Published on December 20, 2018 by Andrew Russell  
Samford Entrance

Samford University’s Beeson Divinity School and the Institute of Anglican Studies at Beeson will host the Racial Reconciliation and the National Covenant conference at Samford, Feb. 12-13. The conference will be jointly sponsored with The Institute on Religion and Democracy (IRD) based in Washington D.C. This event will bring Protestants, Catholics and Jews together to answer the question, How does thinking about God change the way we think about race? 

Talks at the conference will address covenant and race in the Hebrew Scriptures, exile and return from slavery, white supremacy, Martin Luther King Jr.’s appeal to the national covenant, and many other subjects.

Speakers include former gang member and Pentecostal minister Eugene Rivers, Seymour Institute Executive Director on Black Church and Policy Studies Jacqueline Rivers, economist Glenn Loury, former civil rights leader Robert Woodson, and activist Alveda King.

Beeson’s renowned professor of homiletics Robert Smith Jr. will preach “I Don’t Want No Trouble at the River,” based on Josh. 22:9-34. Beeson Founding Dean Timothy George will offer concluding remarks. 

“This country suffers from continuing racial tension. We are convinced that the tension cannot be resolved by politics alone because our racial divides have vital spiritual, moral and cultural dimensions,” said Gerald McDermott, director of Beeson’s Institute of Anglican Studies and organizer of the event. “Our hope is that this new approach will help bring repentance, forgiveness, and healing.”

 

 
Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 6,101 students from 45 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks 6th nationally for its Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.