Gather with students and staff from the Spring Break Civil Rights Tour and the Gospel Choir to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the legacy of his life.

Hear portions of student-prepared speeches highlighting many forms of peace as part of the . The full speeches can be heard TONIGHT – Friday, March 23 at 7 p.m. in Martin Chapel (Seminary Building).

Fabiana Espinal
“Creativity as a Path to Healing and Connection”

Kyle Good
“Food as Conscientious Objection”

Winifred Gray-Johnson
“Finding Forgiveness: A Path toward Healthy Relationships”

Lydia Haggard
“Is it Black or White?: Exploring Race and the Mennonite Church”

Katrina Poplett
“When Silence is Betrayal: Climbing the Hill”

Caleb Schrock-Hurst
“Is This a Bonhoeffer Moment?: Asking the Right Questions in Trump’s America”

Amanda Williams
“Mother Earth’s Plea for Her Prodigal Children to Return”

Adam King,
“Go, Sell your Whiteness and Follow Me: Jesus’ call of white Christians to radical racial solidarity”

Students in the seminary’s  program complete Capstone Integration Projects across the two semesters of their senior year. During the fall semester, they negotiate with the professors in the Formation in Missional Leadership class the design of their projects. They then complete their projects in the spring, producing a final paper and making a public presentation.

Tobin Miller Shearer, Director of the African-American Studies Program at University of Montana, presents the monthly University Colloquium Lecture.   He is a historian who has done extensive research on the history of race relations in American Mennonite communities.  The title of his lecture is “Sex, Seven, Sass: The Negotiation of Racial Identity in Fresh Air Rural Housing Programs, 1939-1979.”

Rev. Dr. Rodney D. Waller speaks on The Resocialization of Humanity inspired by for the
Dialogue on Race and Ethnicity University Chapel.

Reverend Dr. Rodney D. Waller is Senior Pastor of the third oldest African American Church in the United States, First African Baptist Church of Richmond, VA. Dr. Waller earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Philosophy and Religious studies from Virginia Union University, a Master of Divinity from the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union University, and a Doctor of Ministry Degree from Virginia Union University of Lynchburg. Dr. Waller is the author of Leadership Empowerment: A Paradigm in Administration and Leadership in the Urban Church in General and the Rural Church in Particular for the Twenty-First Century.

Prior to becoming Senior Pastor of the First African Baptist Church, Dr. Waller was the Senior Pastor of Sharon Baptist Church in Weems, VA. During his tenure at Sharon Baptist Church, served as a volunteer chaplain at the Rappahannock General Hospital, became a member of the Lancaster County Special Education Department, served on the Lancaster County Planning Commission, and served on the Lancaster Board of Directors. He is the past President of the Northern Neck Ministers Conference and the Jesse DuPont Foundation Church Resource Service and presently serves as the Treasurer of the Richmond’s Minister Conference and Vicinity. In 2006, he was one of the featured Preachers at the Baptist General Convention of Virginia which took place in Norfolk, VA. Dr. Waller also is a member of the Hampton Minister’s Conference Executive Board.

Dr. Waller was recognized by the Gospel Music Workshop of America, Richmond Chapter during Clergy Appreciation Month in October, 2012. In August of 2011, Dr. Waller was a guest preacher for the UK African American Preaching Festival in London, England. While in London, Dr. Waller also studied at Oxford University during his first week of August. Dr. Waller was also nominated as Co-Pastor of the Year by the Richmond Usher’s Union for the year of 2011.