Sunday, March 12, 2023
Link to attend: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/4278628623
Alignment is honored to welcome the Rev. Dr. Barbara A. Holmes to share her work in Crisis Contemplation.
Dr. Holmes is a spiritual teacher and writer focused on African American spirituality, mysticism, cosmology and culture. She is President Emerita of United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities (2012-2016). She also served as Vice President of Academic Affairs and Dean of Memphis Theological Seminary (2005-2010). She holds the title of Professor Emerita of Ethics and African American Religious Studies at that seminary. She is currently a core faculty member with The Center for Action and Contemplation founded by Fr. Richard Rohr.
Holmes was called to ministry while working as a corporate lawyer for the J.C. Penney Corporation and was ordained in the Latter Rain Apostolic Holiness Church in Dallas, Texas. Today, she has privilege of call in the United Church of Christ and recognition of ministerial standing in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Dr. Holmes grew up in New Haven, Connecticut, and was a member of Dixwell Avenue Congregational Church. Dr. Holmes has earned the following degrees: a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and a minor in Theatre Arts from the University of Connecticut; a Master of Science in Education from Southern Connecticut University; a Master of Divinity degree from Columbia Theological Seminary; and a Doctor of Philosophy in Religion (Ethics) from Vanderbilt. Also, she earned a law degree from Walter F. George School of Law, at Mercer University and practiced law in Miami, Atlanta, Macon and Dallas. She specialized in civil litigation, corporate, and appellate practice.
She says, "My life is committed to the struggle for justice, the healing of the human spirit, and the art of relevant and radical creativity." In addition, Dr. Holmes has worked with homeless missions; HIV/AIDS support groups and international ministries in Kenya (the Presbyterian Church of East Africa) and Japan. The author of six books and numerous articles, her most recent publications include: Crisis Contemplation: Healing the Wounded Village, Fall 2021, Race and the Cosmos: An Invitation to view the World Differently 2nd ed. 2020, 2002, Dreaming 2012, Liberation and the Cosmos: Conversations with the Elders, 2008, 2nd ed. 2023, and Joy Unspeakable: Contemplative Practices of the Black Church, 2004, 2017. Dr. Holmes is married to George Ford and has two sons: Marcus, a film director, and Jason a professor of music.
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