On Thursday, August 14, the Rt. Rev. Stacy Sauls, chief operating officer of the Episcopal Church Center in New York City, wrote to the Executive Council of The Episcopal Church about how church staff and Episcopal congregations are responding to the situation in Ferguson, Mo., in the aftermath of a police shooting of an unarmed man. Circumstances surrounding the shooting are still under investigation. News outlets report that the governor of Missouri has ordered the Missouri Highway Patrol to take over crowd control and security from the Ferguson Police Department and the militarized St. Louis County Police have been withdrawn. These actions have helped calm the situation.
The letter from COO Sauls is below. The Missionary Society is a reference to Church Center staff.
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Dear Friends in Christ,
I write to give you some information regarding the very disturbing developments in Ferguson, Missouri. The Missionary Society is very much involved through our Office of Justice and Advocacy Ministries. We give thanks to Executive Council for providing the resources that allow us to have staff devoted to helping with just this sort of issue of justice and peace.
Through Chuck Wynder, Missioner for Social Justice Engagement, we are supporting local efforts of the Bishop, Wayne Smith, and the local Episcopal parishes, particularly St. Stephen’s in Ferguson. We are also consulting regularly during this time with Heidi Kim, Missioner for Racial Reconciliation on next steps. These efforts follow on a strategy session with Alex Baumgarten, Sam McDonald, and me in July as we prepared to engage our new staff resources in the Church’s struggle for racial justice and reconciliation. The commitment made by the Executive Council to The Episcopal Church’s work in this area has certainly proved timely.
Chuck has reported that Steve Lawler, the Rector of St. Stephen’s, is very active in the community and has been out on the streets meeting people at this critical time. He reports that the militarized police presence with armored vehicles and helicopters is making the restoration of calm difficult. A local newspaper article about clergy involvement, including from The Episcopal Church was reported in Tuesday’s Daily Scan.
We are also blessed that as part of The Missionary Society’s remote working plan, we have a missioner stationed in St. Louis, Mike Angell. Mike is also the Diocesan Partnership Representative for the Diocese of Missouri. He is working closely with Chuck and the Dean of Christ Church Cathedral, Mike Kinman. He has also been attending local meetings of the ecumenical community on behalf of all of us.
For now, please pray for all involved and especially for our colleagues who are working on behalf of all of us.
Faithfully,
+Stacy
Click here for a resource prepared by missioner Mike Angell in consultation with other staff members.