The AWF Board of Church and Society held a Seminar on Racial and Economic Justice to bring awareness to current and past injustices. The seminar welcomed Gabrielle Daniel, a Racial Justice Fellow with Equal Justice Initiative (EJI); Evan Milligan, an EJI Law Fellow; and Rev. John Brooks, Director of Multicultural Ministries in the AWF Conference.
Daniels and Milligan shared a presentation focusing on the historical legacy of racial and economic injustice in our nation and state and encouraged and empowered attendees to use their voice and work towards trust, equity, and justice within our communities today. Rev. Brooks spoke about actions that the UMC and the AWF conference are doing to begin to work toward justice in these areas.
Sixty-five people were in attendance the event at Frazer Memorial UMC on Monday, January 28, 2019, and over 200 people watched by live stream. An additional 400 people have viewed the seminar online.
Click here to access the recording of the seminar.
“We were overwhelmed by the interest in this seminar,” said Rev. Ashley Davis, AWF Director of Connectional Ministries. “Although this can be a difficult topic to address, our conference is committed to keeping racial and economic injustice at the forefront of our conversations. One of our conference priorities is to be adaptive leaders through uncharted times, focusing on Kingdom work. Many people might think this only applies to our denominational discussions but racial issues have always been challenging, especially in our conference. Our conference leadership team looks forward to exploring even more ways to ensure many voices are at the table.”
The conversation served as a starting point for additional conversations to happen in the future. The next event related to this topic will be the upcoming “At the Table” at Monroeville UMC on March 23
rd from 10am-2pm or at Aldersgate UMC on April 6
th from 10am-2pm.
