Healing in the Heartland
Saturday, March 16, 2024
10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
St. Timothy's Episcopal Church, Creve Coeur
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ABOUT THE EVENT
In the midst of a polarized election year, the Diocese of Missouri invites everyone to come together to share stories, worship, and make connections to help bridge the divides in our society.
Healing in the Heartland will feature local, national, and international speakers from a variety of backgrounds to find common ground through our faith.
This one-day inspirational event will take place at St. Timothy's Episcopal Church, 808 N. Mason Road in Creve Coeur, on Saturday, March 16, from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. The cost of the event is $20 per person (to cover the cost of lunch).
"Our communities of worship have a unique role to play in healing the divisions we see around us," said the Rt. Rev. Deon Johnson, Bishop of the Diocese of Missouri. He encourages all churches in the Diocese to send at least one or two people to experience this event in-person and then take the conversation back to their congregations.
Other churches and the general public are also welcome! Please note: This event will be available via livestream, but registration is required to receive the link.
SPEAKERS
Click the names to learn more about each speaker:
The Rev. Naomi Tutu: Speaker, advocate, educator
The Rev. Nontombi Naomi Tutu knew from early in life that the one thing she would never be is a priest. She has always said, “I have my father’s nose, I do not want his job.” But life had other plans…
After years spent as a development consultant, educator and race and gender activist, she accepted her call to ordained ministry. She is an Episcopal priest who most recently was Associate Rector at All Saints’ Episcopal Church, Beverly Hills.
The challenges of growing up black and female in apartheid South Africa have been the foundation of Naomi’s life as an activist for human rights. Those experiences taught her that our whole human family loses when we accept situations of oppression, and how teaching and preaching hate and division injure us all.
Rev. Tutu is the third child of Archbishop Desmond and Nomalizo Leah Tutu. She was born in South Africa and had the opportunity to live in many communities and countries. She was educated in Swaziland, the U.S. and England, and has divided her adult life between South Africa and the U.S. Growing up as the ‘daughter. Of…’ has offered Naomi Tutu many opportunities and challenges in her life. Perhaps one of the greatest challenges she has struggled with is the call to ministry. This call refused to be silenced. Even as she carried her passion for justice into other fields, the call to preach and serve as an ordained clergyperson continued to tug at her. Finally, in her 50’s she responded to the call and went to seminary.
Her professional experience ranges from being a development consultant in West Africa, to being program coordinator for programs on Race and Gender and Gender-based Violence in Education at the African Gender Institute at the University of Cape Town. In addition, Rev. Tutu has taught at the University of Hartford, University of Connecticut, and Brevard College in North Carolina. She served as Program Coordinator for the historic Race Relations Institute at Fisk University and was part of the Institute’s delegation to the World Conference Against Racism in Durban.
She started her public speaking as a college student at Berea College in Kentucky in the 1970’s when she was invited to speak at churches, community groups, and colleges and universities about her experiences growing up in apartheid South Africa. Since that time, she has become a much sought-after speaker to groups as varied as business associations, professional conferences, elected officials, and church and civic organizations. She currently resides in Atlanta, where she is a priest associate at All Saints’ Episcopal Church.
The Rev. Dr. Kelly Brown Douglas: Interim Dean of the Episcopal School of Divinity
The Rev. Kelly Brown Douglas, Ph.D., is Interim President of the Episcopal Divinity School. From 2017 to 2023, she was Dean of the Episcopal Divinity School at Union Theological Seminary and Professor of Theology. She was named the Bill and Judith Moyers Chair in Theology at Union in November 2019. She also serves as the Canon Theologian at the Washington National Cathedral and Theologian in Residence at Trinity Church Wall Street.
Prior to Union, Douglas served as Professor of Religion at Goucher College where she held the Susan D. Morgan Professorship of Religion and is now Professor Emeritus. Before Goucher, she was Associate Professor of Theology at Howard University School of Divinity (1987-2001) and Assistant Professor of Religion at Edward Waters College (1986-1987). Ordained as an Episcopal priest in 1983, Douglas holds a master’s degree in theology and a Ph.D. in systematic theology from Union.
Douglas is the author of many articles and six books, including Sexuality and the Black Church: A Womanist Perspective, Stand Your Ground: Black Bodies and the Justice of God, and Resurrection Hope: A Future Where Black Lives Matter, which won the 2023 Grawemeyer Award in Religion. Her academic work has focused on womanist theology, sexuality and the Black church.
The Rev. Jack Danforth: Episcopal Priest & Former U.S. Senator
Former Senator John C. Danforth serves as a partner with Dowd Bennett LLP in St. Louis, sharing the strategic insights and wisdom gained from a distinguished career in public service and the law. He continues to advocate on behalf of the St. Louis region through his work with the firm.
Jack currently serves on the boards of the Cerner Corporation and the nonprofit, nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates, as well as on the national advisory board of the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics at Washington University.
An ordained Episcopal priest, Jack is the author of Resurrection (1994), Faith and Politics: How the “Moral Values” Debate Divides America and How to Move Forward Together (2006), and The Relevance of Religion (2015).
Following his elected service, Jack held appointments in both Republican and Democratic administrations. He was U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, and later, special envoy to Sudan, where his focus was negotiating an end to the civil war in the South. Before that, Jack was special counsel in the investigation of the federal raid on the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas.
Prior to his election to the U.S. Senate, Jack was elected and served eight years as attorney general for the state of Missouri.
The Rev. Traci Blackmon: Theologian, author, activist
Rev. Traci Blackmon is an ordained minister, public theologian, and published author whose life work focuses on communal resistance to systemic injustice.
She served as denominational lead for Justice & Local Church Ministries in the national setting of the United Church of Christ, imagining and initiating several of the denomination’s anchor program initiatives in the areas of local church ministries, chaplaincy, faith formation, justice and public witness. Rev. Blackmon currently serves as theologian in residence for Eden Theological Seminary and Regional Chaplain for the Central Region of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
A frequently requested preacher and lecturer, “Pastor T” as she is affectionately called, has spent the last three decades preaching, teaching, and living a theology that consistently and unapologetically calls community to hear the cries of the suffering in the world. Prior to ordination, Rev. Blackmon served the community as a licensed registered nurse with an emphasis in critical care and community health. As part of this work she developed a mobile health unit program targeting underserved and uninsured populations for BJC Healthcare System called “Healthy Mind, Body, Spirit.”
A native of Birmingham, AL, Rev. Blackmon is a Distinguished Alumnus of Birmingham Southern College who earned a Master of Divinity Degree and was awarded an honorary doctorate of ministry from Eden Theological Seminary for her public ministry in Ferguson and beyond.
In her current role, Rev. Blackmon consults with ministries, foundations, and private organizations interested in building more just equitable societies. Rev. Blackmon joins a rich legacy of prophetic voices in pulpits and the public square who believe that love and justice are the sacred healing modalities necessary to repair a fractured world. Rev. Blackmon is a co-author of the White Privilege Curriculum and a sought after voice on many regional, national, and international platforms. Featured in several publications and national documentaries with PBS and National Geographic, Rev. Blackmon’s ability to reach diverse audiences with challenging messages of hope has gained her global audiences spanning the breadth of the White House to the Carter Center to the Pontifical Council of the Vatican. A pastor at heart, Rev. Blackmon continued to serve as a frequent speaker for local congregations and both religious and educational institutions, stateside
and abroad. In her role as public theologian Rev. Blackmon has preached for the Festival of Homiletics, Chautauqua, SURRENDER in Australia, Kirchentag - Germany, The Justice Summit, and others including touring the nation with the The Poor People’s Campaign: A Call for Moral Revival.
Rev. Blackmon was appointed to the Ferguson Commission by Governor Jay Nixon and to the President's Advisory Council on Faith-Based Neighborhood Partnerships for the White House by President Barack Obama, and continues to be a trusted voice of counsel with several philanthropic foundations. Rev. Blackmon is the recipient of many awards and honors and recognitions, including the White House Volunteer Service Award, the NAACP Rosa Parks Award; The Urban League of St. Louis Woman in Leadership Award; the Antoinette Brown award, and the National Planned Parenthood Faith Leader Award. She is a graduate of Leadership St. Louis and currently serves as an Auburn Senior Fellow, and a member of the 2023 Racial Justice & Religion Collective for the Aspen Institute.
Rev. Blackmon serves on the editorial board of the St. Louis American, the single largest weekly newspaper in Missouri, and as a trustee on the boards of The Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference, Americans United for Separation of Church & State, and the World Parliament of Religions. She is also an Auburn Senior Fellow, a member of the Aspen Institute Racial Justice Collective, and a current fellow with the Rockwood Leadership Institute. Rev. Blackmon is also lead plaintiff in a lawsuit: Blackmon v. Missouri, filed by Americans United and the National Women’s Law Center to represent fourteen clergy members in Missouri across seven denominations challenging restrictions to abortion access based on religion.
"I speak with the lions. And we are many!" ~ Rev. Traci D. Blackmon
EVENT SCHEDULE
Click the +date for the complete schedule:
Saturday, March 16
I Love to Tell the Story: Healing in the Heartland
Saturday, March 16, 2024
St. Timothy's Episcopal Church
808 N. Mason Road
Creve Coeur, MO 63141
(Times during the event are approximate)
- 9:30 a.m. - Doors Open
- 10 a.m. - Celebration of Holy Eucharist:
Preacher: The Rev. Naomi Tutu
Celebrant: The Rev. Canon Stephanie Spellers
- 11:30 a.m. - Break
- 11:45 a.m. - Speakers & Discussion:
The Rev. Naomi Tutu
The Rev. Traci Blackmon
- 12:30 p.m. - Lunch
- 1:15 p.m. - Speakers & Discussion:
The Rev. Jack Danforth
The Rev. Dr. Kelly Brown Douglas
- 2:10 p.m. - Break
- 2:20 p.m. - Panel Discussion:
Led by Bishop Deon Johnson
- 3:30 p.m. - Next Steps:
Led by the Rev. Aaron Rogers
- 3:45 p.m. - Closing Prayers & Music
Led by Bishop Deon Johnson
- 4:00 p.m. - Event Concludes
EVENT REGISTRATION
We have three ways to register. Please note that the livestream for this event is private -- we will send you the link after you have registered.
- Individuals attending in-person: Registration fee is $20.
Registration for in-person attendance is now closed.
(We're at capacity!)
- Individuals attending via livestream: Registration fee is $10.
LIVESTREAM REGISTRATION FOR INDIVIDUALS
- Groups attending via livestream: Registration fee is $20.
LIVESTREAM REGISTRATION FOR GROUPS
If you need financial assistance for any of these options, please contact us and we will be happy to help.
Please register no later than Friday, March 8.
PRAYERS
We invite and encourage your prayers as we gather for this event. We hope you will use these prayers as you engage in this healing ministry.
Come, Holy Spirit
Come Holy Spirit, surround those who are preparing to celebrate your presence in our world.
Give us grace and courage to fully proclaim Your Gospel to a culture divided in so many ways.
Help us to bring truth to power, to stand firm in our commitment to God’s Kingdom on earth.
Help us to be part of the solution to our country’s and our society’s divisions, without suffering further disruptions.
Please show us the way to tell the stories you would have us tell, peacefully and lovingly in the name of Christ, Our Savior.
Amen and Amen.
A prayer by The Rev. Deacon Janet Schisser, 2/6/24
Make Us Agents of Peace
Holy and Merciful God, we give thanks for the lessons your Son taught us to live by.
May we be agents of Peace and Love to all people as we work toward Listening, Healing and Reconciliation in our communities.
Guide and strengthen us to do what we are called to do in the Blessed Name of Jesus Christ, our Savior.
Amen.
(A prayer by Dcn. Betty Bowen, 2/12/24)
Ignite Us with Love
Most Merciful God, you see and know all the hurtful divisions we your people are doing to each other here on earth; we know it is not your intention for us to live this way.
We pray that the Holy Spirit will Ignite us with Love, Wisdom and Understanding to use these gifts to seek healing and reconciliation for all the hurts we have done to each other.
Guide us in spreading Love where there is hate; Peace where there is discord; Hope where there is despair; so that Joy comes with our listening, healing and reconciliation.
We pray this in the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
(A prayer by Dcn. Betty Bowen, 2/13/14)
It's All About Love
Loving God, teach us to Love you with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. Fill us with your Love and heal all the pain and fear that is in our hearts, that we may show forth your Love and spread the Good News by word and example. We ask in the Name of Jesus our Savior. Amen
Holy Spirit, who prays in us with signs too deep for words, fill us with your perfect Love and cast out fear, hurt, and anger, that we may shine with your Light. This we ask in the Name of Jesus, the Light of the World. Amen.
Prayers by Adrienne Dillion
ADDITIONAL EVENT OPPORTUNITIES
While you are at this event, be sure to explore:
- Ministry Tables
Diocesan Missioners and ministry leaders will be on hand to share information about their work in the world. Learn more and get involved! Contact the diocesan office if you would like to host a table. - A Case for Love T-shirts
Purchase a fabulous T-shirt from A Case for Love, the documentary film featuring Presiding Bishop Curry. The T-shirts are super-soft and have a great inclusive message. $20 each / cash, check, or credit cards accepted.
Learn more
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