What is the Black Catholic Advisory Circle?
This February, during Black History Month, we celebrate the diversity within the Catholic Church and the Archdiocese of Seattle. Gaynell Walker, a member of our board and chair of our community engagement committee, is also a member of the Black Catholic Advisory Circle (BCAC). What is the Black Catholic Advisory Circle? Gaynell shares more about their history, recent events, and community engagement.
WHO IS THE BCAC?
The late Walter Hubbard, a member of St. Therese Catholic Church in Seattle, was the President and the Co-Founder of the Catholic Inter-Racial Council (CIC). Their goals were to eradicate racial discourse within the Church and community. He became President of the National Congress for Inter-racial Justice (NCIJ) in 1961 and established the Black Catholic Lay Caucus. This was the feeder organization that led to the founding of the African American Black Catholic Advisory Group, established in 1987. Thus began their participation in the 6th historic National Black Catholic Congress (NBCC). The advisory group was established to advocate for the needs and concerns of Black Catholics in local parishes to encourage leadership among our communities and nourish our African Catholic Gospel roots in ways most appropriate to the cultures and traditions of our Black communities.
In 2008, a brief hiatus in leadership occurred in the Archdiocese of Seattle Multicultural Ministries office, which allowed the new director to re-think the direction and activities of the group. From this hiatus, came the re-birth under the name of the Black Catholic Advisory Circle (BCAC).
The consensus of BCAC members was to be more inclusive of the many constituents and people that make up the Archdiocese of Seattle.
As BCAC grew and garnered more representation throughout the Archdiocese, we have evolved from our earliest goals while keeping the commission of the origins rooted in our mission to educate, empower, and evangelize.
WHAT DOES THE BCAC DO?
The BCAC coordinates a variety of activities and events. The BCAC, in collaboration with the Seattle University Institute for Catholic Thought and Culture and the Seattle University Office of Campus Ministry, hosts an annual mass honoring the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on the anniversary of his birth. This commemorative gathering serves as a poignant reminder of Dr. King’s enduring legacy, tireless pursuit of justice and unwavering commitment to equality for all.
In November of this year, in honor of Black Catholic History Month, BCAC held a one-day summit, “We Are All God’s People-A Cultural Immersion” at Holy Spirit Church in Kent, Washington. On July 24, 1990, the United States National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus designated November as Black Catholic History month. Since that time, November has been the traditional time the U.S. highlights and celebrates the rich history of the many contributions that Black Catholics have made to the Church. We the people of God, of African descent, affirm our gifts and contributions to the Archdiocese of Seattle. BCAC’s focus is sharing our gifts, telling our stories, developing lay leadership, and outreach ministries to promote social justice through evangelization.
In addition, BCAC members believe reading can be a benefit to a child’s education, their social and mental development, and their well-being. We believe books that help develop a child’s sense of understanding of and belonging to the Catholic community are very important.
BCAC also believes that our African American and Black children who are in Catholic schools should have access to books that speak to the contributions of Africans and African Americans to the Catholic Church.
The Black Catholic Advisory Circle Book Project provides books to the following schools: St. George Parish School, St. Therese Catholic Academy, Holy Family Bilingual Catholic School, and Visitation Catholic STEM Academy. These schools were selected due to their association with the Archdiocese Fulcrum Foundation Becraft Scholars Program, a dedicated initiative aimed at supporting Black and African American families.
Learn more about the Black Catholic Advisory Circle or get involved by visiting their website.
Contents from BCAC Newsletters and provided by Gaynell Walker, BCAC Member
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