Summer Book Club for Catholic School Educators
Racial Justice and the Catholic Church by Fr. Bryan Massingale
- 6-Week Virtual Summer Book Club for Catholic Educators
- June 26th to July 30th
- Register by June 21st
Catholic schools have a long tradition of serving diverse families who seek the highest quality of education for their children. Animated by St. Ignatius' vision that we are men and women for others, Catholic educators have a responsibility to understand the depth of pain, anger, and hardship racism has caused people of color in our country. If we are to see this vision into reality, we must work for racial justice both in our Catholic church and schools. We invite you to take a step toward this vision by engaging in a six-week summer book club on Fr. Bryan Massingale’s Racial Justice and the Catholic Church that will include introspective, meaningful, and sustained conversations with other Catholic educators on racism.
At a Glance
How long will it take?
This book club will run for six weeks during the summer.
When does it start?
There will be a live presentation on Friday, June 26th at 1 p.m. EST. Small group book club conversations will begin the week of June 29th.
How much does it cost?
There is no charge to participate in the book club. The only cost is the purchase of Fr. Bryan Massingale’s text, Racial Justice and the Catholic Church.
What is the book club format?
The book club will include small group conversations, three live virtual presentations by the Roche Center, and conclude with a virtual candlelight mass.
This is a 6-week virtual summer book club that would engage Catholic educators in conversation on Fr. Bryan Massigale’s text, Racial Justice and the Catholic Church. In addition to reading the text, participants will engage in small group conversations, three presentations by the Roche Center to understand the relevancy of the text’s message to their role in Catholic schools, and a virtual candlelight mass. The Roche Center will divide participants into small groups, with one or two members of the group serving as the facilitator. This group will organize online meetings every week or two weeks at the discretion of the group, independent of the Roche Center. The Roche Center will host three live presentations on Racial Justice for all participants while the overall summer book club program will involve independent reading and small group conversation. The summer book club will end on July 30th, the eve of the feast day of St. Ignatius of Loyola, with a virtual candlelight mass.
This virtual summer book club is intended to be a 6-week experience, starting on Friday, June 26th and ending on Thursday, July 30th.
Racial Justice in the Catholic Church. New York: Orbis Books, 2010, is written by Fr. Bryan Massingale, a diocesan priest and Professor at Fordham University who serves as the James and Nancy Buckman Chair in Applied Christian Ethics. Fr. Massingale’s text examines the presence of racism in the United States; explores how Catholic social teaching has been used and not used to combat racism and promote reconciliation and justice.
Conversations for the summer book club will be held in small groups. Using a reflection guide developed by the Roche Center, each participant may be placed in a small group with a facilitator for deeper conversation. Participants can also choose to be in a book club with colleagues at their Catholic school or with a group of friends. The Roche Center will host three presentations and a candlelight virtual mass for all participants.
The only cost to participate is the purchase of Fr. Massingale’s text, Racial Justice and the Catholic Church. We encourage all participants to order the text upon registration, allowing for plenty of time for shipping.
The Roche Center will develop the reflection guide for small group conversations. The electronic copy of the reflection guide will be sent to all participants on Tuesday, June 23. The Roche Center will also facilitate the assignments of participants into small groups, with one or two members of the group serving as the facilitator. The Roche Center will also host three presentations on racial justice and the role of the Catholic church and schools during this six week period for all participants. Finally, the Center will organize the concluding candlelight mass that will be celebrated virtually on the eve of the feast day of St. Ignatius of Loyola.
We suggest that all participants start their summer reading club on June 26th to end by July 30th. The first presentation will be held on June 26th. We suggest that small groups begin meeting the week of June 29th. The dates of the Roche Center presentations will be as follows (all times are in U.S. Eastern GMT-4):
June 26th at 1 p.m.
July 10th at 1 p.m.
July 24th at 1 p.m.
Thursday, July 30th at 8 p.m Candlelight Mass
Invitations to the presentations will only be sent to those who have registered.
The presentations will be held live virtually and will be recorded for book club participants to view at their convenience.
For those assigned randomly to a small group, assignments will be made known via email on Tuesday, June 23rd with your group facilitator and contacts. Each group will have a fellow book club participant who will serve as the facilitator and will coordinate the small group conversations. The facilitator will email you ahead of time to create the schedule for small group meetings for the summer.
Please ensure that you’re registered for the summer book club and that you check your spam folder of your inbox. If you still cannot find any email correspondence, please contact the Roche Center at catholic@bc.edu.
Facilitator Frequently Asked Questions
Facilitators will be responsible for coordinating the small group book club meetings, including:
Scheduling the timing of the small group meetings
Setup and hold the virtual small group meetings
Address scheduling and technological issues with small group members
We have asked book club participants who are interested in volunteering as facilitators to indicate so on their registration. The Roche Center will coach facilitators in how to best engage small groups in conversation.
Yes, you may organize your own small group. When you register, please indicate that you are facilitating your own group and that you do not want to be randomly assigned a group. Please ensure that all group members are registered. Invitations to the Roche Center presentations on the Racial Justice will only be sent to those who have registered.
Any virtual platform may be used to meet with your small group. Two platforms that you might consider for small group meetings are Zoom and Google Meet.
Zoom setup:
You will need a Zoom Account in order to setup the meetings. Free account users will be limited to 40 minute meetings. See the instructions on scheduling Zoom meetings for more information.
Google Meet setup:
You will need a Google Account in order to setup the meetings. Non-G Suite users will be limited to 60 minute meetings. See the instructions on scheduling a Google Meet for more information.
If you are being randomly assigned a group, you will receive an email on Tuesday, June 23rd with your group assignments and contacts. The first small group meeting will occur the week of June 29th. Each group will have a fellow book club participant who will serve as the facilitator. The facilitator will email you ahead of time to create the schedule for small group meetings for the summer.
We suggest that individual retreatants start the book club, guided by the text Racial Justice and the Catholic Church, on June 29th to end by July 31st. The first presentation for all book club participants will be on Friday, June 26th. We suggest that small groups begin meeting the week of June 29th.