Task force to examine racism
Dean Greg Sterling has announced the appointment of a task force to address racism at YDS, primarily as it affects Black/African American students but also Asian, indigenous, and Latinx community members. The committee is chaired by Willie James Jennings, associate professor of systematic theology and Africana studies, and Laura Nasrallah, professor of New Testament criticism and interpretation. Consisting of additional faculty members as well as staff and student appointees, the task force will “examine racism encountered in both informal and formal settings and in both unstructured and structured arrangements,” Sterling said. “We believe that fostering the knowledge and love of God in community requires that we respect and honor the image of God that is in all of us.”
Public statement repudiates racism and violence
Eboni Marshall Turman, assistant professor of theology and African American religion, is chief author of a public theological statement issued by hundreds of Black church pastors and theologians repudiating racism and anti-Black violence. “Although we have been temporarily severed from our respective chancels due to the global effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the doors of the Black Church are still open as we congregate on one accord in the Spirit and by the power of a God of freedom, justice, and love,” the statement declared.
New director of Black Church Studies
Joanne Browne Jennings, an accomplished scholar and counselor with a strong background in social work and service to clergy and congregations, has been appointed director of the Divinity School’s Black Church Studies program. Jennings, also a lecturer in clinical pastoral education for YDS and Andover Newton Seminary at YDS, takes over leadership of a program that provides a home for students preparing for ministerial careers with churches identified with underrepresented minorities.
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