Understanding our Changing World
Raising awareness
Part of our mission as Christians is to stay informed, understand our world and raise awareness with others so that we may serve more effectively.
We continue to explore how we as a community can learn about other faiths, combat racism in ourselves and engage in conversations with people whose belief systems are very different from ours.
To that end, we collaborate with other like-minded organizations to present seminars, book studies, lectures and experiences that will help create a community of reconcilers, justice-makers and healers.
Igniting Activism for God's Justice, Love and Deliverance
April 28, 2022
The mission and justice committee at Saint James in collaboration with The Nathan Baxter Chapter of the Union of Black Episcopalians and Religious Affairs of the NAACP Lancaster Branch invite faith communities and the community at large to join this conversation. Drew Hermeling will facilitate the discussions. Author, Dr. Drew I. Hart will join the conversation on Thursday, May 5. All are welcome!
About Drew G. I. Hart
Drew G. I. Hart is an author, activist, and professor in theology in the Bible and Religion department at Messiah University with ten years of pastoral experience. Hart majored in Biblical Studies at Messiah College as an undergrad, he attained his MDiv with an urban concentration from Biblical Theological Seminary, and he received his PhD in theology and ethics from Lutheran Theological Seminary-Philadelphia. Dr. Hart’s dissertation considered how Christian discipleship, as framed by Black theologies and contemporary Anabaptism, gesture the western Church towards untangling the forces of white supremacy and the inertia of western Christendom which have plagued its witness in society for too long. As two traditions that emerged from the underside of violent and oppressive western Christian societies, he found Black theologies and Anabaptism each repeatedly turning to the particularity of Jesus in the gospel narratives, ultimately calling for an ethic of liberation in the Black Church and an ethic of peacemaking in the Anabaptist tradition. Hart finds the practice of reading Jesus not only for the Church, but also against it, to be a vital dimension in salvaging western Christianity from itself. His work beyond teaching and writing has included pastoring in Harrisburg and Philadelphia, working for an inner-city afterschool program for black and brown middle school boys, delivering lectures and leading anti-racism workshops, collaborating with faith-based organizers in his neighborhood, and doing a broad range of public theology. Hart sees his current role as a theology professor as an extension of his ministry vocation that began with pastoral leadership. Trouble I’ve Seen: Changing the Way the Church Views Racism by Drew Hart, was chosen as a 2016 book of the month by Englewood Review of Books. Reviewing the book, Shane Claiborne said, “This book is a gift from the heart of one of the sharpest young theologians in the United States. Hold it carefully, and allow it to transform you–and our blood-stained streets.” As a text, Trouble I’ve Seen utilizes personal and everyday stories, Jesus-shaped theological ethics, and anti-racism frameworks to transform the church’s understanding and witness. Dr. Drew Hart was recently the recipient of bcmPEACE’s 2017 Peacemaker Award for his local and national work. You can find some of Hart’s writing at his blog entitled ‘Taking Jesus Seriously’ which is hosted at The Christian Century or you can catch him as he travels and speaks regularly across the country to colleges, conferences and churches. Drew and Renee, and their three boys (Micah, Dietrich, and Vincent) live in Harrisburg.
About Drew Hermeling
A historian of 18th-century North America and teacher focused on historical thinking, cultural studies, and problem-based pedagogy. Adjunct Professor of History and Culture at Messiah College and Teacher of History and Anthropology at Stone School, Lancaster, PA.
Bridge Dinner
