The Mission Statement of the Presbytery states that we will “bear public witness to the love, truth, and justice of God in Jesus Christ specifically in the areas of racism and reconciliation.
The Rev. Paul Roberts preached “God Raises” at the September 22, 2020 stated meeting of National Capital Presbytery, from Jeremiah 29:1-14.
Dismantling Racism…A Pastors Response”, that includes a few assembled voices of African American pastors, currently serving in congregations in our presbytery. The hope is to use this as a resource tool to help guide conversations and work with our white pastors, and congregations.
Synod of Mid-America – “Being racist” is not simply a personal behavior thing. It’s about the water we swim in, and if racism is going to be eradicated it’s a lesson people need to learn.
“PRESBYTERIAN REV. FRANCIS GRIMKÉ AND HIS QUAKER HALF-SISTERS SPEAK OUT ON FAITH, RACE AND CIVIL RIGHTS”
The fifth program in the Freedom Forum’s series, Religious Resolve: Stories from Our Past, for Our Future, features one of American history’s most interesting families. Sisters Sarah and Angelina Grimke grew up in a slaveholding household in South Carolina in the early 1800s and later moved to Philadelphia where they became Quakers, fervent abolitionists, and advocates for women’s suffrage. Back in South Carolina, their brother fathered three sons by an enslaved woman. After emancipation, son Francis Grimké became one of the most influential African American ministers and orators of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. From the pulpit at 15th Street Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C., Rev. Grimké’s sermons challenged Americans to live up to their better angels on issues of race, religion, and civil rights. Speakers include: Rev. Perzavia T. Praylow, PhD Pastor, 15th Street Presbyterian Church Adjunct Professor of History, Bowie State University and Robynne Rogers Healey, PhD, Professor of History and Co-director, Gender Studies Institute, Trinity Western University. (Recorded Oct. 11, 2020) This series is made possible by generous support from The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations.
The Cross and the Lynching Tree with Dr. James Cone (April 2017)
Theology, Racism, and Christian Practice: How Shall We Respond? The series goal is to integrate Christian Theology with practices that counter racism in our lives and communities. This event was sponsored by National Capital Presbytery, Saint Mark Presbyterian Church, The Presbyterian Outlook and Institute of Radical Reconciliation.
Questions and Answers with Dr. James Cone – The Cross and the Lynching Tree – Theology, Racism, and Christian Practice: How Shall We Respond? The series goal is to integrate Christian Theology with practices that counter racism in our lives and communities. This event was sponsored by National Capital Presbytery, Saint Mark Presbyterian Church, The Presbyterian Outlook and Institute of Radical Reconciliation. (March 2017)
“The Origin of Race” – Dr. Willie Jennings – Theology, Racism, and Christian Practice: How Shall We Respond? The series goal is to integrate Christian Theology with practices that counter racism in our lives and communities. This two-day event was sponsored by National Capital Presbytery, Saint Mark Presbyterian Church, The Presbyterian Outlook and Institute of Radical Reconciliation. (February 2017) Full video series found here
Stated Clerk remembers recent victims of racial violence: The recent deaths of three African Americans have once again raised concern about racial injustice across the country, including the cities where the deaths occurred. The Reverend Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, II, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), says there is work to be done.
At the NEXT Church National Gathering in Atlanta in 2016, Rev. Aisha Brooks-Lytle offered a powerful sermon about how we cannot simply avoid or skirt around the challenges facing us, we have to go through them. We’ll revisit her sermon in the context of our current moment.
Aisha Brooks-Lytle serves as the Executive Presbyter of the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta. Listening and Reflection Guide – Aisha Brooks-Lytle Atlanta 2016
At the NEXT CHURCH 2018 National Gathering, members of Turnaround Tuesday, a program that is part of an organization called BUILD in Baltimore, presented a crucial and compelling testimony on their work doing community organizing for formerly incarcerated persons. We’ll look their testimony through the lens of our current reality, and discuss what fresh and ongoing wisdom it offers.
Turnaround Tuesday trains its participants to act on issues as leaders in their communities and in their workplaces. Through strategic partnerships with employers throughout the Baltimore region, Turnaround Tuesday has put over 600 (and counting!) Baltimore citizens to work in living wage jobs. Listening and Reflection Guide.
Four years ago, Jessica Vazquez Torres spoke challenging and powerful truth about the reality of white supremacy in the church to participants at the NEXT Church National Gathering in Atlanta. Her words are as relevant and needed a message for those of us in the church today as it was then.
Jessica Vazquez Torres is a trainer and organizer for Crossroads Antiracism Organizing and Training and is also the facilitator for NEXT Church’s antiracism audit. Listening and Reflection Guide.
Rev. Dr. Paul Roberts preached the closing sermon at our 2017 NEXT Church National Gathering in Kansas City. His message invited participants then – and invites us now – to mount a massive redirect and to reframe the narrative for a call to action. We’ll revisit his wisdom and engage in conversation about how it compels us today. Paul Roberts is president of Johnson C. Smith Theological Seminary in Atlanta, GA, and a member of the NEXT Church Strategy Team. Reflection and Study Guide