Theology, Race and the Church

 Saint Mark’s  welcomes two distinguished scholars to conduct a conversation about race and the church.

Dr. Sarah Coakley is an English Anglican priest,  who, in addition to teaching at the divinity schools of Harvard and Princeton Universities, capped her teaching career as the Norris-Hulse Professor of Divinity at the University of Cambridge in the U.K. Her writing, teaching, and preaching are highly regarded throughout the church, and her theological inquiry has explored matters of gender and sexuality in important ways.

Dr. Vincent Lloyd is a professor of theology and religious studies at Villanova University, as well as director of Africana Studies there.  He has written widely about race from a theological perspective, including an examination of the way the Black Lives Matter movement intersects with religion (and they ways it may not).

The schedule for the morning will be as follows:

9 a.m. - Mass in the Lady Chapel (note change of usual time). Coffee will be available in the Parish Hall starting at 9:15

9.30 a.m.:  Opening session  - ‘After George Floyd: Are We Stuck and Silenced on Race in the Church and Society?.  Prof Lloyd and Prof Coakley

10.15 a.m.: Vincent Lloyd on ‘How to go Deeper 1:  The Issue of Black Dignity’.  A presentation by Prof Lloyd with interactive questions from Prof Coakley

11 a.m.: Break

11:15 a.m.: Sarah Coakley on ‘How to go Deeper, 2: Racism and Its Relation to Sin, Desire, Prayer and Perception - Why Theology is not an Optional Extra'. Interactive response from Prof Lloyd and general discussion.

Noon:  Silent Prayer

12:20 p.m.: Blessing

12:30 p.m.: Lunch

1:30: Conclusion

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