weekend on the history of slavery in boston
“The [biblical] imperative to remember is formational for the community defined by God’s redemptive action.
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Join RCCI, along with local historians, theologians and activists to learn about the history of slavery in Boston.
This experience is designed to help participants…
Learn about Boston’s involvement in the North Atlantic Slave trade with a focus on how churches engaged the institution of slavery.
Help Christians connect the past to the present and consider what implications the legacy of slavery has on living out our faith in Greater Boston today.
Provide opportunities and resources for Christians to offer both a spiritual and practical response to the legacy of slavery.
Check out this video that captures our inaugural experiential learning weekend on the history of slavery in Boston.
Meet the team
Dr. Nicholas Rowe: Historian Nicholas Rowe is the Kenneth and Jean Hansen Associate Professor of Leadership at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and the interim Director of the Michael E. Haynes Center for Black Christian Leadership. Nick believes that it’s critical for the church to engage in the biblical call to “remember” so we can root ourselves in our identity in Christ and his saving work in our lives and communities.
Mako Nagasawa: Mako is the founder and Executive Director of the Anastasis Center for Christian Education and Ministry and is a thought leader in theology, ethics, and early church history. Mako desires to illuminate how the Transatlantic slave trade represented a grievous deviation from Christian abolition efforts in church history and Scripture and how Christians can live more faithfully into the Christian tradition by responding to the moral, relational, economic and political challenges slavery contributes to today.
Megan Lietz: Megan is the Founding Director of the Race & Christian Community Initiative that focuses on discipling white evangelicals to build shalom across racial lines. She’s excited to accompany her white evangelicals brothers and sisters on the journey as we take steps toward the truth-telling, lament, and repentance that is needed for healing, freedom and spiritual vitality in our region today.
We will also be accompanied by a Black spiritual care giver who can support participants’ spiritual health while giving special care to the wellbeing of our Black brothers and sisters.
what to expect for the weekend
During our time together, we will visit a number of sites that connect greater Boston to the North Atlantic slave trade. In doing so, we will focus on the church’s complicity in slavery, how this shapes our city today, and implications it has for how we live out our faith.
Places we’ve visited in the past include:
Faneuil Hall with local activist Kevin Peterson
12th Baptist Church, a Black church with a rich legacy of resisting slavery
Old North Church & King’s Chapel, two congregations on the Freedom Trail that were complicit in the slave trade and are taking steps to tell the story of enslaved peoples and make things right.
““One of the steps towards justice, conciliation, and peace is truth-telling about how slavery in the past contributes to moral, relational, economic, and political challenges today.” ”
Though we are excited about visiting places that help connect us to our history, seeing them is just one step in our greater goal of exploring our history in Christian community. Throughout this weekend, we will prioritize creating space for individual and collective reflection, processing and dialogue. We will be intentional about inviting folks to engage their whole selves in heart, mind, body and spirit and do the self work that builds capacity to engage and respond to this history more effectively.
This is not just an opportunity to receive new information, but to open ourselves to God’s holistic transformation. We invite you to join us as we call upon the holy spirit, root ourselves in God’s Word and journey in Christian community.
“The past is not the past. It lives with us in the present. Yet, by and large, churches in Boston, and the white evangelical church in particular, have not examined or responded to the history of slavery in our region. Until we understand how this evil institution has shaped - and continues to shape - us, we will not be able to minister most effectively in the present. What is more, we will continue to experience barriers to the outpouring of the Spirit in our region until we lament, confess, and repent from the sin of racism. Exploring the history of slavery in Boston is a first step in wrestling with our collective past and investing in the spiritual health and vitality of our region.”
commitment
All participants are asked to:
Complete 5-6 hours of preparatory materials that will help lay a shared foundation
Participate in a meeting before the experiential learning weekend that will help us process some of the preparatory materials and equip us to dive in once we hit the ground.
Attend the entire weekend, that is tentatively scheduled to run the following times:
Fri. 6:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Sat. 10:00 am - 8:00 pm
Sun. 1:30 pm - 8:00 pm
Attend a reunion gathering where we will have the opportunity to further reflect and equip ourselves to respond.
COST:
The cost for the weekend is $200 per person. This includes food and site admission. Partial scholarships are available upon request.
Application Information:
We currently are not accepting applications as we have hosted this event in 2024 and do not yet have dates available for 2025. Please check back for more information. If you are interested in receiving an email when more info is available or exploring the possibility of RCCI hosting an experiential learning weekend for your community, sign up to be kept in the loop.
You can also be a part of the experiential learning weekend by offering a financial gift. All gifts designated as “ELW Scholarship” will go to help make this experience more accessible for future participants. Please consider giving to invest in racial healing and shalom today.
