Our First Three Years... Glancing Back, Pressing Forward

OUR FIRST THREE YEARS...

GLANCING BACK, PRESSING FORWARD

2018 - 2021

LETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR Greetings from the Carl Spain Center on Race Studies and Spiritual Action When we began this journey together three years ago, we did not know what God knew was brewing in the hearts of some of our fellow citizens of this nation. The last three years have been turbulent and have served as a wake up call to many who had been lulled into a deep sleep, a false peace. The work of the Carl Spain Center is more crucial than ever.

The church must be vigilant to not maintain a position that allows the racecentered nationalistic spirit to grow, and even flourish, in its pews. The dangers lurk because the majority of Christian leaders appear not to have taken the time to implore God to reveal to us the hidden truths and to endow us with the Holy Spirit in a way that convicts the hearts of the masses. At the Spain Center, we work to counter the natural downward flow of the nation and swim upstream to seek God’s preferable outcome.

We thank God for his charge to spiritually dig up the bitter root of white supremacy planted in the field of racial fear. While there is still time for the church to take a prominent role in saying "no more" to the ugly manifestation of this fear, we thank God for providing the biblical Jesus as an example of love for all. We thank him for his Holy Spirit as our guide. We also thank God for the many partners we have encountered over our first three years, like-hearted persons who have supported the work through prayer, through engagement, and through the sharing of resources. We do not take such acts of kindness and sacrifice for granted.

As we look to the future, we submit our plans to the Lord, asking that he thwarts anything that does not advance the Kingdom and that he blesses the efforts that draw his people closer to himself and to one another. There are turbulent times ahead of us that we must learn to spiritually navigate together. By God's grace, and through our working together, all things will work together according to his divine purpose.

Thank you for walking alongside us on the journey to racial healing.

Dr. Jerry Taylor Founding Director Carl Spain Center on Race Studies and Spiritual Action

The Legacy of Dr. Carl Spain

The Carl Spain Center on Race Studies and Spiritual Action honors the life and legacy of Dr. Carl Spain, a former minister and associate Bible professor at Abilene Christian College (ACC, now Abilene Christian University) who risked his reputation and standing as a nationally sought out Christian speaker to be a prophetic voice against the practice of white supremacy at ACC, other Christian schools, and white congregations of the Churches of Christ across the nation. During ACC’s 1960 Bible Lectures, Dr. Spain delivered an impassioned landmark speech, “Modern Challenges to Christian Morals,” wherein he admonished his colleagues: “God forbid that we shall be the last stronghold among religious schools where the politico-economic philosophy of naturalism determines our moral conduct.” His prophetic voice was a catalyst for change at ACC and was a major factor in the school’s admittance of two African American students, Larry Bonner and Billy Curl, in the Fall of 1962. Both of the young men were transfer students from Southwestern Christian College and graduated from ACC in 1964.

Dr. Spain paid a heavy price for his courage. He experienced social rejection, religious ostracism, diminished speaking invitations, and racial retribution by church and academic leaders across the nation. Through the influence he had at ACC and through the work of the Carl Spain Center, his legacy lives on.

Our Mission and Vision The Carl Spain Center on Race Studies and Spiritual Action exists to conduct research on the historical and contemporary role of race and racism in the Church and its Christian institutions, while heavily emphasizing spiritual formation by utilizing prayer, solitude, biblical meditation, and silence as methods to address racism that is often “spiritualized” in the hearts of Christians. Ultimately, the goal is to spark a rediscovery of a robust Christian spirituality that enables all Christ-followers to see human beings through the eyes of the divine creator.

The Center seeks to equip churches, church leaders, and lay members alike, to understand and respond to the call for racial unity by providing experiences, resources, and tools to expand their understanding of racism and to draw them closer to God and, in so doing, draw them closer to other Christ-followers of all backgrounds and cultures. Our long term vision is to live in a nation wherein every local church congregation has complete racial unity and white supremacy has been eradicated from all Christian institutions.

“The Spain Center is a vital part of ACU’s spiritual consciousness, always vigilant against threats to the university’s stated commitments to biblical justice and equity. It’s vision is to partner with God to realize the beloved community where every individual and group is truly loved, valued, and included because of who they are—people who bear the image of God.” - Dr. Doug Foster, Scholar in Residence Graduate School of Theology, Abilene Christian University Abilene, Texas

OUR MODEL The Carl Spain Center fosters the pursuit of a renewed “inward orientation” and creates opportunities for deep inner reflection where an exchange of personal character for Christ's character is a natural response. Race studies and multicultural experiences inform the spiritual heart and prepare people to discern divine paths and respond with spiritual action. In addition to our dedication to studying the historic role of race and racism in Christian institutions, our activities and programs reflect our commitment to the spiritual formation of church leaders and church members who desire to join God’s ministry of racial healing. We operate in light of three key areas of spiritual formation: Spiritual Development; Intellectual Development; and Social and Emotional Development.

Spiritual Development

Intellectual Development

Social & Emotional Development

Spiritual disciplines that aim to direct one’s entire mind, body, and soul toward deep engagement with God, and interactive sharing of life with others.

Experienced through the Racial Unity Leadership Prayer Retreats, 24 Hour Spiritual Quarantine and other similar events.

Critical inquiry into the subject of race through sound, theological lenses and scholarly research as encountered at the Racial Unity Leadership Summits, the Don Williams and Royce Money Distinguished Lecture Series, and Spain Center Virtual Think Tanks.

Diverse community is an essential dimension of spiritual formation and racial healing. Through special events and immersive experiences, such as “A Night in Africa” and the Mississippi Delta Experience respectively, the Spain Center seeks to reach the whole person.

“The spirit of racism can only be put to rest when people of all races join together in experiencing a renewed 'inward orientation.' Genuine social integration is impossible in the absence of a pre-established 'spiritual' integration involving the hearts, minds, and souls of the interactive participants.”

- Dr. Taylor, Founding Director, Carl Spain Center

OUR FIRST THREE YEARS The Carl Spain Center on Race Studies and Spiritual Action was founded in 2018 by Dr. Jerry Taylor, Associate Professor of Bible at Abilene Christian University (ACU). The Carl Spain Center is a continuation of Dr. Taylor’s life work to foster racial unity within Churches of Christ, their affiliate institutions, and throughout the Kingdom of God. Since the inception of the Spain Center, the work has continued to impact believers throughout the country. A few of the highlights of the first three years include:

The Dallas Racial Unity Summit (2019) in honor of Botham Jean, a Black Church of Christ member from Saint Lucia who was slain by an off-duty white Dallas police officer Racial Unity Prayer Retreats in Dallas, Texas (2019); El Paso, Texas (2020); and Birmingham, Alabama (2020) The “Community Rally and Press Conference: A Call for National Unity” (2020) in response to the national unrest and call for police reform triggered by the death of George Floyd, an African American man killed in March of the same year by white Minneapolis police officers The virtual Minneapolis Racial Unity Leadership Summit (2020) The virtual Conference on White Supremacy (2020) The establishment of the Billy Curl and Larry Bonner Scholarship (2021) The creation of numerous virtual Think Tanks across the nation to address racial unity

Through the work of the Spain Center, lines of communication, previously non-existent, have been initiated between Black and white church leaders - and multiracial, localized alliances are beginning to form. Dr. Taylor has also delivered many sermons and other presentations on racial unity and has consulted with churches and church leaders as they attempt to respond to the need for racial unity in their own unique contexts.

2018 - 2019 Grand Opening Day of the Carl Spain Center on Race Studies and Spiritual Action

On September 18, 2018, the Carl Spain Center on Race Studies and Spiritual Action held its official grand opening during the ACU Summit. On this momentous occasion, founding director Dr. Jerry Taylor delivered a dynamic speech during ACU’s chapel assembly to formally announce the Carl Spain Center. Later that day, the grand opening luncheon was held and attended by over 150 friends of the Carl Spain Center. Among the luncheon speakers were Dr. Jerry Taylor; Dr. Spain's daughter, Claudette Rogers, and grandson, Gavin Rogers; Don & Susan McLaughlin; Dr. Royce Money; Sam Gonzalez; keynote speaker Dr. Billy Curl; Fernando & Donna Nasmyth; ACU Provost Dr. Robert Rhodes; and ACU President Dr. Phil Schubert. Additionally, the Spain Center conducted an ACU Summit Pathway consisting of four panels discussing “Racial Wholeness”; held a ribbon cutting ceremony; and presented a performance of Katori Hall’s play, The Mountaintop, which depicts an imagined last night of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.' s life.

Jackson Racial Unity Leadership Summit (RULS) Prayer Retreat Jackson, MS

Racial Unity Leadership Summit (RULS) events bring together a national collective of racially diverse church leaders whose mission is “to foster a contemplative community, beginning within Churches of Christ and open to all, that will provide spiritual inspiration, theological teachings and practical methods to bring all people, regardless of race, to reconciliation and true communion in Jesus Christ.” The focus of the Jackson RULS Prayer Retreat was Hebrews 11 and included a Civil Rights Pilgrimage to locations key to racial understanding and healing such as the Emmitt Till Historic Intrepid Center and the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum.

Charleston African American Leadership Summit With delegates in attendance from across the country, the Carl Spain Center partnered with the Greater Charleston Metropolitan Church of Christ for the Charleston African American Leadership Summit. Charleston, South Carolina, is home to Mother Emanuel AME Church where nine African American church members were killed in a racially motivated mass shooting in June 2015.

Special Screening: “Backs Against the Wall: The Howard Thurman Story” with Filmmaker Martin Doblmeier

In honor of what would have been Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s 90th Birthday in January of 2019, the Spain Center reflected on the role that author and theologian Howard Thurman played in King’s Christian spiritual formation by hosting a special screening of “Backs Against the Wall: The Howard Thurman Story.” The film’s award-winning director, Martin Doblmeier, was the evening’s special guest and he shared additional insights about Howard Thurman’s influence on Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement. The evening included a panel discussion related to the film’s theme.

"The racial history of Birmingham and the relation among churches here have been challenging over the years. We are grateful for the help of the Spain Center and Dr. Taylor in helping assisting us in our desire to bridge these gaps through the love of Christ and the guidance of the Spirit."

- Willie Chriesman, Outreach Minister Homewood Church of Christ Birmingham, Alabama

A Night in Ghana: Benefit Concert for Heritage Christian College A Night in Ghana was an event-filled weekend that celebrated Africa and raised awareness of Ghana’s Heritage Christian College (HCC). Events included a lecture presentation by Dr. Kwame Essien, Assistant Professor of History and Africana Studies at Lehigh University in Betlehem, Pennsylvania; a screening of the movie, “Mully”; a panel discussion by Abilene Christian University students from the African diaspora; and an African-themed reception in honor of HCC’s president, Dr. Samuel Twumasi-Ankrah. The weekend closed with a high-energy benefit concert for HCC.

ACU students participating in a panel discussion on their experiences as part of the African Diaspora.

Dr. Kwame Essien, Lehigh University

Abilene Community Day of Remembrance April 13, 2019 The Carl Spain Center partnered with McMurry University, Interested Citizens of Abilene North (I-CAN), and the ACU Department of Journalism and Mass Communication to document, memorialize and commemorate the racial terror lynching of Grover C. Everett that took place in Abilene, Texas, in 1922.

The partners hosted a public ceremony to collect soil from the site of the racial terror lynching and delivered the soil to the Equal Justice Initiative's National Memorial for Peace & Justice in Montgomery, Alabama.

Pictured here are Spain Center’s former executive assistant Tryce Prince (far left) and founding director Dr. Jerry Taylor (far right) with members of Grover C. Everett’s family.

Soil collected by those who attended the ceremony to memorialize 1922 lynching victim Grover C. Everett in Abilene, Texas. Credit: Nil Santana / KACU

Carl Spain Center/Abilene Chrisitian University (ACU) Honors College Colloquium In April 2019, the Carl Spain Center and ACU Honors College hosted an Honors Colloquium in Memphis, Tennessee, entitled "​King in Context". A group of ACU students were invited to take the journey and reflect on Dr. King’s speeches in the context of the city where he breathed his last breath. Upon their return to Abilene, the students shared what they learned and experienced in a collective of writings and in an open forum.

Dr. Taylor, Dr. Jonathan Camp and the ACU students pictured with James Lawson (center). Lawson, a key figure in the Civil Rights Movement, invited Martin Luther King, Jr., to travel to Memphis in support of the sanitation workers’ strike shortly before King’s assasination on April 4, 1968.

"With the edification of Martin Luther King’s teachings and the Civil Rights Movement, I was given the courage, and also all the tools I needed to start digging deeper and deeper into the history of Black people since the 15th century on this side of the world. I don’t have the white privilege that allows many white people to dip in and out of these kinds of conversations, but if I’m honest, I have relied on my birth identity as a native African to differentiate myself from the struggle of the African American. I convinced myself that my mind and heart were already fully occupied with the heartache, pride, and hope that I had for Rwanda and for Africa. I could not handle the heart ache and struggle of another group of Black people. But on this trip, it was like everything came together. I began to understand that this is MY fight."

- Grace Kelly Muvunyi

"The friendships and knowledge I gained by traveling to Memphis for the "King in Context" colloquium are already invaluable to me. The professors, sponsor, and fellow students I traveled with are truly some of the best people I have ever known.

The experiences I had and people I met will shape my life for years to come. Before the trip even began, listening to Dr. King’s speeches indepth deepened my understanding of the Civil Rights Movement. Though this new experience showed me so much, it would all be for naught if I were to continue living exactly as I have been."

- Grant Parker

"Before Memphis, I lived by the notion that I understood America. I believed I had a good understanding of the past and present-day America. I assumed I knew all the events that transpired and came to be collectively known as the Civil Rights Movement. However, I soon realized how little I actually knew. There were many events, historical figures, and movements I had no knowledge of, but they played a vital role in past and present society.

I could not understand why this influential history could not be found in the history books I constantly read during school. This was a difficult realization to come to, but also was a motivating factor to actively pursue knowledge."

- Synniah Preston

Dallas Racial Unity Leadership Summit The Carl Spain Center worked closely with Church of Christ congregations in the Dallas, Texas area and conducted the Dallas Racial Unity Leadership Summit at the Dallas West Church of Christ where Botham Shem Jean of St. Lucia served as the song leader and young adult minister before his untimely death at the hands of an off-duty white Dallas police officer. Botham, a graduate of Harding University (Searcy, Arkansas), was well loved by many of his peers at Harding as well as the university's administrators and faculty members.

Since Botham was deeply rooted in Churches of Christ, the Carl Spain Center decided to hold the Dallas Racial Unity Leadership Summit in his honor. Sparked by the Racial Unity Leadership Prayer Retreat and the Racial Unity Leadership Summit, a group of Black and white ministers began meeting regularly and have participated in cooperative efforts related to racial justice in the Dallas area.

Additional 2018-19 activities and events included the Dallas Ministers’ Retreat and the Dallas Racial Unity Leadership Summit Prayer Retreat.

Center Director Dr. Jerry Taylor delivered numerous sermons, workshop presentations, and class lectures on racial reconciliation to churches, other Christian organizations, and college students respectively.

2019 - 2020 Memphis African American Leadership Summit The Carl Spain Center’s African American Leadership Summit was hosted by the Raleigh Community Church of Christ. Presentations and lectures were centered around Frantz Fanon’s Black Skin, White Masks. The keynote speaker was Dr. Molefi Asante, professor and chair of the Department of Africology and African American Studies at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Asante has published 85 books, including Erasing Racism: The Survival of the American Nation. The event included a tour of key Civil Rights landmarks.

Pro-Life Across the Border The Carl Spain Center presented a luncheon conversation, "Pro-Life Across the Border: How can Christians exercise the love ethic of Jesus in the midst of the immigration crisis?" during ACU’s 2019 Summit. The panel featured Matthew Worthington, Gavin Rogers, and Immigration Editor for Christianity Today, Bekah McNeel.

Let’s Get Ready to Talk About Race The Carl Spain Center hosted a two-day workshop for ACU administration, faculty, staff, and students, led by Ron Holland, former missionary and missions minister at The Hills Church, entitled "Let's Get Ready to Talk About Race." Holland developed this workshop as an introduction to the history and foundational principles of racism to ensure that those who are beginning to talk about race are equipped with the tools and introductory knowledge to do so.

El Paso Racial Unity Leadership Summit Prayer Retreat

In December of 2019, the Carl Spain Center hosted a RULS prayer retreat in El Paso, Texas, centered around the theme, “Deep in the Heart of Texas." In the midst of the numerous tragedies that unfolded in the state of Texas and heavily impacted communities such as Dallas, El Paso, Fort Worth, Houston, and San Antonio, we gathered together "deep in the heart of Texas" to think deeply on the root of these tragedies and collectively seek divine guidance in developing strategic, spiritual actions that will enable healing for the state of Texas and for the nation as a whole.

Birmingham Racial Unity Leadership Summit Prayer Retreat

The Carl Spain Center and leaders from the Birmingham area Homewood Church of Christ and Roosevelt City Church of Christ met in Cullman, Alabama, for the Birmingham RULS Prayer Retreat in preparation for the future the Birmingham Racial Unity Leadership Summit.

Carter G. Woodson Student Lecture Series

In celebration of Black History Month, the Carl Spain Center hosted the Carter G. Woodson Student Lecture Series.

Woodson’s Negro Week, founded in 1915, later evolved into what we now celebrate as Black History Month. The Carl Spain Center selected two students to give lectures on Woodson’s two most famous works: The Education of the Negro Prior to 1861 and The Mis-Education of the Negro. This event featured special musical performances and an interview with Willie Bowdre and Andrew Penns, former students of the Carter G. Woodson School, Abilene's first public school for African Americans.

Community Rally and Press Conference The Carl Spain Center on Race Studies & Spiritual Action hosted a Community Rally & Press Conference Calling for National Unity with leaders of Abilene and surrounding communities on June 7, 2020, at the ACU Amphitheater.

In light of the tragic deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor at the hands of law enforcement and the death of Ahmaud Aubrey at the hands of presumptive citizens, the Spain Center was compelled to speak into the chaos of racial inequities and injustices that are commonplace in the country. In an effort to reach churches and communities across the nation, the Spain Center broadcasted the event live on Facebook.

"In this hour of boiling hostility, the clouds of hatred are pouring down the acid rain of chaos upon the uncovered head of a disUnited States of America. We call all Americans to be receptive to prophetic truth that can deliver the nation from its current state of spiritual disorientation and social disintegration!"

- Dr. Jerry Taylor, Founding Director, Carl Spain Center

In May of 2020, the Carl Spain Center curated and published Letters of Conscience to the Churches in America: A Courageous Christian Response to White Supremacy, a collection of letters and prayers from Christian leaders across the nation sounding the alarm on the rising racial discord being played out in the media and in the streets.

"In its short existence, the Carl Spain Center has successfully/systematically created an environment across the country where issues of race and equality can be discussed among Christians. The Homewood and Roosevelt City churches of Christ in Birmingham, Alabama, are one of the latest examples of white and Black Christians working together in uncommon ways, engaging in cross-congregational activities, and building relationships."

- Elijah Anthony, Minister Roosevelt City Church of Christ Birmingham, Alabama

Also during 2019-20, Dr. Taylor spoke at the Siburt Institute Lunch and Learn event on the subject of “Why Courage Matters”; led the Race, Culture, and the Church Weekend Intensive in Greensboro, North Carolina; and conducted the Granbury Spiritual Retreat for Dallas/Fort Worth area ministers. He also participated in additional interviews and presentations on white supremacy and racial justice.

2020-2021

Virtual Think Tanks Prayer & Meditation Think Tank The Carl Spain Center’s Prayer & Meditation Think Tank focused on the topic, “Creative Solutions for the Standardized Recruitment and Vetting Process of Law Enforcement.” The virtual event featured Dr. Nelson N. Johnson (pictured right), survivor of the 1979 Greensboro Massacre and co-director of the Beloved Community Center in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Conference on Christian White Supremacy In October 2020, the Carl Spain Center conducted a three part conference on Christian White Supremacy.

Each ethnic-specific panel based their discussion on a book relevant to their lived experiences. The all-Black panel reflected on Barclay Key’s Race and Restoration: Churches of Christ and the Black Freedom Struggle. The all-Asian American panel addressed their views in light of Ki Joo Choi's Disciplined by Race: Theological Ethics and the Problem of Asian American Identity. The allwhite panel centered their discussion on Robert P. Jones’ The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity. The impactful exchanges proved to be illuminating and informative in the process of seeking a holistic approach to racial healing. (Pictured right: Christine Yi Suh)

"The Role of Images in Race Education" with Brian DeWayne Author and artist Brian DeWayne (pictured right) explored the powerful role that movies, children’s books, and other forms of media, including biblical illustrations, play in developing and sustaining a pro-white worldview.

How to Have Impossible Conversations: A Very Practical Guide

by Peter Boghossian and James Lindsey, a book review with Fred Aquino Dr. Fred Aquino (pictured right) shared his insight on the practicality of the title book and how it can be applied to start and facilitate conversations around race studies, white supremacy, politics, Christianity, and many more difficult topics.

Queen Esther Conference During the Queen Esther Conference, a virtual gathering, a panel of powerful women of God reflected on how the book of Esther enlivens the endurance of our hope even today against the corrupt characters of our time that traffic in prejudice, politics, and pride. Despite the position evil has on the center stage of history, the righteous God of Esther is the writer and the director of the divine-human tragedy. Though unseen in the depressing play of godless injustice, Esther’s invisible God still determines when the curtain finally falls upon the grand finale of oppressive agony.

Dr. Orneita Burton, Dr. Archadria Owens, Dr. Angela Ravin-Anderson, Dr. Tamara M. Turner, and Dr. Jacqueline Smith Francis

Virtual Minneapolis Racial Unity Leadership Summit The Minneapolis RULS event was held in honor of George Floyd. The virtual event featured education, worship, and prayer to equip church leaders to be active in racial healing within their local communities.

The event, which was open to interested persons from across the nation, brought together leaders and members of Churches of Christ from throughout the Minneapolis, Minnesota area and beyond.

Dr. Byron Martin, Travis Stanley, Osharye Hagood, Dr. Claire Davidson-Frederick, Dr. Ralph Draper, and Marti Stanley

Don Williams and Royce Money Distinguished Lecture Series Featuring Jemar Tisby and the Establishment of the Billy Curl and Larry Bonner Scholarship The 2021 Don Williams and Royce Money Distinguished Lecture Series featured Jemar Tisby, author of The New York Times bestselling book, The Color of Compromise: The Truth About the American Church's Complicity in Racism. Tisby spoke on the topics, “White Supremacy and the Evangelical Church: Untangling Race, Politics, and Religion in America” and “Surviving as a Person of Color at a Predominantly White Institution.”

Tisby is an author, speaker and president of The Witness: A Black Christian Collective, where he writes about race, religion and culture. The Color of Compromise received honors in 2019 for Book of the Year from the Englewood Review of Books and Best Religion and Spirituality Books from the Library Journal.

He also co-hosts the podcast "Pass The Mic,” which amplifies dynamic voices for a diverse church. His writing has been featured in The Atlantic, The Washington Post, The New York Times, CNN and Vox. Tisby is a Ph.D. candidate in history at the University of Mississippi, where he studies race, religion and social movements in the 20th century.

Billy Curl and Larry Bonner Scholarship Established!

On the second night of the Don Williams and Royce Money Distinguished Lecture Series, the Spain Center announced the first two recipients of the Billy Curl and Larry Bonner Scholarship. Curl and Bonner were the first two African American undergraduate students to enroll in and graduate from Abilene Christian College (now Abilene Christian University). The 2021 awardees were Trinity Madison and Demetrius "DJ" Hewitt.

The Mississippi Delta Experience The Spain Center invited 50 people to share a bus ride from Dallas, Texas, to the Mississippi Delta to visit historical sites such as the Fannie Lou Hamer Memorial, the Emmett Till Historic Intrepid Center, the Delta Blues Museum, the B.B. King Museum, and the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum.

People of different races shared space together, traveling on a 50-passenger charter bus, traveling together to reflect upon the pain of a divided history. Others joined the delegation in different cities during the visit to Mississippi. Spain Center interns, including the two recipients of the inaugural Billy Curl and Larry Bonner Scholarship, journeyed with the group, as the Center encouraged intergenerational, as well as cross-cultural, healing. Each evening ended in worship service with preaching and singing at local churches in the area as a way of rejoicing together over how far we have come and recognizing how much work we have left to do “together.”

"I am so thankful for the work and ministry of the Carl Spain Center. I was able to participate in the Mississippi Delta Experience. It would not be an overstatement to say that it was life changing for me. This was more than just a historical tour. We shared our grief, pain, and joy in Christ everywhere we went. Each of us was able to feel a touch of God’s grace and movement for the unfinished work ahead in the gospel of peace. " - Nathan Burrow, Preaching Minister Hillcrest Church of Christ Abilene, Texas

Additional 2020-21 activities and events included the Lubbock Conference on Race; the Carl Spain Center's Carter G. Woodson Student Lecture Series (All About Love); Virtual Seminar on Christ Centered Emotions, Harding University Conference on Racism; Interview of Dr. Taylor and advisory committee member Dr. Doug Foster by Grant Azbell on the subject, “Racism, White Supremacy, and the Church’s Voice," and the following virtual retreats and spiritual quarantines: Golden Triangle 24 Hour Spiritual Virtual Retreat, Southeast Texas Greater Greensboro Area Virtual Quarantine, Greensboro, North Carolina Friendly Avenue Virtual Spiritual Retreat, Greensboro, North Carolina Homewood Church of Christ & Roosevelt City Church of Christ Spiritual Quarantine, Birmingham, Alabama New Maywood Church of Christ Spiritual Quarantine, Maywood, Illinois Thomas Boulevard. Church of Christ Spiritual Quarantine, Port Arthur, Texas

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Founding Director Dr. Jerry Taylor Executive Coordinators: Tryce Prince Kip Kiplagat Roland Campos Student Interns: Alex Boglin Demetrius “DJ” Hewitt Trinity Madison Jeremiah Taylor Carl Spain Center Advisory Committee: Dr. Orneita Burton Dr. Ralph Draper Dr. Doug Foster Curtis Alexander King Dr. Patricia Hernandez Brenda McVey Dan McVey Dr. Royce Money Collin Packer Holly Packer Dr. David Wray Dr. Walter Taylor

CONTACT The Carl Spain Center on Race Studies and Spiritual Action https://carlspaincenter.org carlspaincenter@gmail.com @carlspaincenter 325-674-3772

The Carl Spain Center on Race Studies and Spiritual Action is grateful to the many friends who have invested in the Spain Center in any way during our first three years. We are also grateful for the initial and ongoing support of Abilene Christian University. The work of the Spain Center is made possible, in part, by the generous contributions of individuals, churches and other organizations. For those interested in partnering with the Spain Center, please visit carlspaincenter.org to explore support options or email inquiries to advancement@carlspaincenter.org.