About Us

In the mid 1990's, Vivian Traylor, along with the Rev. Katherine and John Ward, Mina Williams and Marcella Conley, began attending the Union of Black Episcopalians (UBE) National Conferences. It was at one of these conferences that the idea to form a chapter in the Bay Area was born in 1996/97.

Traylor passed shortly after the chapter was created and because she had been the catalyst in its creation, the UBE chapter was named in her honor. Edgar Cage, newly arrived in the Bay Area from Louisiana, became active and, with the help of Rev. Ward, the chapter’s membership began to grow.

As with many organizations, the chapter experienced a period of attrition in the early 2000's, but with the influx of newly arrived Episcopalians to the area and the activism of current chapter members, membership has increased significantly.

It was during this time that the name became the Northern California/Vivian Traylor (NCVT) Chapter of UBE, to distinguish it from Southern California and to continue to pay homage to Traylor.

More recently, the selection of The Rev. Eric Metoyer in 2024 as the first Canon for Racial, Social and Environmental Justice in the Diocese of California was spearheaded by the NCVT Chapter in their continuing drive to be proactive in striving for diversity, equity and inclusion in the Episcopal Church and in the Diocese of California.