Opening worship for the national Synod gathering of the UCC (United Church of Christ)
SYNOD Begins Today: WORSHIP featuring Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr.
You can view it as a Facebook event or on Youtube live event at 5pm EST today, Sunday, July 11.
Live chat is disabled for this event, but you can participate:
- Join the conversation on Facebook event!
- You can also join the conversation with hashtags #UCCSynod #Worship
Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr
Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr.’s history in the United Church of Christ and the Civil Rights Movement go back years and reflect a legacy of justice orientation and activism. Chavis was a part of the Wilmington 10, a group of civil rights activists who were wrongly convicted of arson and conspiracy in 1972 after deadly racial conflicts in 1971. Chavis, a staffer with the UCC’s Commission for Racial Justice (CRJ), received a 34-year sentence. CRJ came to their defense, and the 1977 General Synod meeting in Washington, D.C. held a march outside the White House for their release. Their sentences were commuted in 1978, their convictions overturned in 1980, and in 2013, the state’s governor pardoned them. Chavis was a youth organizer in North Carolina for Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., served as Executive Director of CRJ from 1985 to 1993, headed the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People from 1993 to 1994, served as national director of 1995 Million Man March in D.C., co-founded the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, and now leads the National Newspaper Publishers Association. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina and Duke Divinity School and holds a D.Min. degree from Howard University. Originally published in 1983, Chavis’ Psalms from Prison is available for pre-order at The Pilgrim Press: https://www.thepilgrimpress.com/products/psalms-from-prison-chavis