December 2011 by the then-bishop of the Diocese of Virginia. She served in the Diocese of Indianapolis for nine years and, since her retirement, has been a supply priest in ECCT. Previously, she was a Foreign Service Officer, working in China, Mongolia, Russia, and on a variety of issues, including environmental policy, trade, energy, border security, and human resources. She graduated from Berkeley Divinity School and holds advanced degrees from Gonzaga Univ School of Law and Johns Hopkins. She loves to travel, has two cats, and reads history and theology.

In 2006 The Episcopal Church began discussions in support of federal reparations studies and churchwide initiatives to address the long-term impact of slavery, segregation and injustices within its communities of faith.  Since then, a number of Dioceses throughout the country have initiated efforts to fund projects for Black and Indigenous communities. In this session, the ECCT’s historical connection to, and benefits from, slavery will be reviewed. There will also be a discussion on the Diocese’s efforts, through the establishment of the ECCT Reparations Task Force and later the Reparations Fund Board, to use methods such as “truth-telling and listening” to both uncover the harms created through slavery and to build mechanisms to address the root causes which allowed these inequities to be sustained.

FACILITATORS: The Rev. Rowena J. Kemp is the 9th Rector (first female and first Person of Color) of Grace Episcopal Church, Hartford and Dean of the North Central Region.  She is also the National Chaplin of the Girls’ Friendly Society USA. She previously served as the Assistant Rector at the historic Trinity on the Green in New Haven, and as a Presbyter in the Middlesex Area Cluster ministry of the Episcopal churches in Northford, Higganum and Killingworth, CT while employed full-time in the Program of Applied Translation Research at the Yale School of Medicine.  She is a native of the Bahamas who received her M.DIV and diplomas in Anglican Studies from Yale Divinity School and the Berkeley Divinity School at Yale.  She is the mother of two boys and loves photographing people. She served on the ECCT Reparation Task Force and is a member of the Reparation Fund Board.

Stephanie Lightfoot attends St. Monica’s Episcopal Church, in Hartford, where she has been a member since 1984, and is a Lay Eucharistic Minister and Senior Warden.  She retired from The Travelers Insurance company in 2015, as Director of Worker’s Compensation Statistical Reporting after 34 years of service. She is the mother of two sons and grandmother of three granddaughters. She comes to this work on the Reparation Board with an open mind and heart to address long standing hurts and divides as we move forward toward reconciliation and healing.

Colleen Foster-Bey attends St. Stephen’s Church, in Bloomfield, where she has been a member since 1989. She’s served on the Vestry and Altar Guild, and as Eucharistic Lay Minister and Sunday School Teacher. Colleen worked for 22 years at UConn’s Center for International Community Health Studies in Farmington where she retired as Assistant Director. She also worked 9 years as Research Associate and Intervention Coordinator at the Institute for Community Research in Hartford. She’s married with two daughters. Colleen’s participation on the Reparation Fund Board allows her to work with a cross-section of dedicated members of ECCT in acknowledging and addressing the hard truths of its history.

White Christian nationalism is a political ideology and cultural framework that says America should be a Christian nation and that good Christians must be American nationalists. In the U.S. context, Christian nationalism is rooted in whiteness, is usually (though not exclusively) used to prop up right-wing policies, and is a major driver of authoritarianism, political violence, patriarchy, homophobia, and antisemitism. All of this is done in the abused and misused name of Jesus Christ, making white Christian nationalism one of the greatest threats to both democracy and the church today. In this presentation, we will explore the following questions and more:

• What is Christian nationalism, and how widespread is it?
• Where does Christian nationalism show up in American politics?
• Where does Christian nationalism show up in Episcopal churches?
• How can our Episcopal parishes bear witness and organize against Christian nationalism?

FACILITATOR: Before becoming priest-in-charge at St. PJ’s in New Haven, the Reverend Nathan Empsall was executive director of Faithful America from 2019-2025, a national Christian organization with nearly 200,000 members working for social justice and against Christian nationalism. Nathan’s resources against Christian nationalism have been highlighted by the Southern Poverty Law Center. He has written about the issue for NBC, Newsweek, Time, Red Letter Christians, and more. Faithful America victories during his tenure included persuading Fisher Price to change the white Jesus toy in its Nativity playset, convincing multiple stations to drop the Jim Bakker Show, and counter-protesting Christian-nationalist events across the country. Originally from East Texas and North Idaho, Nathan worked for the Sierra Club and Organizing for America in DC before attending seminary. He has also interned for the Episcopal Church’s public-policy and United Nations ministries and with the dioceses of Louisiana, Nebraska, and Spokane.