Second annual ''State of the Black Church'' Summit set for March 24

Rev. Dr. Zan Wesley Holmes Jr. of Dallas will be honored as recipient of the 2006 Brite Divinity School "Black Church Leader" Award.

Fort Worth, TX

3/7/2006

Black church scholars, church leaders, students and members of the community are expected to convene Friday, March 24 on the TCU campus for the second annual “State of the Black Church” Summit and Awards Banquet. Sponsors of these events 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 “Linking Divine Justice to Social Justice.” Registration fee for the panel discussion and luncheon will be $15 per person.

The Awards Banquet will be from 6:30 – 9:30 p.m. at the Kelly Center, and will honor Rev. Dr. Zan Wesley Holmes Jr. of Dallas as recipient of the 2006 Brite Divinity School “Black Church Leader” Award. He is pastor emeritus of St. Luke “Community” United Methodist Church of Dallas where he served for 28 years. Son of a Methodist pastor, Holmes earned two degrees from Perkins School of Theology at SMU. His 43-year ministry has made him one of United Methodist’s most influential pastors. He also served in the Texas House of Representatives from 1968 – 1972.

Also at the banquet, $1,000 scholarships will be presented both to a deserving high school senior and to a Brite seminarian. Banquet price is $125 per person, or $1,000 for a table of eight. For information or reservations for either program, call 817-257-6996.

Keynote speaker is Rev. Dr. Robert Michael Franklin Jr., distinguished professor of social ethics at Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta. A celebrated scholarly activist and public theologian, Franklin has been a leading voice in analyzing the internal life of the black church by fearlessly confronting its hard problems and highlighting its many effective forms of social ministry. His many books and articles about the black church and social justice make him a frequent guest commentator on CNN and NPR.

Franklin is former president of the Interdenominational Theological Center and an ordained clergy in the Church of God in Christ. He has served on the faculties of divinity and theology schools of the University of Chicago, Harvard University, Colgate-Rochester and Emory.

Joining Dr. Franklin and Dr. Holmes as panelists for the summit meeting will be [their respective topics listed in parentheses]:

• Rev. Dr. Michael Bell, pastor of Greater St. Stephen First Baptist Church, Fort Worth (“Religious Leadership and Community Activism”)

• Rev. Dr. Alton Pollard of Candler School of Theology, Emory University (“Liberation and the Black Freedom Struggle”)

• Rev. Dr. Lynne Westfield of Drew University (“Women in Ministry and Leadership”)

• Rev. Dr. Maisha Handy of the Interdenominational Theological Center (“Youth, Hip-Hop, and Sexuality”)

• Rev. Dr. Melanie Harris of TCU (“Race, Religion, and the Media”)

Moderators for the panel discussion will Dr. Stacey Floyd-Thomas, assistant professor of ethics and director of the Black Church Studies program at Brite Divinity School, and Dr. Juan Floyd-Thomas, assistant professor of history at TCU.

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