Grace Cathedral
Summer 2024
Racial Justice Youth Pilgrimage to Alabama and Georgia
Tuesday, July 11 – Tuesday, July 18
In the summer of 2024, members of the Grace Cathedral Youth Group will be going on a Racial Justice Youth Pilgrimage. We are partnering on this endeavor with other youth groups in the Diocese.
Pilgrims will experience how justice has been fought for and continues to be fought for in the US and how important faith has been for so many of those involved in the fight. We will meet with the local community and spiritual leaders who will guide us in our journey. The things we see and experience will be challenging, inspiring, and life-changing.,
Highlights include:
- Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, where the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. began his ministry
- The sites founded by Bryan Stevenson (“Just Mercy”) and his organization, the Equal Justice Initiative, in Montgomery, Alabama – the Legacy Museum and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice;
- Edmund Pettus Bridge, Selma, where we retrace the steps of the marchers whose actions led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
The grounds of the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park, where Dr. King was born, worshipped, and is now interred.
The National Center for Civil and Human Rights, Atlanta, where we learn about how the work for human rights continues to the present day – and the role we all have to play.
We will also explore the culture, community and natural beauty of the places we visit, with plans to:
- Visit the Georgia Aquarium, the largest in the US, to learn more about the array of amazing sea creatures in our world;
- Try famed local dishes and learn how to make some ourselves!
A Powerful Bonding Experience
This pilgrimage will be a powerful bonding experience for our youth, allowing them to form lifelong connections with each other and the members of the youth groups we will visit. It will give participants a vision of the work they can do in our church and our society. We are excited to offer this pilgrimage to our youth and inspired by their commitment to making the world a better place for all. As emerging leaders of our church, they are the changemakers of today and tomorrow.