Trustees allocate $500,000 in first major reparations action

People of God in Southern Ohio,

In 2020, Bishop Briedenthal commissioned a task force to research, engage, and make recommendations for the work of racial reconciliation and reparations for the Diocese of Southern Ohio. Over the last several months, the Reparations Task Force (now the formally established Commission on Reparative Justice) has been in conversation with me and our Diocesan Trustees, the elected five-member body that administers the restricted Procter Fund. These conversations have included important updates on the commission’s multi-year work thus far as well as their recommendations for concrete steps forward for the Diocese of Southern Ohio. 

It brings me great joy to share with you a significant action toward racial reparations in our diocese. At their December meeting, the Diocesan Trustees voted unanimously to concur with my allocation of an initial total of $500,000 from the Procter Fund endowment to be shared between the four Historically Black Congregations (HBCs) of our diocese: St. Philip Episcopal Church in Columbus, St. Margaret’s in Trotwood (Dayton), St. Andrew’s in Evanston (Cincinnati), and St. Simon of Cyrene in Lincoln Heights (Cincinnati). The intention is for these funds to establish or strengthen parish endowments that support the long-term health, vitality, and flourishing of these congregations, honoring their witness and ministry as integral to the life of our diocesan family. 

This action does not indicate the completion of this work, nor the end of anticipated restitution of financial resources. Rather, it marks an important first step in an ongoing process and demonstrates a meaningful financial commitment to reinvest in the vitality and self-determination of our Black leadership and communities. 

With the funds identified, the Commission on Reparative Justice—a bishop-appointed 15-member body that includes representatives from each of the four HBCs—is tasked with recommending the process and timeline for distributing the funds to the congregations. As this process unfolds, the Rev. Aaron Rogers, missioner for Black ministries, will invite the leadership of our HBCs into conversation and formation around major fund management, an effort intended to ensure that each congregation has the internal capacity needed to steward these and future funds faithfully, effectively, and in ways that support their mission and ministry. 

We look forward to sharing more with you as this work unfolds. We invite your prayers—of thanksgiving for these four congregations, for the work of the Commission and the Trustees, and for wisdom, courage, and humility—as together we seek healing, justice, and new life in Christ.

In Christ,