I am seminary trained and have spent my entire adult life working with the biblical text in my preaching. And yet, life has also taught me that God’s image and God’s Word is bigger than the Bible (or any of our other ancient scriptures from other faith traditions) alone. Many of our ancient narratives center the perspectives of men and overwhelmingly lift up the worldview of those who hold power. The narratives of women told from their own voice are largely missing. 

So as I prepared for preaching this past Sunday, I turned to the works of Women of African Ascent as my primary guide. I took up Ntozake Shange’s For Colored Girls, Audre Lorde’s Sister Outsider, and Mercy Amba Oduyoye’s Daughter’s of Anowa. The works of these women helped me navigate the theme of today’s service  – reflecting on the 400 year commemoration of chattel slavery and resistance. I also turned to Du Bois’ Souls of Black Folks, and quoted from Amiri Baraka’s ‘Wise I‘ and James Baldwin. And the Bible was still there, sitting big and bad on a nearby pulpit of sorts. But my main point of reference was these women. Because we are Holy. And we hear from God, too. And so our words are sacred.

So here is the sermon Unveiled and Unfettered. In it, you will not only hear the women that I referenced above, but you will also hear me. Over the last two years or so, I have been on a journey of deep spiritual and personal transformation that has led me to push back on much of the theological and sociological frameworks that I have embraced for such a long time. That will come across in this message. You will also hear me critique the ideas of equity and racial reconciliation, so buckle up – I have a lot to say here.

Link to Sermon: https://www.cando.org/sermons/unveiled-and-unfettered/