Monthly Newsletters

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Catch up with our monthly newsletters from past speakers to helpful resources by clicking the links below.

February/March 2024 Newsletter includes a summary of our February 2024 Gathering with Mr. Ashley Morris, Director of the Black Catholic Office of Intercultural Ministries of the Archdiocese of Atlanta. Mr. Morris spoke on the Eucharistic Revival and Racial Justice. Our March gathering was an in-person gathering at the diocesan SHINE Conference in Charlottesville on March 2nd.

January 2024 Newsletter View a summary of an encore presentation of VCRJ Leadership Council Members, Jimmy Culpepper and Abby Causey, sharing their racial autobiographies at the January 2024 monthly gathering. Upcoming events include our February monthly gathering featuring Mr. Ashley Morris, Director for Black Catholic Affairs of the Archdiocese of Atlanta and our Lenten small group study on the six Black Catholics on the road to sainthood. Also find resources for Black History Month.

December 2023 Newsletter VCRJ Leadership Council Members share their racial autobiographies at the December monthly gathering. A summary is provided as well as breakout groups’ reports of their reactions and responses to their stories. To learn more about writing your own racial autobiography using questions from Dr. Tisby’s book How to Fight Racism, visit our November 2023 Newsletter at the link below.

November 2023 Newsletter At our member gathering, we viewed a segment of Dr. Jemar Tisby’s from JustFaith Ministries 2023 Impact Celebration. Find a summary of participants key themes and insights from breakout groups.

September/October 2023 Newsletter Find a summary of Sister Cora Marie’s talk in which she shares her knowledge and wisdom on the Thirteenth National Black Catholic Congress. Also provided are resources for Black Catholic History Month.

July/August 2023 Newsletter Read reflections from the National Black Catholic Congress and how we move forward from here in our upcoming September gathering with our guest speaker, Sister Cora Marie Billings, RSM, VCRJ Leadership Council Member.

May/June 203 Newsletter Featuring 7 ways parishes can celebrate Juneteenth including learning about its history and finding events in your local area.

April 2023 Newsletter Learn more about our new working groups to help further the mission of VCRJ’s work.

March 2023 Newsletter Our March gathering was an encore presentation of Dr. Shannen Dee Williams presentation in January. WCRJ had over 100 participants join us either online individually or via Zoom at parish gatherings. Click the link to find summaries of the breakout sessions from both the encore and original presentation.

January/February 2023 On January 21, 2023, VCRJ members attended the Bishop Keane Institute event as its January member gathering. The Keane Institute welcomed Dr. Shannen Dee Williams, author of Subversive Habits:Black Catholic Nuns in the Long African American Freedom Struggle. who presented on the topic, “Why Black Catholic History Matters.”

December 2022 Newsletter VCRJ welcomed the Anti-Racism Task Force from Saint Ignatius Catholic Church in Baltimore. ARTF shared how they have sustained their ministry through creative ways in engaging people in anti-racism work.

November 2022 Newsletter In Thanksgiving, we remember the late Deacon Charles Williams, former Director of the Office for Black Catholics and those who made the path by walking.

October 2022 Newsletter Includes the summary of the meeting with parish contacts whose churches are collaborating for Black Catholic History Month and upcoming events in the Diocese of Richmond in November.

September 2022 Newsletter Why celebrate Black Catholic History Month. Our resource page for BCHM went live offering an opportunity to collaborate with other parishes.

August 2022 Newsletter There was no monthly gathering in August so our newsletter features updates since the July meeting.

July 2022 Newsletter Dr. Mario Dance, founder of Catholic Evangelical Missionaries and People of Color Grant, Understanding Racism, Racial Tension, and Racial Reconciliation

June 2022 Newsletter Speaker: Daniel Villar, Director of Ethnic Ministries/Diocese of Richmond Why Racial Justice is a Catholic Issue

May 2022 Newsletter Speaker: Corey Lockhart, Hart Communication, Nonviolent Communication and Racial Justice

April 2022 Newsletter Speaker: Nicole Drummond, Youth Minister/Office Administrator, Basilica of Saint Mary’s of the Immaculate Conception (the only African-American Basilica in the U.S.) presented on her experience as a Black Catholic in Catholic schools.

March 2022 Newsletter, Speaker: Sister Cora Marie Billings, Former Director of the Office for Black Catholics, Diocese of Richmond (and featured in Dr. Shannen Dee Williams book, Subversive Habits) Advice for the Work Ahead.