Person2Person 2027: Celebrating 10 Years!

In celebration of the 10th anniversary of our annual Person2Person pilgrimage, we are headed to Washington D.C.!  This year's pilgrimage to Washington, D.C. is scheduled for January 15–18, 2027. Applications are now closed for youth, young adult, and adult participants.

Improving Race Relations

One of Sawyerville's three goals is to improve race relations in Alabama. In all of our programming, we teach our campers, students, participants, and staff to love one another with no exceptions, as Jesus loves us, and to respect the dignity of every human being, as our Baptismal Covenant requires. Our actions are not produced from pity or division, but rather respect, relationship, and seeking Christ in each other.

Sawyerville hosts weekend conferences for high school and college youth every year over the Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend. Participants talk about how to improve race relations in Alabama and visit various historical sites that mark the Civil Rights Movement.

Person2Person Conference 2025

Each year, Sawyerville hosts Person2Person, a transformative weekend conference for high school and college students from across Alabama. The goal: to learn about the history of race in our state, explore present-day social justice efforts, and discern—as Christians—how to actively promote racial healing today. Under the leadership of Breanna Carter, Missioner for Racial Healing and Pilgrimage for the Episcopal Diocese of Alabama, participants engage in Courageous  Conversations about their personal experiences of race and consider how faith calls them to action.

Person2Person 2025 welcomed 22 participants and staff who traveled together to Birmingham and Montgomery, visiting key historical sites such as the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, attending a lecture by Ethan Hill of Ethan’s Heart, and exploring the Civil Rights Memorial Center, EJI’s Legacy Museum and Freedom Monument Sculpture Park in Montgomery. The group also worshiped at St. Paul AME Church on Sunday morning, experiencing the deep faith tradition that grounds much of the Civil Rights Movement.
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The weekend was made possible through the generous hospitality of All Saints Episcopal Church in Homewood and St. John’s Episcopal Church in Montgomery. These congregations not only housed participants and staff but also provided space for critical debriefing and conversation. During these sessions, participants created action plans for fostering better race relations through Courageous Conversations and Program Planning—tools they can carry into their schools, camps, and ministries.  Sawyerville is excited to watch these young leaders continue the important conversations and work begun during the weekend. We are deeply grateful to all who made Person2Person 2025 possible.