Purpose

The Mosaic Task Force is charged with helping the diocese become more hospitable in an increasingly diverse world and to become more aware of the presence of structural and institutional racism within the Church. This is done be bringing together members of different congregations for the common growth of the diocese as it lives out its mission and ministry.

Currently the Task Force is enabling groups to participate in Sacred Ground, a film and readings based dialogue series on race, grounded in faith. If you are interested in participating in such a group, email Mosaic Task Force Chair Erin Kirby.

Congregational Resource

Traces of the Trade is available for congregations to check out at no cost and view. The materials include a program guide for discussion.

Resources

• Recomended by Bishop Matt - Here is a relatively short but informative video about the history of racism in America by the creator of Veggie Tales: 
• Episcopal Church Resources for Racial Reconciliation and Justice
  Members of the Presiding Bishop’s staff have curated this list of resources for racial justice and reconciliation.
• Seeing the Face of God in Each Other
  The Antiracism Training Manual of the Episcopal Church.
• Sacred Ground
  A film- and readings-based dialogue series on race, grounded in faith. Part of Becoming Beloved Community, The Episcopal Church’s long-term commitment to racial healing, reconciliation, and justice in our personal lives, our ministries, and our society. 
• Province V Dismantling Racism Network 
  Episcopalians from around the upper Midwest sharing resources and ideas for dismantling racism.
• Anti-Racism Resources
  This growing list, compiled by writer and activist Sarah Sophie Flicker and filmmaker Alyssa Klein is intended to serve as a resource to white people and parents to deepen anti-racism work.
• Epistles and Prophets
  a free adult education curriculum from Trinity Wall Street that explores contemporary issues through the words of Martin Luther King Jr., James Baldwin, Thomas Merton and Ruby Sales. The series is video based (online) and provides guided questions .
• On Behalf of Our Children: Wisconsin’s Racial Disparities and the Call of the Gospel​ 
  A Study-Action Guide for Wisconsin Congregations from the Wisconsin Council of Churches
• Loving Our Interfaith Neighbors 
  ​A Study-Action Guide for Wisconsin Congregations from the Wisconsin Council of Churches
• Honore Farm and Mill Resources
  This farm works to transform food and farm systems so that they reflect reverence and the regenerative capacities that are present both in the wheat fields and within us. Here are recently shared resources in responding to racism, especially of interest to agrarians.

Past Events

The Task Force developed a training program on “the Church’s teaching on racism” per the Canons of the Episcopal Church – III.6.5.(g).(4) and III.8.5.(h).(4) which was used at the Clergy Continuing Education in Fall 2017. It included an awareness building workshop based in the Roots of Justice (formerly Damascus Road) dismantling racism training as well as a viewing of The Traces of the Trade.

In 2016, the Mosaic Task Force held “Engaging One Another Across Our Differences” for laity and clergy in each deanery of the diocese. Each session was facilitated by Laura Smythe, an attorney, mediator and professor who addresses topics of cultures and change, critical thinking, creative problem solving and social diversity. She addressed how our upbringing, our cultural background and societal trends have formed values around race which affect our relationships more than we assume.