Chicago pastor to speak at annual Mercer symposium for justice and reconciliation
For the seventeenth year, Mercer University is welcoming members of the community to the Building the Beloved Community Symposium, an annual event that aims to bring people of faith together across races and denominations to work for justice and reconciliation.
This year’s keynote speaker is Daniel Hill, a pastor of a multiethnic Chicago church and author of “White Awake: An Honest Look At What It Means To Be White.”
Hill received international attention after participating in a 2015 vigil for justice at the Chicago Police Headquarters honoring the life of Laquan McDonald, an unarmed Black man who was shot by a white Chicago police officer 16 times.
The 2021 symposium was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but Hill was originally scheduled to be the keynote speaker at the event.
“Our 2020 symposium keynote speaker, Brenda Salter McNeil, highly recommended him,” Mercer professor and co-convener of the symposium Matt Harper said. “She was a phenomenal keynote speaker and really helped us get a sense of our mission and our purpose and what we need to do.”
That mission began in 2003 when Beloved Community Symposium founder John Marson Dunaway, professor emeritus of French and interdisciplinary studies at Mercer, went on a mission trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo. While he was there, he was invited to speak at the Université Libre des Pays des Grands Lacs in Goma.
“I knew something new was happening in me as soon as I touched my foot on the ground in Africa,” Dunaway said. “When I got home, I had a dream, and I saw myself building this symposium on campus.”
Dunaway thought of someone he knew, the Rev. Lonzy Edwards, who had written a piece in The Telegraph about how white and Black churches should work together, he said. Edwards became his mentor, and the plan took off.
“I believe that the Holy Spirit has birthed this vision, not just in me, but in a number of leaders in this community,” Dunaway said in a history of the symposium on Mercer’s website. “Dr. King said the most segregated hour of the week in our communities was 11 a.m. on Sundays. Unfortunately, that has not changed very much over the years.”
Since the symposium was founded, Dunaway and Harper said that they have seen noticeable changes in the community. In times of crisis, for example, pastors from diverse backgrounds have come together
“We’ve also seen churches partnering with one another,” Harper said. “So majority white, majority Black churches coming together and doing events, holding services, joint youth group activities, and the like.”
The symposium takes place Sept. 15-16. The first day, Thursday, begins with a banquet and keynote address from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in the Mercer University Center Presidents Dining Room. Friday’s events take place from 8:30 a.m. until 12:15 p.m. A full schedule and registration is available on the symposium’s event website.