In late 1968, several ESCRU chapters contacted the Episcopal Church Center in New York about racist and outdated curricula on Africa that was distributed by the headquarters in connection with its long-established Lenten Mite Box Offering. These materials included pamphlets and brochures produced by the Department of Religious Education and a book published by the Friendship Press, the publishing arm of the National Council of Churches.

As part of a larger review of Christian educational materials, ESCRU took issue with the illustrations in these publications, which they perceived to be racist stereotypes, as well as with the content of the curricula, which they argued was simplistic and paternalistic.

In order to bring their concerns to a larger audience, several chapters of ESCRU, including those in Chicago, Trenton, and New York, sponsored an Ash Wednesday book burning. On February 19, 1969, clergy publicly burned the curriculum materials and imposed the ashes on the heads of the penitents.

A press release from ESCRU asked “Is it Ever Right to Burn a Book?” and stated that the physical burning of racist materials was designed to publicly show “the symbolic death of some attitudes within our Church unworthy of its Founder.” Reaction to the book burning was decidedly mixed. Several long-time members of ESCRU resigned in protest over the choice of symbolism, yet others saw the book burning as a transformative ritual and a dramatic way of bringing attention to the racist content of church curricula for children. In addition, many Indigenous Episcopalians supported the action, stating that their cultural and ethnic history was often portrayed in much the same way in church publications and were hopeful that ESCRU’s actions would bring about change.

In response to the Ash Wednesday book burning controversy, representatives from both Seabury Press and Morehouse Publishing indicated to ESCRU that they had “strong interest in developing new curricular materials that are anti-racist,” and multiple dioceses passed resolutions to examine church curricula materials to identify and combat racist implications and involve Black Episcopalians in the development of new church resources.