Lowell Lecture: Selma at 50, Ferguson Today
In the Oscar-nominated film, Selma, a young Martin Luther King Jr. travels to Selma, Alabama, to lead civil rights activists on a journey to win the right to vote freely and to have a voice in the electoral system. The film portrays the police brutality, the political calculations, the passion of activists, and the tragic deaths of people who sacrificed for the cause.
On March 3, Boston University School of Theology invites you to the School of Theology Lowell Lecture: Selma at 50, Ferguson Today, with a panel of School of Theology alumni who were on the front lines at Selma in 1965. Dr. Don Messer (STH ’66, GRS ’69) and Reverend Dr. William Bobby McClain (STH ’62, STH ’77) will talk about their experiences traveling with a group of School of Theology seminary students to Selma, Alabama in 1965 to participate in the March to Montgomery led by Martin Luther King, Jr. (STH ’55). Rev. Dr. Pamela Lightsey, Associate Dean of Community Life and Lifelong Learning, will also be talking about her time traveling to Ferguson, MO after the death of Michael Brown.
We invite you to come hear a fascinating first-hand account of these historic events and a report from the front lines of racial justice activism today. The event includes a panel discussion, concert, and reception:
5:00pm-6:30pm: Panel Presentation and Discussion at 745 Commonwealth Ave, B-19, Boston, MA 02215
6:30pm-7:30pm: Seminary Singers Concert, at Marsh Chapel, 735 Commonwealth Avenue. The concert features Mark Miller, Minister of Music at Church Christ in Summit and faculty at Drew Theological and the Institute of Sacred Music at Yale.
7:30pm-9:00pm: Reception at 745 Commonwealth Avenue, B23-B24.
Dr. Don Messer is currently the Executive Director at the Center for the Church and Global AIDS, where he has been since 2006. Dr. Messer was the President of Dakota Wesleyan University for ten years (1971-1981) and President of The Iliff School of Theology in Denver, Colorado for 19 years (1981-2000). He also served as the Henry White Warren Professor of Practical Theology at Iliff School of Theology from 1981-2006. He is also the author of 15 books, including: Names, Not Just Numbers: Facing Global AIDS and World Hunger (Fulcrum, 2010), 52 Ways to Create an AIDS-Free World (Fresh Air Books, 2009), Cherishing Life and Love: Reflections of Paul Murphy (Rider Green, 2009), Ending Hunger Now: A Challenge to Persons of Faith (Fortress, 2005), and Breaking the Conspiracy of Silence: Christian Churches and the Global AIDS Crisis (Fortress, 2004).
Dr. William Bobby McClain is Professor of Preaching and Worship Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C. In 1981, he began as professor of preaching and worship at Wesley Theological Seminary where, in 1999, he was named to the Mary Elizabeth McGehee Joyce Chair in Preaching and Worship, the first fully-endowed chair in the seminary’s history. Dr. McClain conceived of and chaired the committee which produced the hymnbook, Songs of Zion: Zion Still Sings! For Every Generation. He wrote Come Sunday: A Liturgical Companion to Songs of Zion, and he is at work completing African American Preaching and the Bible: The Preaching of Zion, the third book in his trilogy. Dr. McClain has served churches in Alabama and Boston. In 1978, he established and served as the executive director of the Multi-Ethnic Center for Ministry at Drew University, Madison, New Jersey.
Pamela Lightsey is the Boston University School of Theology Associate Dean for Community Life and Lifelong Learning and Clinical Assistant Professor of Contextual Theology and Practice. Dr. Lightsey is a scholar, social justice activist, and military veteran whose academic and research interests include: classical and contemporary just war theory, Womanist theology, Queer theory and theology, and African American religious history and theologies. An ordained elder in the Northern Illinois Conference of the United Methodist Church, Pamela pastored an urban church on the south side of Chicago, has done work for several UM general agencies and has strong connections within several mainline denominations. She currently co-chairs the American Academy of Religion’s Womanist Approaches to Religion and Society Group. Pamela’s publications include “Reconciliation,” in Radical Evangelical (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company) and “If There Should Come a Word” in Black United Methodists Preach! (Abingdon Press).
Mark Miller serves as Assistant Professor of Church Music at Drew Theological School and is a Lecturer in the Practice of Sacred Music at Yale University. He also is the Minister of Music of Christ Church in Summit, New Jersey. Since 1999 Mark has led music for United Methodists and others around the country, including directing music for the 2008 General Conference. His choral anthems are best sellers for Abingdon Press andChoristers Guild and his hymns are published in “Worship& Song”, “Sing! Prayer and Praise”, “Zion Still Sings”, “Amazing Abundance”, “The Faith We Sing”, and others. Mark received his Bachelor of Arts in Music from Yale University and his Master of Music in Organ Performance from Juilliard.
The School of Theology Lowell Lecture is made possible by the generous support of the Lowell Institute. For more Lowell Lectures, please visit www.lowellinstitute.org/