Franklin
Abbott has been a practicing psychotherapist in Atlanta for nearly
forty
years.
He is also a poet, musician, community organizer and amateur oral
historian.
His connection to the Congregation and Old Stone Church goes back
more
than 40 years to early urban radical faery gatherings held in the
sanctuary
before
First E became its steward. He has spoken at First E many times,
performed
music and poetry there, and coordinated events and memorials.
Reverend
Joan Armstrong Davis is a Unitarian Universalist minister and
religious educator having served congregations in Mississippi,
Alabama, Georgia and Wisconsin. She is a 1989 graduate of the
Candler School of Theology at Emory University where she returned in
2003 for a residency in pastoral care at Emory University Hospital.
Joan
currently serves the Northwest Unitarian Universalist congregation in
Sandy Springs, GA as their Affiliated Community Minister where she
facilitates the work of their lay led pastoral care ministry team.
“When Men Stop Fighting: My Memories of a Pacifist”
Dr. Jon Herman
Dr. Jon Herman is an associate professor of religious studies at Georgia State University, where he teaches classes in Asian religion, comparative mysticism, and critical theory in the study of religion. He is the author of Taoism for Dummies, and several articles on topics such as interfaith dialogue, contemporary conceptions of “spirituality,” Holocaust studies, religious studies and public education, environmentalism, Neo-Confucian mysticism, and the late science fiction author Ursula K. Le Guin. He is currently researching for a book on the Jewish existentialist author Martin Buber’s unpublished lectures on the Taoist classic, the Tao Te Ching.
Jon’s wife Ellen has recently retired as the coordinator of Threshold Ministry, an organization providing assistance to the homeless and those suffering other effects of poverty. She had previously worked in religious education, and university, prison, and hospital chaplaincy. Jon and Ellen are the parents of two daughters, both adopted from China.
Dr. Jean Heinrich is a founding member of our Existential Congregation. She works as a musician, a clinical psychologist, a philosopher and producer of the arts, creating and carrying out trash. She is inspired by Søren Kierkegaard who wrote, “To dare is to lose ones footing momentarily; to not dare is to lose oneself;” and by Harry Emerson Fosdick, who said, “Nothing else matters much – not wealth, nor learning, nor even health – without this gift: the spiritual capacity to keep zest in living.”
Facilitator: M. Charlene Ball
Musician: Mick Kinney
Special Acrobat/Dancer: Rose Shield
“Rose_edits_3” by Larry Jerome
Rose Shields is from Atlanta, GA and is working with Core Dance as a Dance Artist. She also is an acrobat and aerial artist working with local Atlanta circuses. She loves experimenting with different movement and performance styles to create and perform thoughtful, fun, and enticing work.
Rev. Kim Sorrells is a graduate of
Candler School of Theology (Emory University) and is an ordained
minister in the United Church of Christ. They are now beginning a
position with Atlanta Pride as the Programs and Partnership Manager
and will be continuing ministry part time within the UCC. Prior to
joining Atlanta Pride, Kim served as Georgia Field Organizer for
Reconciling Ministries Network, focusing on faith-based advocacy
around Georgia laws affecting the LGBTQ community. Kim has also
served in local congressional, as Minister for Spiritual Formation
and Youth at Saint Mark UMC, and as a hospital chaplain. They have
worked in homeless services through their time in Americorps. Kim has
special interest in using spirituality and contemplative practices to
equip us with the inner peace to be justice makers in the world. Kim
is also a Registered Yoga Teacher and draws on this and other
spiritual traditions to inform their ministry.
June
19, 1865: Union troops land at Galveston, Texas, to announce the end
of the Civil War and the end of slavery. Two and a half years after
Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation is put into effect on
January 1, 1863, those still held in slavery begin their search for
the meaning of freedom. Celebrations gradually gain momentum out of
Texas and spread around the country —to become recognized by those
of African descent as Juneteenth Independence Day.
Dr. Althea Sumpter is a researcher and scholar who uses her expertise as an ethnographer to document cultures and preserve the Southern story of the United States. With her native Gullah Geechee culture as a prototype collecting the oral histories of elders, she teaches ways to research the cultural history within a community, then how to use documentation technology to memorialize and preserve the stories of a community for future generations. She presents talks and workshops on documenting cultural history for others wanting to preserve stories in their own community or the cultural story of a family. Her research and work can be viewed at altheasumpter.com.
Facilitator: Robert Stewart
Musician: Dr. Jean Heinrich
Juneteenth
Atlanta Events
Juneteenth Atlanta Parade & Music Festival: June 14-16, 2019
“I Love You, Buddy: A Father and Son’s Complicated Journey to Peace”
Anthony Knight is the President &
CEO of The Baton Foundation—a Georgia nonprofit organization that
serves the emotional, intellectual and cultural needs of Black boys
in grades five through nine. Before founding the Foundation, Mr.
Knight worked for twenty-two years as a museum educator and
consultant. Mr. Knight has extensive experience with and interest in
African American history and culture, public and living history,
informal education and Black youth. Mr. Knight’s work with The
Baton Foundation reflects his ongoing interest in the issues and
practices related to the collecting, preservation and interpretation
of information about and material culture from the African Diaspora.
Mr. Knight’s undergraduate work was in Spanish and English (Ohio
Wesleyan University), and his graduate work was in museum education
(The George Washington University). Mr. Knight also holds a degree
in Spanish-to-English translation from the Núcleo de Estudios
Lingüísticos y Sociales, Caracas, Venezuela. Mr. Knight is a New
York City native.
Angela Denise Davis, M.Div., M.S., is a ukulele instructor, workshop facilitator, ordained minister, and public speaker. Her work as a minister focuses on how the fusion of art and spirituality can enlarge the ground beneath our feet and enrich the ways we move in personal and social spaces. In addition, she is also the creator, host, and producer of the ZAMI NOBLA Podcast.
She is a graduate of Clark Atlanta University where she earned a B.A. in Art. She also holds a master of divinity from Vanderbilt University Divinity School, and a master of science in rehabilitation counseling from Georgia State University.
“African-American Veterans of the Civil War and National Memory”
Robert Baker teaches history at Georgia State University. His work often involves an emphasis on the Constitution, laws, and how citizens behave in the context of moral conflict or ambiguity.
He is the author of Prigg v. Pennsylvania: Slavery, the Supreme Court, and the Ambivalent Constitution and The Rescue of Joshua Glover: A Fugitive Slave, the Constitution, and the Coming of the Civil War.
