Our first lesson could easily be and should be translated: 2 Sam 11:4 David sent emissaries to kidnap Bathsheba and she came to him then he raped her. Then she cleansed herself from her defilement and returned to her house. 5 [After some time] the woman conceived; and she sent and told David, “I am...... Read More

We should not have to tell you, we should not have to teach you, that we are the very image of God. You should see God when you see us. But you worship a pale deformed perversion of God that mirrors your biases. I find myself saying again: We affirm that black lives matter and are...... Read More

400 years of white male abuse of black girls and women is written in this image. pic.twitter.com/YfMYkOXqXR — Wil Gafney (@WilGafney) June 7, 2015 There are somethings you will never know if you don’t have a black-girl-body, if you are not or have not been a black girl or woman. Here’s what too many of...... Read More

[Holding the Ethiopian Israelis in prayer as they fight racism in their country. Their uprising came after I finished the sermon.] The Psalmist cried out: God did not despise or detest the affliction of the afflicted. God did not hide God’s face from me. God heard when I cried out to God. That doesn’t always...... Read More

Death is in the house. My ancestors sang it like this: ‘Soon one morning, death come creepin’ in my room, ‘Soon one morning, death come creepin’ in my room, ‘Soon one morning, death come creepin’ in my room. That morning is today. And yesterday. And tomorrow. Death is in the house. So it is time to call for...... Read More

I remember hearing a gay Jewish man chant in prayer: I am a gay man and I am created in the image of God.

I was profoundly moved. I thought, “Of course. Who could dare say else? Why haven’t I heard/thought this before?” To be clear, I had no doubt that my lesbian and gay sisters and brothers were in fact created in the image of God. I just wasn’t hearing it proclaimed in worship. Thankfully that changed. And I became one of those voices sharing in that proclamation.... Read More

Even without the litany of horrors that have made 2014 a year to forget if we could – hundreds of Nigerian girls abducted, sold and raped into slave marriages, their teachers and male classmates slaughtered, a plane with all souls aboard inconceivably disappeared into thin air, another plane from the same airline is shot down...... Read More

God of Justice who declared black lives matter at the dawn of creation by scooping up a handful of black earth with which to craft humanity in the image of divinity, We thank you that our radiant blackness is neither accidental nor incidental to your glory. We join you Holy One, in your lament for...... Read More

Luke 3:14 Soldiers Police officers asked John the Baptizer, God’s servant, “And we, what should we do (since we have been moved by the Gospel to be baptized)?” S/he said to them, “Serve with integrity.”* *Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages. When I was an army...... Read More

I am proud to have co-authored this statement with my colleague Dr. Keri Day on behalf of the Black Church Studies program and Faculty of Brite Divinity School: The Black Church Studies program at Brite Divinity School, along with administrators and members of the faculty, lament the recent decision by the Grand Jury not to...... Read More