Belonging Again: From Living Fragments to Community
Biblical stories are often uncritically taught, preached, and composed to music as if they are inclusive of a people’s history and culture when, according to systematic theologian Willie James Jennings, they are actually fragments of them – i.e., bits and pieces of information extracted from the fuller expressions of a people’s life. History tells us that these fragments often represent violent rips and tears from the moral and nurturing centers of a people’s common life. Such violence has led to endless hostilities between nations, and to colonizing structures designed to rationalize and sustain the thief and commoditization of a people’s body, culture, land, family roots, and their god. Oppressive education policies and practices ensure devalued people are sustained under such colonizing efforts.
In what ways do these valued fragments speak to us today? Are they redemptive in nature? Can they be?
During this five-week series, we will:
- Learn about the history and power of biblical storytelling. Our presenter will guide us down paths that lead to the story behind the story, thereby, creating refreshing aha moments and tools for independent study and relevant methods of interpretation for 21st-century progressive Christian living.
- Hear from two educators whose research and interests include integrating into contemporary discourse forgotten, little known, or unknown African diasporic living fragments and their impact on American life. Research on the migration to Africa movement will be introduced.
- Explore how the church’s musical repertoire echoes its theology, history, and culture. The presenter asks, “How does music impact one’s feeling of belonging?”
- Learn that beneath the surface of our lives, we all carry wounds. Oftentimes these are invisible wounds and, even when visible, they may be unrecognizable. The history and trauma associated with these wounds require a curiosity that leads to understanding, and prayerfully opens a pathway to healing. This series will conclude with ways in which Riverside Church can become a profound pathway to authentic community, hope, and healing.
Series speakers are:
October 24, 2021 –Rev. Michael Livingston, “The Story Behind the Story”
Rev. Michael Livingston currently serves as the Interim Senior Minister for The Riverside Church in the City of New York. Working in congregational ministry has always been close to Michael’s heart, whether at Riverside or when he was first starting out in Los Angeles.
Immediately prior to joining Riverside in 2014 as Executive Minister, Michael worked with Interfaith Worker Justice in Washington, D.C., advocating for underpaid workers. Before that, he spent the middle years of his ministry in executive leadership in the context of deep ecumenical and interfaith engagement with the International Council of Community Churches (ICCC) and the National Council of Churches (NCC). He served as the President of the NCC 2006-2007. Michael also spent fourteen years in graduate theological education at Princeton Theological Seminary as the Campus Pastor in Miller Chapel, which provided a strong foundational knowledge for a life in ministry.
Pastoral and prophetic preaching, small group encounters, pastoral care, and counseling, were the disciplines and practices that shaped Michael’s work in that diverse and vibrant community. Throughout it all, Michael believes there are individuals whose lives beg for the transformation that can come from an encounter with the living God, and that congregations and people of faith can make a difference as incubators for a radical love that grows strong seeking peace through justice.
October 31, 2021 – Dr. Mojubaolu A Okome, “You can’t go home no more”: Africans in America in the Age of Globalization
Mojúbàolú Olufúnké Okomeis an International Political Economist whose regional specialization is on the African continent. Educated at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, Long Island University, New York, and Columbia University, New York, she’s a Professor of Political Science at Brooklyn College, CUNY; past Women’s Studies Program Director and past Deputy Chair for Graduate Studies in the Department of Political Science at Brooklyn College. Born in Nigeria, Mojúbàolú has worked on international development issues as a consultant for clients including the United Nations and Commonwealth Secretariat in London. Her teaching interests include a focus on the meanings of inclusive, equitable citizenship in the context of the interplay between globalization, democratization, and economic development. Her research interests include Youth Empowerment, Gender, Democracy and Citizenship in Africa; Governance, Development and Democracy in Africa; Effects of Globalization, Post-Colonialism, and Modernity on Economic and Political Transformation; and African Diaspora Studies. Her most recent publications are two edited books published in 2013 by Palgrave-Macmillan: State Fragility, State Formation, and Human Security in Nigeria; and Contesting the Nigerian State Civil Society and the Contradictions of Self-Organization; and one book co-edited with Afia Serwaa Zakiya published by Bookbuilders, Ibadan, Nigeria: Women’s Political and Legislative Participation in Nigeria: Perspectives From the 2007 Elections. Previously, she co-edited two books with Olufemi Vaughan (January 2012) West African Migrations: Transnational and Global Pathways in a new century. NY: Palgrave Macmillan, and also with Olufemi Vaughan (January 2012) Transnational Africa and Globalization. NY: Palgrave Macmillan. She founded #BringBackOurGirlsNYC and is founder and editor of Ìrìnkèrindò: a Journal of African Migration. She’s currently working on a book titled: Gender Power, and Leadership in the African Initiated Church in Nigeria and her Diaspora.
November 7, 2021 – Dr. Abosede George, “Converging Black Diasporas in 19thCentury
Abosede George is a historian of Modern Africa based at Barnard College and Columbia University. Her book, Making Modern Girls: A History of Girlhood, Labor, and Social Development received the Aidoo-Snyder Book Prize in 2015 from the Women’s Caucus of the African Studies Association, as well as Honorable Mention from the New York African Studies Association. Her publications have appeared in the American Historical Review, the Journal of Social History, Comparative Studies in South Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, Meridians, Women’s Studies Quarterly, the Journal of West African History, and The Washington Post among other outlets. Her concentration is on the histories of Lagos, Nigeria, and West Africa, and on social history and urban history within that. Her current research examines Lagos as a destination and a place of convergence for migrant diasporic and refugee communities in the mid to late 19th century. Coming from the colony of Freetown, Sierra Leone, the island of Cuba, the Brazilian Empire, and interior Yorubaland, migrant communities reshaped notions of community and belonging in 19th century West Africa.
Lagos, West Africa”
November 14, 2021 – Min. Charlene Wingate, “Moving Toward An Equitable Playlist”
Charlene A. Wingateis a Music Educator in the New York City public schools. With over two decades of teaching experience, she finds joy in applying her studies in music, religious, and equity education to the design and implementation of inclusive worship. She is also an Adjunct Professor in the Certificate Program at New York Theological Seminary. There she teaches diverse courses to students called to diverse ministries with an emphasis on urban ministry. At the Riverside Church, her work spans many areas. She is currently the Support Minister for Worship and the Arts and the Chairperson of the Adult Christian Education Committee. She is also a consultant to the Education Commission and oversees its Sunday Open Bible Study series. Her skills are further honed by the work she is doing as leader of Riverside’s Fresh Start early morning service, worship leader, liturgist, and guest preacher. She is actively pursuing ordination in the American Baptist Churches (USA).
November 21, 2021 – Rev. Dr. Debra Northern, “Healing from Within”