Thriving Prophetic Congregations Initiative Cohort Gathering

THIRIVING PROPHETIC CONGREGATIONS INITIATIVE COHORT GATHERING JANUARY 12-13, 2023 ATLANTA, GEORGIA

The Thriving Prophetic Congregations Initiative is a program that serves as a gateway for congregations to explore their missional identities, futuristic visions, and opportunities for positive community engagement and social change.

The Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC), in partnership with the Oikos Institute for Social Impact, developed the program to assist Black congregations in the urban South with overcoming the negative impacts of economic and environmental conditions on identity, vocation, and approach to ministry. These impacts surface in the form of changing local demographics, gentrification, aging physical facilities, and resource challenges.

The primary goal of this grant-funded program is to journey with missional and prophetic congregations down a road of exploration that leads to recalibrated stories, practices, and identities that will reshape their relationship to the changing landscapes in which they exist and do ministry.

ITC's Mission The Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC) is a Christian Africentric ecumenical consortium of seminaries and fellowships that educate students to commit to practicing justice and peace through a liberating and transforming spirituality to become leaders in the church and local/global communities.

AGENDA Thursday, January 12, 2023 3:00 p.m.

6:00 p.m.

Check-in Welcome and Dinner

Friday, January 13, 2023 8:00 a.m.

9:10 a.m.

Breakfast Opening Worship Worship Leader: Rev. Hodari Williams Welcome & Greetings: President Matthew Wesley Williams, ITC Speaker: Rev. Greg Bentley, Past Moderator of PCUSA Senior Pastor, Fellowship Presbyterian Church Music: Mr. Rudy Currence 9:50 a.m. Break 10:00 a.m. Fishing Differently Part 1: “Listening to the Stories” Moderator: Rev. Dr. Susan Buckson Presenter: Dr. Reginald Blount Executive DirectorThe Oikos Institute for Social Impact 12:00 p.m. Lunch 1:00 p.m.

The Numbers Behind the Need Presentation from Crossing Capital Group Presenter: D’Marquis Allen 1:30 p.m. Break 2:00 p.m. Fishing Differently Part 2: “Listening to the Stories” Moderator: Rev. Dr. Susan Buckson Presenter: Dr. Reginald Blount Executive DirectorThe Oikos Institute for Social Impact 4:30 p.m. Break 6:00 p.m. Dinner

AGENDA Saturday, January 14, 2023 8:00 a.m.

9:10 a.m.

Breakfast Announcements Opening Worship Worship Leader: Rev. Dr. Susan Buckson Speaker: Rev. Dr. Martha Simmons Music: Okonofua Group

9:30 p.m.

Economic Democracy Part 1 Moderator: Rev. Hodari Williams Presenter: Tufts University Team Lunch Small Group Reflection Break Economic Democracy Part 2 Moderator: Rev. Hodari Williams Presenter: Tufts University Team

12:00 p.m.

1:00 p.m.

1:30 p.m.

1:30 p.m.

3:35 p.m.

3:45 p.m.

Break Closing Reflections Hodari Williams, Program Director

In-Person Cohort Gathering April 29, 2023 10:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

(Oikos Module 5)

CONFERENCE SPEAKERS Rev. Gregory J. Bentley was born in Thomasville, Alabama, on October 30, 1969, to Juanita Bentley and William Thomas, Jr. He was raised in Pine Hill, Alabama, in an extended family household, which included his mother, Juanita, his grandmother (“Mama”), the late Virginia Howze, his great aunt (“Nannie”), the late Estella Black, and his grandfather (“Daddy”), the late Aubry Howze.

Rev. Bentley was baptized and raised in the Saint Paul Primitive Baptist Church. He graduated from Pine Hill High School in 1986 and matriculated at Stillman College in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, the only HBCU founded by the “Southern” Presbyterian Church (PCUS). While at Stillman, he joined the Brown Memorial Presbyterian Church and answered his call to the ministry. In addition to being raised in a Christian home, Rev. Bentley’s sense of call was heavily influenced by his college mentor, Dr. C.H. Thomas, a member of the religion faculty and an ordained Presbyterian minister. Dr. Thomas taught him that a minister must have “the learning and the burning.”

Convinced of the importance of seminary training, after receiving the Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Stillman in 1990, he matriculated at the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, Georgia, where he received the Master of Divinity degree in 1995. He continued his studies at Auburn University at Montgomery and graduated with a Master of Education in 1997. He was ordained at the Northern Heights Presbyterian Church in Selma, Alabama, on November 30, 1997. He led a bi-vocational career of pastoring and teaching Biology and physical science in the public school system until he came to Brown Memorial Presbyterian Church in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, in 2001. He was called to the pastorate of the Fellowship Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Alabama, on January 1, 2012.

Rev. Bentley has served in various political and civic affairs capacities, including a term as chairman of Minority Affairs for the Tuscaloosa County Democratic Party. He is a member of Leadership Tuscaloosa, Goshen Lodge #530 (Prince Hall), and a Life member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. Rev. Bentley contends, “The church is a hospital for sinners and not a museum for saints. It is a vanguard and repository of our noblest aspirations, traditions, and values. In addition to the Black Church, the Black Family and the Black School must be mission priorities to fully develop our potential as a people.” Rev. Bentley enjoys good music, from Beethoven to Bessie Smith to BDP to Bluegrass. He also likes to read and play chess. He lives in Huntsville with his wife, Diann, and his daughters, Miriam and Johari.

Reverend Dr. Martha Simmons is an associate minister at Rush Memorial United Church of Christ in Atlanta, GA. Reverend Simmons has developed a reputation for mentoring young clergy (having aided 40 clergy in becoming senior pastors). She is also a life coach to many older pastors. In addition, she is the surrogate mother to Steve McDonald and James Gray, two young men she took into her home when they were teens and reared and sent to college.

Ministry Projects Preaching and Preachers – For six years, this was a weekly Facebook Live broadcast. It is now offered twice each month. Since 2017, Dr. Simmons has shared sessions on preaching and navigating 21st-century ministry with thousands of preachers around the world. To date, collectively, these sessions have garnered more than 1.5 million views! Creator, The Women of Color in Ministry Project. Begun in Fall of 2013, this national project offers women of color clergy job assistance, education assistance, advocacy, and mentorship. The collaborative partners for the project are Union Theological Seminary of NY and American Baptist Seminary of the West. Online at (www.WomenofColorinMinistry.org).

Creator and Director of The African American Online Lectionary In 2007, with a onemillion-dollar grant from the Lilly Endowment, Dr. Simmons assembled a team of scholars, pastors, and worship leaders to develop the first African American Lectionary in the 50-plus-year history of lectionaries. The lectionary offers free preaching commentaries, cultural resources, sermon illustrations, and designs for worship services for each Sunday of the African American liturgical church year. The project concluded in 2014; however, its 220,000 pages of free material for clergy, Christian educators, laity, and worship leaders remain online. (www.TheAfricanAmericanLectionary.org). For 13 years, she served as President and Executive Editor of The African American Pulpit Journal (informally known as TAAP). TAAP is still the only African American-owned, nondenominational, homiletics and ministry journal in history. Through this journal, she led in publishing of more than 5,000 sermons and 1,000 articles by African American clergy.

She has completed all classwork in pursuit of the Th.D. at Boston University, Boston, MA. In addition, she has earned a Jurist Doctor from New College of California School of Law (now John F. Kennedy School of Law) in San Francisco, CA, a Master of Divinity from Emory Univ. (Candler School of Theology), and a Bachelor of Science, Bradley University, Peoria, IL.

CONFERENCE PRESENTERS Rev. Dr. Reginald Blount serves on the faculty of Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary as Murray H. Leiffer, Associate Professor of Formation, Leadership, and Culture and Director of the Church and the Black Experience.

He further serves the seminary as Program Director of the Garrett Young Adult Initiative (funded by the Lilly Endowment) and serves as the advisor for the Doctor of Ministry in Strategic Leadership in Black Congregations.

Dr. Blount is also the Pastor of Arnett Chapel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church in Chicago, IL, and serves the AME Church Fourth Episcopal District as Program Director of its Thriving in Ministry Initiative funded by the Lilly Endowment.

Dr. Blount, across his many roles—which he considers all one ministry—catalyzes hope, transformation, and vocation. He speaks and teaches nationally and internationally, helping faith communities envision new and creative ways to minister to, with, and on behalf of young people, engage in transformative Christian Education, and foster congregational and community renewal and social impact. He is a contributor to “Making God Real for a Next Generation: Ministry with Millennials Born from 1982 to 1999” (Discipleship Resources, 2003), “Educating For Redemptive Community” (Wipf & Stock, 2015), and Co-Editor of “Let Your Light Shine: Mobilizing for Justice with Children and Youth” (Friendship Press, 2019).

D'Marquis Allen is a native of Austin, Texas, D’Marquis Allen is the eldest son of his two loving parents, Robert and Karren Allen, and the middle brother of his six siblings. He grew up in a small family church and a large, close-knit family, where he gained his interest in servant leadership and music.

D’Marquis has five years of management consulting experience across the utilities, oil and gas, and retail industries. His consulting experience includes organizational change management, focusing on training delivery, functional design for business process automation, testing plan development, vendor management, project management, and corporate communications. In 2022, D’Marquis began independent consulting with a small, California-based technology startup focused on business process optimization and data analysis.

D’Marquis’ deep passion for technology extends beyond the office, and his love for music is still evident today through his involvement in various ministries at Abundant Life AME Church. He previously served on the audio/visual ministry, adult praise and worship team, and as director of the children’s choir.

D’Marquis holds a Bachelor of Arts in Creative Computation from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX, and is currently completing a Master of Divinity (MDiv) degree at the Candler School of Theology. He will begin his Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree at the Goizueta School of Business in Summer 2023 at Emory University. After graduation, D’Marquis plans to return to the consulting industry while working with the AME church in general administration and operations. In the long-term future, D’Marquis envisions launching his social impact consultancy. He currently resides in Atlanta, GA, and when he is not at the driving range practicing his golf swing, he can be found bass fishing, reading, cycling with friends, and spending time with family.

Taina S. McField (preferred pronouns: she, her, hers) is the Associate Dean for Strategy at Tufts University’s Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life. Before joining the leadership team at Tisch College, Taina led MIT’s Community Innovators Lab (CoLab) as Interim Executive Director and Deputy Director. In this capacity, she oversaw program development and fundraising, working to ensure strategic alignment and execution across CoLab’s diverse projects throughout the Americas.

Before coming to MIT, Taina was a Program Officer at the Nathan Cummings Foundation, a philanthropic organization rooted in the Jewish tradition, where she focused on economic and racial justice and climate change.

Taina is an educator by training and brings extensive experience in program development and operations, cultivating and supporting social justice organizations, and working with large institutions, including universities.

Yorman is interested in playing a role in lifting people out of poverty through redesigning the economic system that is our economy. His commitment to designing systems to address the causes of poverty emerged from his work as a community organizer with the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition (NWBCCC), where he organized young people around issues of sustainable economic development and voter education.

During this time, Yorman co-founded the Urban Youth Collaborative, a city-wide youth organization working on education reform. He moved on from NWBCCC to lead a career in electoral organizing, where he managed many political campaigns. He currently coordinates the Bronx Cooperative Development Initiative, a local effort in the Bronx that seeks to leverage local assets to drive economic development strategies targeted at building wealth and ownership among low-income residents. In addition, Yorman, a lifelong Bronx resident, has taught community organizing and spoken word at the high school level.

CONFERENCE CONVENERS Reverend Hodari S. Williams (he, him) is the Director of the Thriving Prophetic Congregations Initiative of the Interdenominational Theological Center. He graduated from Francis Marion University, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science. He is also a graduate of the Interdenominational Theological Center (Johnson C. Smith) in Atlanta, Georgia, where he earned a Master of Divinity degree. In addition, Reverend Williams is an alumnus of the Black Theology and Leadership Institute of Princeton Theological Seminary and the Advanced Executive Leadership Program of Howard School of Business. Rev. Williams has received a Master of Depth Psychology and is currently completing his Ph.D. in Community, Liberation, Indigenous, and Ecopsychologies at Pacifica Graduate Institute in Santa Barbara, CA. He has served on the pastoral staff for First Afrikan Presbyterian Church of Lithonia, Georgia, Pastor at Elmwood Presbyterian Church, East Orange, NJ, and currently, is the Team Leader of New Life Presbyterian Church in the city of South Fulton. Reverend Williams also serves as the Director of South Fulton Lifeline Inc., a non-profit that creates educational, cultural, spiritual, and economic growth opportunities through the development of spiritual and educational enrichment, real estate investments, and entrepreneurial workshops; this CDC seeks to be a “Lifeline” for those in need by providing resources for personal development and growth.

Rev. Dr. Susan Hillary Buckson serves as the regional coordinator for the Oikos Institute for Social Impact. Susan is a gifted educator who enjoyed a productive 29-year career in public education that started in Baltimore City Public Schools and concluded in the Atlanta Public Schools after serving as a classroom teacher, cooperative teacher mentor, Magnet School Coordinator, Instruction Coach, and Assistant Principal.

Susan answered God’s call to the preaching ministry in 1999 at Waters AME Church in the Baltimore Annual Conference under then-pastor Rev. Ronald E. Braxton. In 2019, Bishop Reginald T. Jackson appointed Susan as pastor of Allen Temple A.M.E. Church Atlanta, GA. Susan serves as the first woman to serve in the church’s history. She is the author of The Lenten Experience: A 40-Day Revival and My Praise is My SWAG: A Bible-based curriculum for youth and young adults. In addition, Susan has served as a workshop presenter for the AME Church on both the district and conference levels, focusing on empowering components toward innovative, practical ministry.

Susan holds a Bachelor of Arts in English Education from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, and her advanced degrees include a Master of Arts in Curriculum and Instruction from Coppin State College, a Master of Divinity with a concentration in Theology from The Interdenominational Theological Center, and a Doctor of Ministry from Payne Theological Seminary with a concentration in Adaptive Leadership.