Wendy Ikezawa Appointed to Diocesan Taskforce on Reparations
St. Michael’s parishioner, Wendy Ikezawa, has been appointed by the Bishop to the Diocesan Taskforce on reparations, which is described below. I am deeply grateful to Wendy for her willingness to faithfully serve in this capacity. Please keep Wendy and the work of the taskforce in your prayers.
The Rt. Rev. Susan E. Goff, Bishop Suffragan and Ecclesiastical Authority, and the diocesan Standing Committee have appointed 16 diverse members to the Task Force on Reparations of the Diocese of Virginia. The creation of this Task Force was initiated by a resolution adopted by the diocesan Annual Convention in 2021. Resolution R-10a commits the Diocese to appoint a “Reparations Task Force to identify and propose means by which repair may begin for those areas of our structures, patterns, and common life by which Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) … still carry the burden of injustices, exclusions, and biases born out of white supremacy and the legacy of slavery.” The resolution also commits the Diocese “to establish an endowment over the next five years of $10 million to be set aside as an initial investment,” the proceeds of which will directly benefit “BIPOC communities, people, programs, businesses, and institutions with preference for any which may have been specifically harmed by past unjust actions by the Diocese of Virginia, its institutions, or churches.”