Bishop Sutton Challenges St. Luke’s to Embrace Reconciliation and Human Dignity
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Jamestown welcomed The Rt. Rev. Eugene Sutton on Sunday, June 14, for a day of worship and conversation marking both Pride Sunday and Juneteenth. Bishop Sutton, who serves as Senior Pastor of the Chautauqua Institution and Assisting Bishop in the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, preached at the 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. Eucharists and led an Adult Forum on racial healing and understanding.
In his sermon, Bishop Sutton reflected on the common themes of liberation, dignity, and repentance that unite Pride and Juneteenth. He spoke candidly about his own spiritual journey, acknowledging ways that he once accepted teachings that excluded women from ordained ministry and LGBTQ people from full participation in the Church. He challenged the congregation to examine how scripture has been interpreted throughout history and argued that any interpretation that demeans, marginalizes, or oppresses an entire group of people fails to reflect the love of God revealed in Jesus Christ.
“God does not create mistakes,” Sutton proclaimed. “God creates beloved children.” He concluded the love is man interpretive tool in discerning God’s call and invited all people to take pride in being part of “God’s beautiful rainbow of humanity.”
Before worship, more than 25 parishioners and guests gathered for an Adult Forum on Racial Reconciliation and the Repairing of the Breach. Drawing on the experience of the Diocese of Maryland, which established a $1 million reparations fund during his episcopate, Sutton described reparations not as charity or guilt, but as an act of truth-telling and repair. “Reparations quite simply means to repair,” he said. “Repair that which has been broken.”
He emphasized that reconciliation cannot come cheaply. “There is no reconciliation without a reckoning,” he told participants. “The time is now.” The conversation explored the history of racial injustice, the Church’s role in both perpetuating and healing social divisions, and the ways local communities can undertake the long work of reconciliation through education, relationship-building, and concrete action.
The visit was particularly meaningful for St. Luke’s, which through its own application of the work of the Diocesan Commission to Dismantle Racism, has sought to cultivate conversations about race, belonging, and human dignity through worship, education, and community engagement. “Bishop Sutton’s ministry reminds us that the Church is at its best when it tells the truth, loves courageously, and works faithfully for the flourishing of all people,” said the Rev. Luke Fodor, Rector of St. Luke’s.
Recordings of both presentations are available online. Bishop Sutton’s sermon may be viewed here: Watch the sermon.
The Adult Forum conversation, Racial Reconciliation: Repairing the Breach, may be viewed here: Watch the Adult Forum.