2018 Black Church Studies Consultation

Edwards Peacemaking Lectureship

Looking for the Love Below: Exploring the Inner Life through Fearless Dialogue
Fear undercuts one’s ability to fully experience or express joy and authenticity by muting and rendering one invisible. This full-sensory session explores the four fundamental fears that inform generational divides and acts of exclusion. Participants will learn strategies to see every member of our communities of faith as whole persons.

The Rev. Dr. Gregory C. Ellison II
Associate Professor of Pastoral Care and Counseling, Candler School of Theology (Emory)

The Rev. Dr. Gregory C. Ellison, II joined the Candler faculty in 2009. His teaching draws primarily from his work with the organization he founded called Fearless Dialogues, a non-profit organization that creates unique spaces for unlikely partners to have hard, heartfelt conversations on taboo subjects like racism, classism, and community violence.

Ellison’s research focuses on caring with marginalized populations, pastoral care as social activism, and 20th and 21st century mysticism. He is the author of Cut Dead But Still Alive: Caring for African American Young Men, and has two books in progress with Westminster John Knox Press – Fearless Dialogues: The Civil Rights Movement of the 21st Century and Anchored in the Current: The Eternal Wisdom of Howard Thurman in a Changing World.

Greenhoe Lecture

Caring for Black Lives: Inside and Outside of the Church
Every day, Black lives in America are at increased risk for psychological, physical, and spiritual harm. Although places of faith can be a source of care and support for Black lives, often this care is only provided to formal members of our congregations. This workshop will discuss the particular needs of Black souls that emerge as a consequence of living in a society founded on anti-blackness. Participants will learn practical ways to provide soul care for all Black lives that goes beyond our local communities of faith and extends into the larger communities we are also called to serve.

Dr. Ashley Hicks White
Assistant Professor of Marriage and Family Therapy, Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary

Dr. Ashley Hicks White is a specialist in couples/family therapy, a licensed marriage and family therapist, and an AAMFT Approved Supervisor Candidate. She joined Louisville Seminary’s faculty in 2016.

Hicks White has worked in a number of clinical setting*s serving clients from diverse backgrounds including racial/ethnic minorities, LGBTQ populations, homeless and low socio-economic individuals and families. Her current research focuses on the intersection of mental health, oppression, and well-being among African Americans. Her other research interests and teaching experience include risk and resilience in adolescent development, adolescent eating disorders, trauma exposure and trauma informed care, and culturally informed care of African American, Hispanic, and immigrant youth and families.

In addition to her teaching and research experience, Hicks White maintains an active commitment to congregational ministries and social action to change the circumstances in which families live. Most recently she served in the Women of Power Human Trafficking Ministry and the Take 2 College Discipleship Ministry at New Salem Baptist Church in Columbus, Ohio. She is also a member of the Ohio Association of Marriage and Family Therapy and the Ohio Department of Education’s Anti-Harassment, Intimidation and Bullying Initiative.

Consultation Preacher

Black Joy in the Mo(u)rning!
This sermon will draw on Psalm 30:5b.

Dr. M. Brandon McCormack
Assistant Professor of Pan-African Studies, University of Louisville

Dr. McCormack’s research interests focus on the intersections of Black Religion and Cultural Studies. His dissertation explored and analyzed the contested relationships between the prophetic tradition in black religion, black moral panic, and the cultural productions of the hip-hop generation. With a secondary appointment in Humanities, he teaches a range of courses in African American Religion and Religions of the African Diaspora.