Racial Justice Series

This was our second year of our Racial Justice Series. At Marble, we know we must be committed for the long haul. The unjust and sinful acts toward people of color are intertwined with our country’s history. This means we must be committed to conversations, sometimes uncomfortable ones, about how racism manifests itself within us, between us, and in our organizations. Here are the topics we covered this year.

Justice and the Church: Rediscovering the Social Gospel for Ministry in the 21st Century

Sunday, January 16, 2022

In this event, we honored the legacies of Dr. King, Jr. and other pioneers of the Black Freedom Movement and discussed the paradigms of ministry that they exemplified; ministry rich in social action. Our special guests were Pastor Willie Francois, III (President, The Black Church Center for Justice and Equality), Rev. Raschaad Hoggard (Associate Minister, Abyssinian Baptist Church), and Dr. Donald Garner (Young Adult Co-Pastor, Greater Allen AME Church).

To Set the Church Free: Black & Latin Liberation Theologies

Sunday, February 20, 2022

This program focused on the questions: Do Black Lives Matter to God? Do the lives of people for whom English is a second language matter to God? Do the lives of people living in poverty matter to God?

Special guests Rev. Timothy Adkins-Jones, Ph.D. (Pastor, Bethany Baptist Church), Dr. Jorge Juan Rodríguez (Associate Director, Strategic Programming at the Hispanic Summer Program), and Dr. Amey Victoria Adkins-Jones (Assistant Professor, Theology and African Diaspora Studies at Boston College) talked about the continued relevance of the work of Black and Latin liberation theologians; whose approaches to ministry begin with oppressed people as the starting point.

In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens

Lessons from Womanists to Build a More Inclusive Church

Sunday, March 17, 2022

In this talk, panelists discussed why a church that is sensitive to the idiosyncratic needs of minority womxn is a better church for all people. Our special guests included Dr. Eboni Marshall Turman (Associate Professor, Theology and African-American Religion at Yale Divinity School) and Dr. Amey Victoria Adkins-Jones (Assistant Professor, Theology and African Diaspora Studies at Boston College).

Racial Justice Series Talk Back

Sunday, May 22, 2022

In this conversation, we heard ways we can be part of the solution and see advocacy and engagement as part of our call to be disciples of Christ at work in the world. With special guest Dr. Tara Hyun Kyung Chung, Associate Professor, Ecumenical Studies at Union Theological Seminary.

Thursday, December 1, 2022

This discussion was a celebration of queer resilience — focusing on the stigma that follows people of all generations living with HIV/AIDS and the concept of “Imago Dei”, that all people are created in God’s image. With special guests Michael Roberson, Adjunct Professor, The New School & Union Theological Seminary; Shawn Torres-Anderson, Associate Pastor of Operations, Bethany Baptist Church; and Sonya Shields, Social Justice & LGBTQ Activist. The event ended with a time of meditation and prayer, honoring all the lives lost to the HIV/AIDS epidemic.