Professor Emerita Walter E. Fluker, Ph.D., (GRS’88, STH’88), Thomas W. Porter, Jr., J.D., (LAW’74), Rev. Kelly Elizabeth Fassett, (STH’19), and Boston Mayor Kim Janey Give Keynote Addresses at Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries’ 55th Annual Fundraiser
Read CMM’s Annual Fundraiser 2021 booklet here and the event recording below.
Professor Emerita Walter E. Fluker, Ph.D., (GRS’88, STH’88), Thomas W. Porter, Jr., J.D., (LAW’74), Rev. Kelly Elizabeth Fassett, (STH’19), and Boston Mayor Kim Janey give keynote addresses at Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries’ 55th Annual Fundraiser, on the theme of From Trauma to Triumph, celebrating 55 Years of Service Towards an Inclusive American Narrative.
Thomas Porter, Jr. is a trial lawyer, mediator, teacher and minister. At Boston University School of Theology, where he has taught since 2005, he is a lecturer and co-director of the Religion and Conflict Transformation Program. He helped create and directed from 2000-2012 the JUSTPEACE Center for Mediation and Conflict Transformation in The United Methodist Church. After graduating from Yale University, he received a MDiv from Union Theological Seminary and a J.D. from Boston University Law School. He studied mediation at Harvard Law School and Eastern Mennonite University. Tom is an elder in the United Methodist Church and a member of the New England Annual Conference, where he was the chancellor for 23 years. He was a founding partner of the trial firm of Melick & Porter LLP in 1983 and has been a trial lawyer since 1974, representing religious institutions, universities, hospitals, professionals, nonprofit organizations, and others. He was one of founders of the Journal of Law and Religion and was chair of the board from 1989 through 2001. He was a founder and the president of the Council of Religion and Law, a society of law professors and theologians as well as lawyers and ministers, from 1978 to 1985. He was a member of the board of Union Theological Seminary, chairing its educational policy committee, from 1992 to 2001. And tonight, he is a recipient of the Rev. Charles Harper Lifetime Achievement Award, named for the first executive director of CMM, recognizes transformative long-term leadership of an individual in service to the principles of the CMM Mission statement.
Rev. Kelly Fassett has served as the Executive Director for UniteBoston since 2012 and has been the catalyst for UniteBoston’s bridge-building work throughout Christians in the region. She has a certificate in Christian Foundations from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. She also graduated with her MDiv in Global and Community Engagement at Boston University in 2019, with certificates in Religion and Conflict Transformation as well as International Mission and Ecumenism. She has also worked as a consultant to organize the New England City Forum and has spoken at conferences around concepts related to evangelism, mission, Christian unity, and conflict transformation. Kelly and her husband Andrew are both ordained ministers with the American Baptist Churches of Massachusetts and live in an intentional Christian community in the Dorchester area. They have one daughter named Abigail and enjoy spending time outdoors.
Rev. Dr. Walter Fluker was born in Vaiden, Mississippi and raised in Chicago, Illinois where he attended public schools. He served in the United States Army as a Chaplain’s Assistant from 1971-1973. He received his BA in philosophy and biblical studies from Trinity College in 1977, and an MDiv in 1980 from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary. Fluker completed his PhD in social ethics at Boston University, in 1988. He retired from the Boston University School of Theology in June 2020. Early in his career, he served as a local pastor, lecturer, and chaplain of many schools. Fluker went on to be a distinguished speaker for the US Embassy in Abuja and Lagos, Nigeria; Cape Town, Pretoria and Durban, South Africa, China; and India. Having served visiting professorships at the Harvard College and Divinity School and Candler School of Theology; and visiting scholar at Princeton Theological Seminary, and Columbia Theological Seminary. Fluker joined the Boston University School of Theology faculty as the Martin Luther King, Jr. professor of ethical leadership and director of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Initiative for the Development of Ethical Leadership in 2010. He consulted for the Democratic Leadership Council National Conversation, Goldman Sachs Global Leaders Program, the Department of Education, the Department of State, the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, the Georgia State Superintendents’ Association, and the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation. And tonight, he is our other recipient of the Rev. Charles Harper Lifetime Achievement Award.