Excerpted from a joint statement by the Union of Black Episcopalians and the Episcopal Church’s Office of Black Ministries
The True Value of HBCUs to the Episcopal Church’s Mission: We believe that the true value of Historically Black Episcopal Colleges is that they represent the longest and most effective mission of the Church to black youth and communities. Other than black congregations, there is no other long-sustained and specific Episcopal Church ministry to the black community. This is particularly true when considering those communities in the most economically, socially, and culturally challenged circumstance. The Episcopal Church often laments the continued effects of historic injustice on the black community, often forgetting that our Historically Black Colleges have been serving these communities and offering certain remedies of grace and uplift on behalf of our Church. These remedies of grace include:
- Graduating significant majority of youth who are first-generation college-educated
- Providing a safe and nurturing environment to grow in identity, intellectual inquiry, personal confidence, and character (i.e., being exposed to healthy role models and the rich contributions of African American history, culture and other significant accomplishments)
- Having a particular attraction to youth from rural and inner-urban communities
- Breaking the cycles of poverty and alienation from the larger society
- Producing professionals to serve both minority and majority communities in business, science, technology, education and other relevant disciplines
Read the rest [PDF].
Image of St. Augustine’s College, Raleigh • North Carolina Division of Archives and History
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