The 2014 Black Theology and Leadership Institute

Candace Laughinghouse sent these highlights with her report of the 2014 annual Black Theology and Leadership Institute at Princeton.

From right to left: Worship in the chapel. In the midst of a great conversation within my cohort for the week. Me and Prof. Dr. John W. Kinney – Dean of the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union University.

From Left to right: Dr. Stacey Floyd-Thomas of Vanderbilt Divinity School lecturing on Social and Gender Justice. My cohort led by Pastor Dr. Leslie D. Callahan. Dr. Walter Fluker signs books at the end of class.

As a wife, mother and doctoral student, my children attend every conference with me. Here, my daughters are saying their goodbyes to Dr. Yolanda Pierce – conference host.

Highlights from Black Theology and Leadership Institute 2014

Yolanda Pierce

This summer, I was selected to attend the annual Black Theology and Leadership Institute (BTLI) at Princeton Theological Seminary. Dr. Yolanda Pierce – the Elmer G. Homrighausen Associate Professor of African American Studies and Literature and Liaison with the Princeton University Center for African American Studies – has managed to create a think-tank of fellow leaders and theologians within the black church. The week-long event consisted of lectures, nightly chapel services fully inspired by the Holy Spirit, cohort sessions with theologians-in-residence, and more.

Gregory Ellison

“If we want people to receive water from our overflowing fountain of knowledge and ideas, then we have to bring it in a cup they recognize.”
—John W. Kinney

Dr. Pierce began the session with her lecture entitled, “The Occasion: ‘Telling the Truth and Shaming the Devil’”. She confronted the expectation that a prophet does not and should not face persecution. Of course, we are familiar with the Scriptural adage that ‘we are not to touch God’s anointed’ (Psalm 105:15 and 1 Chronicles 16:22). However, there are times the prophet experiences the persecution within him/herself. The battle is accepting the fact that God is the God of the oppressed, as well as the oppressor. How do we preach this tension? Well, this tension is where God resides. In the end, the entire world is suffering because the prophets will not get in their place and call forth liberating theologies instead of the stain-glassed doctrine and steepled theology that relies on the hopelessness of the people that enter the door.

Jonathan Walton

Bishop Yvette Flunder’s lecture on sexual justice involved challenging leaders to rethink the praxis that limits who can sit at the table theologically. What I enjoy most about BTLI is that there were varying positions on major issues but we all had respect for one another’s evolving theology. The following day, Prof. Dr. John W. Kinney confronted the agendas of black theologians and preachers who are completely out of touch. He admonished preachers who ignored the advancement of the people within the pews. He then went on to suggest that “If we want people to receive water from our overflowing fountain of knowledge and ideas, then we have to bring it in a cup they recognize.” If black leaders and theologians are going to solve the issues of racial injustice in society, then we must restructure our presentation and attitude towards the congregation. How can this occur when we get mad at the congregation for not receiving the sermon, instead of questioning our own delivery? Prof. Dr. Gregory Ellison decided to shake things up. We participated in what he calls “Fearless Dialogues” (www.fearlessdialogues.com). This involved the entire group engaging in a role-play experience that created space for hard conversations concerning varying situations that effect everyone. The goal was to help us see the gifts in others, hear values in stores and work toward transformation and change in self and others. Prof. Dr. Jonathan Walton challenged our hermeneutical lens and dared us to construct a genuine approach to reading and preaching the biblical text. Prof. Dr. Stacey Floyd-Thomas lectured on the problems of Social and Gender Justice in the black church. While teaching young girls to remain abstinent and being lax on the same issues for young boys, we are indeed perpetuating a rape culture within the pews. She maintains that “Our clarifying task as leaders is: will you be on the side of right or popular? Make up your mind.” We ended the week with Dr. Walter Fluker’s lecture on the beloved community and our responsibility as leaders to navigate the traffic at the intersection that requires a skill set that leaders must learn – “we must look, listen and learn.”

BLTI14 was a huge success. The conversations continued into the late hours and most of us remain in conversation daily via social media. I highly recommend fellow Pentecostals to apply and glean from the knowledge, networking and resources available at BTLI – July 11-18, 2015. You will not be the same.

Yvette Flunder

Walter Earl Fluker

Stacey Floyd-Thomas

See also: Highlights from Black Theology and Leadership Institute 2014

The 41st meeting of the Society for Pentecostal Studies was held at Regent University in Virginia Beach, Virginia, from February 29 to March 3, 2012. The theme of the convention was “Pentecostalisms, Peacemaking, and Social Justice/Righteousness.”

As a doctoral student, I found the 2012 Society for Pentecostal Studies conference to be nothing less than exceptional. Previously, my academic conference experience has been limited to the American Academy of Religion and the Society of Biblical Literature meetings. I was intrigued by the inclusion of clergy within a more academically recognized conference. I had the opportunity to present a paper critiquing the precedent analysis of women in the Church of God in Christ by former president Anthea Butler. The majority of session participants were men who readily engaged in further conversation on the paradox of power within the women’s department of the Church of God in Christ raised within my presentation.

I attended the meeting with a little knee injury that prevented me from attending some of the morning sessions. But the networking at an SPS event is invaluable. The level of scholarship amidst the conference attendees is comparable to any academic conference in the world. The conference was not without a myriad of valuable representations from publishers, archivists, universities, and software technology for today’s scholar.

For more information about past meetings of the Society for Pentecostal Studies, visit www.sps-usa.org.