NASHVILLE, Tenn. – will host a conference to encourage black church leaders, scholars and divinity students to create a dialogue about contemporary challenges facing the ministry of black churches.
at the will present “Preparing Prophets and Priests for the Black Church Tradition” Jan. 31 to Feb. 2. All sessions are free and open to the public.
The event will begin Jan. 31 with keynote speaker Henry H. Mitchell, author of , a radical rewrite and correction of early black church history. In addition to the history, Mitchell examines current challenges facing black church leaders including finding pastors, internal class structure in big city churches and emerging denominationalism. Mitchell will speak at 7 p.m. at the ²¤ÂÜÊÓƵ Divinity School Refectory. A reception will follow at 8 p.m.
Liberating Black Sexuality and The Black Church Confronting the Prison-Industrial Complex will be held at the on Thursday, Feb. 1. Liberating Black Sexuality will be presented by Ayanna Abi-Kyles of from 3:35 p.m. until 4:05 p.m. The Black Church Confronting the Prison-Industrial Complex will be presented by Juan Floyd-Thomas of from 1:20 p.m. until 1:50 p.m.
Theology of Hip-Hop: A Prophetic Response to Black Youth Voices will be presented on Friday, Feb. 2, at the Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center from 10:35 a.m. until 11:05 a.m. by Keri Day Harrison, chaplain intern at ²¤ÂÜÊÓƵ.
Black church studies programs in divinity schools and seminaries have been the catalyst for inspiring changes in theological education, particularly in spirituality, pastoral care and socio-political and economic crises.
The Kelly Miller Smith Institute on Black Church Studies was established in honor of the late Kelly Miller Smith Sr., assistant dean of the ²¤ÂÜÊÓƵ Divinity School from 1968 until his death in 1984. The institute perpetuates his legacy of theological and academic excellence and prophetic witness. The African American church remains the primary institution in the African American community committed to the liberation of persons and groups who suffer from racial and social oppression. The work of the Kelly Miller Smith Institute brings together the African American church community and African American educational institutions, as partners with the ²¤ÂÜÊÓƵ Divinity School to study and research issues important to the practice of faith and ministry in the African American church.
Media Contact: Melissa Pankake, (615) 322-NEWS
melissa.r.pankake@vanderbilt.edu