Monday, Oct. 12 – Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2020 (All Times are Eastern Time)
Theme: “Breathing New Life into our Nation: Repentance, Re-formation, Reparation”
Scripture: Ezekiel 37:3-6, emphasis on verse 5
I can’t breathe. These words, uttered through the mouths of dying Black men who fell victim to racial injustice at the hands, and knee, of law enforcement officers have reverberated through our nation and around the world, calling us to a deeper level of reflection and engagement while pushing us to redefine who and what our nation will be.
As the National Council of Churches celebrates 70 years of public witness in the fight for justice, we know that it is time for us to repent, to re-form, and to repair the damage we have caused.
During our Christian Unity Gathering, we will call on participants to partner with God in breathing new life into our nation – a nation struggling to recover from the sins of the past and chart a healthier, more just way forward. We recognize that the sin of racism has left our nation unable to breathe unencumbered and in desperate need of repentance, re-formation and reparation.
As racial injustices plague the country, the novel coronavirus pandemic rages nearly unchecked, and an economic crisis plunges millions into poverty, we will explore the ways to move back from the brink, by faith, to a place of justice, restored hope and healing.
Highlights:
The opening speaker is Dr. James Forbes and the keynote speakers include: Dr. Chanequa Walker-Barnes and Rev. Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove. The Preacher at the Closing Worship Service is the Rev. Dr. Otis Moss, III. This service will also include a Memorial for lives lost to COVID-19.
Dr. James A. Forbes is the Senior Minister Emeritus of the Riverside Church in New York City, one of the largest multicultural and interdenominational congregations in the United States. He was the first African American minister to lead this multicultural congregation and served it for 18 years. Forbes addressed the 2004 Democratic National Convention then led an interfaith rally and demonstration as part of Riverside Church’s Mobilization 2004 campaign. In 2007, he formed the Healing of the Nations Foundation, a non-partisan, non-profit, national ministry of healing and spiritual revitalization. In 1996, Newsweek recognized Forbes as one of the twelve “most effective preachers” in the English-speaking world.
Dr. Chanequa Walker-Barnes is a clinical psychologist, public theologian, and ecumenical minister whose work focuses upon healing the legacies of racial and gender oppression. A professor of practical theology at Mercer University, Dr. Chanequa is the author of I Bring the Voices of My People: A Womanist Vision for Racial Reconciliation, Too Heavy a Yoke: Black Women and the Burden of Strength, as well as nearly two dozen journal articles and book chapters in theology and psychology.
Rev. Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove is a celebrated spiritual writer and sought-after speaker. He is the author of Revolution of Values: Reclaiming Public Faith for the Common Good and Reconstructing the Gospel: Finding Freedom from Slaveholder Religion, among many other books. A native of North Carolina, he is a graduate of Eastern University and Duke Divinity School. He lives with his family at the Rutba House, a Christian community and house of hospitality, in Durham, North Carolina, where he directs School for Conversion.
Rev. Dr. Otis Moss, III is the pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, Illinois. Moss has spent two decades practicing and preaching a Black theology that unapologetically calls attention to the problems of mass incarceration, environmental justice, and economic inequality. He was recently recognized as one of the “12 Most Effective Preachers in the English-Speaking World” by Baylor University’s George W. Truett Theological Seminary. Moss led the team that came up with the “My Life Matters” curriculum; which includes the viral video, “Get Home Safely: 10 Rules of Survival” created in the aftermath of Michael Brown’s death at the hands of Ferguson, Missouri police. Moss is the recipient of a 2016 NAACP Image award for his work, which includes providing biblical context and theological support to a myriad of groups and causes, including the #BlackLivesMatter and the #Occupy movements.
Monday, Oct. 12, 2020
Session 1: Repentance: 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Keynote Speakers: Dr. Chanequa Walker-Barnes,
Rev. Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove
Session 2: Re-formation: 1:30-3:30 p.m.
Panel Discussion: Protests, Policies, Polls and the Pandemic (COVID)
Moderator: Bishop Teresa Jefferson-Snorton, Presiding Bishop of the Fifth Episcopal District, Christian Methodist Episcopal Church and Vice-Chair, National Council of Churches USA
Rev. Dr. Curtiss DeYoung – CEO, Minnesota Council of Churches
Rev. Kerri Parker – Executive Director, Wisconsin Council of Churches
LaTosha Brown – Black Voters Matter (Invited) Rev. LaKeisha Womack,
Pastor Mike McBride – Director of LIVE FREE gun violence prevention campaign, Faith in Action and Founder/Lead Pastor of The Way Church
Father Shiryl Mathias – The MarThoma Church
Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2020: 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Session 3: Reparation
Panel Discussion: Reparation: Looking Back-Looking Forward
Moderator: Rev. Aundreia Alexander, Esq., Associate General Secretary of Advocacy and Action, National Council of Churches USA
Dr. Jim Winkler – President and General Secretary, NCC, USA
Dr. Iva Carruthers –General Secretary, Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference
Dr. Ron Peters – Pittsburgh Theological Seminary
Rev. Dr. Betsy Miller – President, The Moravian Church Northern Province
Brenda Girton-Mitchell – Co-Chair, NCC’s ACT to End Racism Initiative, Founder & President, Grace and Race Ministries, Inc.
Rev. Dr. John Dorhauer – General Minister and President, UCC
Karen Georgia Thompson – Associate General Minister Wider Church
Ministries & Operations and Co-Executive, Global Ministries, UCC
The Right Rev. Eugene Sutton – Bishop of the Diocese of Maryland, The Episcopal Church
Closing Worship Service, 7 p.m.
Rev. Dr. Otis Moss, III, Pastor, Trinity United Church of Christ – Preaching