Pilgrimages Invite Participants to Confront New Jersey's History of Slavery

This summer, the Diocese of New Jersey Reparations Commission welcomed participants on two Slavery History Pilgrimages, inviting them to walk, pray, and reflect at sites connected to New Jersey's history of enslavement and the Episcopal Church's role within it.

Beginning and ending at the Perth Amboy UNESCO Slave Trade Marker, the pilgrimage followed a liturgy of prayer, reflection, and repentance as participants traveled to sites across Monmouth and Middlesex counties, including the Tinton Falls African Burial Ground, Marlpit Hall Museum, and Mount Mitchill.

For many, the experience was deeply personal. Participants found themselves standing in places they had passed countless times without recognizing the stories they held. Homes, roads, and neighborhoods that once seemed ordinary became places of remembrance, revealing the lives of enslaved people who lived and labored in the very communities many now call home.

Reflecting on the pilgrimage, Canon Annette Buchanan, Chair of the Reparations Commission, noted that its power comes from the way it connects history to the places we know today.

"While we have studied, read, and listened to the history of enslaved persons in New Jersey, the uniqueness of the pilgrimage is that we bear witness to the lives of the enslaved that are literally in our surrounding church communities, our backyards. For those of us who lived locally, we kept saying, 'I've passed this house many times. I've traveled on this street many times,' without realizing these were the same places where our enslaved ancestors lived and worked under the cruelty and pain of bondage."

Canon Buchanan also reflected on the difficult but necessary task of confronting the Church's own history.
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"We [the Church] wanted to believe we were part of the freedom movement and the Underground Railroad, but we also had to face the harsh reality of our complicity in and enrichment from the institution of slavery."

Throughout the day, participants prayed together, asking God for the courage to face that history with honesty and hope. One prayer captured the spirit of the pilgrimage: "Emmanuel, God-with-us, give us courage to awaken to and repent for our history of enslavement and systemic racism in New Jersey."

By combining prayer with learning and remembrance, the Slavery History Pilgrimages continue the Diocese of New Jersey's commitment to racial justice and reparations, reminding us that reconciliation begins by telling the truth about our shared history.

Hailey Hensley
Director of Communications and Evangelism
Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey