A panel of New Testament scholars convened by Union Presbyterian Seminary late last month took on the uncomfortable reality that “contrary to popular opinion, the Bible has not always been an ally in the struggle for antiracist work. Though replete with Scriptures that convey God’s vision for a world of equality and justice where every human being is created in the common image of God and viewed as equally valuable, the Bible has also been used for more nefarious ends,” including, as a webinar promotion put it, “theologically justified supremacist thought.”
As one who wrote the book on the role the Black church has played working to bring about social justice in the United States, the Rev. Jimmie Hawkins was the logical choice Tuesday to complete Union Presbyterian Seminary’s Just Preach/Just Act series. The series began Monday with a sermon by the Rev. Graylan Scott Hagler.
A “singular voice for social justice,” the Rev. Graylan Scott Hagler, got the nod Monday from the Center for Social Justice and Reconciliation at Union Presbyterian Seminary to preach as part of the Just Preach/Just Act series.
The Rev. Jimmie Hawkins, who directs the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s Office of Public Witness and the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations and wrote “Unbroken and Unbowed: Black Protest in America,” published in February by Westminster John Knox Press, joined an online panel Tuesday as part of Union Presbyterian Seminary’s Just Talk/Talk Just series.
Malcolm Graham, who represents District 2 on the Charlotte City Council, is as qualified as anyone to speak on a panel discussing gun violence, as Union Presbyterian Seminary’s Center for Social Justice and Reconciliation offered Tuesday.
Panelists convened Tuesday to discuss protecting voting rights that in many states are increasingly imperiled decided by the end of the hour-long webinar that churches do indeed have an important role to play.
“We need to talk about voting,” Dr. Rodney S. Sadler Jr. of Union Presbyterian Seminary said to kick off a 90-minute webinar Tuesday titled “Our Voices, Our Votes, Our Freedoms,” “making sure we are putting this front and center of any work we’re doing.”
The extent to which being Black is a preexisting condition that can foster poorer health outcomes was the among the topics addressed during a webinar put on Tuesday by Union Presbyterian Seminary.
Just as they helped launch the nation’s first Truth & Reconciliation Commission in Greensboro, North Carolina, about 20 years ago, the Rev. Nelson Johnson and Joyce Johnson are making plans for a statewide effort they hope will become a national model.
Rather than using critical race theory as a rallying cry for driving people to the polls, the 50-year-old theory ought to be taught as it was originally intended: in law schools.
