Sacramental Action in Response to “Urban Crisis”: An Incarnational Critique of the General Convention Special Program

Abstract

In 1967, the General Convention Special Program (GCSP), led by Presiding Bishop Hines, emphasized unconditional funding and operational autonomy for black and minority-led organizations in response to the “urban crisis” of the 1960s. However, the program struggled to engage white Episcopalians in its sacramental vision and disregarded black Episcopalian voices, revealing its limitations and white establishment bias. While the GCSP showcased the potential for sacramental social action, it fell short due to constraints and failure to address the “urban crisis” as divine judgment on the very foundation of the church’s white establishment power. Instead, the program served as an incomplete penance, acknowledging the sacramental nature of the world and God’s reconciling grace, but ultimately inadequate as a sacramental response to colonial racial capitalism. Lacking the solidarity and critique required for efficacious sacramental action, the GCSP revealed the constraints of the white Episcopal Church to act sacramentally in a sacramental world.