Dear Folks,
I am excited about the speakers who will join us this year for VOICES during the season of Lent. Thank you to the committee who imagined the people we might invite, found ways to be in contact with them, and helped tell the story of Redeemer and the VOICES series in the process: Karen McGee, Millicent Bain, Murray Taylor, Rayner Wharton, Keri Frisch, and Deborah Callard.
March 8 Dr. Richard Bell is a professor of history at the University of Maryland, College Park. Bell’s most recent book, Stolen: Five Free Boys Kidnapped into Slavery and Their Astonishing Odyssey Home, is a gripping and true story. Their ordeal—an odyssey that took them from the Philadelphia waterfront to the marshes of Mississippi and beyond—shines a glaring spotlight on the Reverse Underground Railroad, a black-market network of human traffickers and slave traders who stole away thousands of legally free African Americans from their families in order to fuel slavery’s rapid expansion in the decades before the Civil War.
March 15 Shane Claiborne is a best-selling author, activist, and speaker, who teaches around the world about making peace, creating community, and embodying justice. Claiborne’s newest book, Rethinking Life: Embracing the Sacredness of Every Person, was just released on February 7. He is the leader of The Simple Way in Philadelphia, and a founding member of Red Letter Christians, whose “goal is to stay true to the foundation of combining Jesus and justice.” Claiborne’s work has been featured in a variety of media, including Fox News, the Wall Street Journal, NPR, and CNN.
March 22 Dr. Joanne Martin is a historian, educator, and researcher, who founded with her husband Baltimore’s The National Great Blacks in Wax Museum. Through the Museum, which began as a travelling exhibit and is now housed on North Avenue, Martin has committed her life to impacting future generations. Children are her special focus, igniting a spark in them by helping them to understand the history of African Americans.
March 29 Jason Green is an attorney, former associate counsel in the Obama White House and co-founder and senior vice-president of Skillsmart, a technology firm based in Germantown, Maryland. With his sister Kisha Davis, MD (White House fellow 2012), Green produced the film Finding Fellowship, which tells the story of how three racially-segregated Methodist churches— two white and one black—merged into one in the wake of Dr. King’s assassination. After screening the film with us, Green will answer our questions about this important story, set in Quince Orchard.
And as a special event, we will begin our series on March 1 with “house meeting training.” The evening will equip us to gather a small group in life-giving conversation. Over a simple meal, we will learn how to create a circle of fellowship, action, and prayer. Join us in the parish hall and sign up here.
Love,
David