From All Saints Rector Mike Kinman: Over the past year, Dean Kelly Brown Douglas of Episcopal Divinity School (EDS) at Union Theological Seminary and I have been exploring a partnership between our two institutions. We have been searching for opportunities to bring our resources for theological exploration and innovation in mission together to create new possibilities for the church and for the world.
The first steps in this new relationship have already been taken. Dean Douglas and I have been making annual visits to each other’s campuses. EDS is starting its own “Action Table” ministry based on our own at All Saints … and we are looking at having EDS representatives on our weekly Rapid Response Team calls.
Now … it’s your chance to get involved.
As we come to the end of the summer, EDS at Union and All Saints Church are partnering on a community book read: No Ashes in the Fire: Coming of Age Black & Free in America by Darnell Moore. (You can click on the link above to order the book from Vroman’s.)
In the words of Dean Douglas: “(Moore’s) story traverses many intersections that must be theologically wrestled with – race, poverty, sexual identity, toxic masculinity – and the ambiguous role that faith often plays in these journeys.… His honest witness calls us to grapple with the long shadow of patriarchal and heterosexist biblical interpretation and theology. His story is made all the more powerful by the way he connects his own personal liberation, his coming out story, to his role as one of the early leaders of the Black Lives Matter movement.”
Watch Trevor Noah interview Moore here – https://youtu.be/H9_v1gFCu2s
On Wednesday, September 18, Juliana Serrano and I will be at Union in New York for their community’s discussion of this book with the author – a discussion that will be live-streamed and available for your viewing. On Sunday afternoon, Sept. 29 at from 2:30 – 4 pm, Juliana and I will moderate our own community discussion of Moore’s book, which I hope you will be able to attend.
I’m excited to have us join together on the next steps of this journey with EDS and reading this powerful and provocative book.
