Racial Justice Ministry

(RJM)

Group of diverse people inside a church with large stained glass window and a gold cross, smiling and raising fists in celebration.

Our Commitment to Racial Justice

Getting Started

A commemorative plaque on a brick pathway honoring enslaved people who contributed to the construction of The Falls Church.

Steps Taken

People participating in a march or protest on a city street, with one person holding a sign that reads "Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day 2025, E Pluribus Unum." The group is dressed warmly, and the urban setting includes buildings, traffic lights, and street signs for Washington Street and Tinner Hill Road.

Future Efforts

Cover page of a report titled 'A Report on The Falls Church's Ties to Slavery, 1730s-1860s' with a shield emblem featuring a cross and a pink stripe.

A Report on The Falls Church's Ties to Slavery

New research concludes that rectors and vestrymen of The Falls Church held about 750 people in bondage between the 1730s and 1860s. The Falls Church published a report detailing the relationship between the parish and the institution of slavery. The report represents the first iteration of an extensive research project and begins to explain how The Falls Church benefited economically from the system of slavery and specifically identifies how the church’s clergy and lay leadership owned approximately 750 enslaved persons, if not more.

The report includes a series of recommendations, and the congregation of The Falls Church is currently discerning how best to respond to the findings of this report, in keeping with the Episcopal Church’s commitment to racial justice and equality.

The Falls Church is grateful for the support and assistance of the Rev. Cannon Dr. J. Lee Hill, Jr., Cannon for Racial Justice and Healing for the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia; Julia Randle, former Registrar and Historiographer for the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia; archivists at the Fairfax County Historic Records Center; and the librarians of the Virginia Room at the Fairfax Public Library. 

Click here to read the full report, released in October of 2024.

“Almighty God, who created us in your own image:  Grant us grace fearlessly to contend against evil and to make no peace with oppression; and, that we may reverently use our freedom, help us to employ it in the maintenance of justice in our communities and among the nations, to the glory of your holy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.”

— The Collect for Social Justice (Book of Common Prayer, p. 260)