3rd annual "State of the Black Church Summit" is March 23

Fort Worth, TX

3/16/2007

Black church scholars, advocates, preachers, churchgoers and students are expected to convene Friday, March 23 on the TCU campus for the third “State of the Black Church Summit” and Awards Banquet. Co-hosts of the annual event are Brite Divinity School and Texas Christian University.

Theme of the summit meeting, set for 11:30 a.m. – 2 p.m. at the Dee J. Kelly Alumni & Visitors Center, 2820 Stadium Drive, is “Liberating the Oppressed: The Black Church Facing American Crises.” The registration fee for this dialogue and luncheon will be $15 per person. Keynote speaker will be Rev. Dr. Renita J. Weems of Vanderbilt Divinity School, nationally-renowned theologian and an ordained elder in the A.M.E. Church whose scholarly insights into biblical text and the role of spirituality in everyday lives have made her a popular author and speaker. Dr. Weems has been celebrated by Ebony Magazine as one of America’s top 15 preachers.

Weems is the author of six books and numerous articles in which she addresses women’s spirituality and issues of faith in theology, education, culture and society. Joining her as panelists for the summit will be the honorees for this year’s “Black Church Leader” award, Rev. Dr. William A. Lawson of Houston and Rev. Dr. Katie G. Cannon, as well as Rev. Dr. Freddie Haynes pastor of Friendship West in Dallas, Rev. Valda Combs, attorney and founder of FullProof HIV/AIDS Ministry and Dr. Juan Floyd-Thomas, TCU associate professor of history. Moderator for the panel discussion and community feedback session will Dr. Stacey Floyd-Thomas, associate professor of ethics and director of Black Church Studies at Brite Divinity School.

The Awards Banquet will be from 6:30 – 9 p.m. at the Kelly Center, and will be a formal dinner (priced at $125 per person).   About the award winners:
•    Rev. Dr. William A. Lawson is a renowned leader and founding pastor of Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church in Houston.  Rev. Lawson and his church have been deeply involved in advocacy activities for African Americans, Hispanics, women, and the poor.
•     Rev. Dr. Katie G. Cannon is the first African American woman to be ordained to the ministry in the United Presbyterian Church in the USA denomination as well as the first African American woman to earn the Doctor of Philosophy degree from Union Theological Seminary in New York.  She is considered the progenitor of the womanist movement in the religion academy and the scholar to whom the field Womanist ethics is most often attributed.  She is currently the Annie Scales Professor of Ethics at Union PSCE and President of the Society for the Study of Black Religion.
•    Returning this year as special guests will be previous keynote speaker Rev. Dr. James Cone and honorees Rev. Dr. Albert Chew and Rev. Dr. Zan Holmes.

For more information, call 817-257-7580.