Penny Grinage of St. Stephen and St. Martin’s Episcopal Church in Brooklyn served as a lay deputy for the 81st General Convention of the Episcopal Church, where she played a crucial role in addressing racial justice and reparations. As a member of the Racial Truth-Telling, Reckoning & Healing Committee, Grinage brought her experience as the Chair of the Reparations Committee of the Diocese of Long Island, a subcommittee of Diocesan Council, with a commitment to become a transformed, anti-racist church and to work toward healing, reconciliation, and a restoration of wholeness to the family of God.
Grinage testified in support of Resolution A015, "Owning a Commitment to Reparations" at a virtual pre-convention hearing this past May. She emphasized the need for a coordinated approach to reparations within the Episcopal Church, stating, "The Episcopal Church has profited immensely and built assets from engaging in the past practice of enslavement of African people, along with participating in a thriving slave economy. Reparations is an act of penance needed in the reconciliation of the Christian community."
Drawing from her experience as chair of the Reparations Committee in the Diocese of Long Island, which established a reparations program in 2021 providing college scholarships and trade school scholarships to descendants of enslaved African people, Grinage advocated for a churchwide initiative. She supported the creation of an independent reparations fund commission, with at least 60% of its membership being persons of color.
The final resolution, which passed, established a Task Force to research and make recommendations on reparations, including the creation of a Reparation Fund. This task force will be overseen by the church-wide Executive Council and is charged with “the study of and response to the historic and ongoing legacy of the displacement of Indigenous peoples and of chattel slavery, and the resulting systemic and institutional racism that prevails today; and to include the recommendation for a fund from TEC assets, the purpose of which is a sustained, meaningful, and tangible response.”
In a video reflection, Grinage expressed her commitment to addressing these important issues: "We're talking [in the Racial Truth-Telling, Reckoning & Healing Committee] about the Episcopal Church committing to reparations based on our church's history toward indigenous peoples whose lands were stolen, who lost much of their culture, being forced to attend these indigenous schools. And we're talking about slavery and how that has impacted the African-American community and how, even today, it still hurts us."