Becoming Beloved Community
Our “Becoming Beloved Community” commission hosts discussions, forums, speakers, readings, and other programs focused on living out our Christian values of justice, peace, truth, and love through anti-racist advocacy, education, and social action.
Previous Speakers & Forums
Religion, Race, and "The Heathen" with Prof. Kathryn Gin Lum
Kathryn Gin Lum is Professor in the Religious Studies Department, in collaboration with the Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity, at Stanford University. Her teaching and research focus on the lived ramifications of religious beliefs; she specializes in the history of religion and race in America.
She spoke on themes in her most recent book, Heathen: Religion and Race in American History, which looks at how the figure of the “heathen” in need of salvation underlies American conceptions of race. Books will be available for purchase and signing at the event.
Rev. Dr. Pamela Cooper-White on Confronting Christian Nationalism
The St. Mark’s Becoming Beloved Community Speaker Series Community, Faith and Racial Justice welcomed The Reverend Dr. Pamela Cooper-White speaking on the topic of her recent book, The Psychology of White Christian Nationalism.
Local Advocacy and Media Issues
How can we become beloved community to others and each other in 2025? Gather with the BBC Task Force to talk about how we can achieve this goal as a community living in our divided country: What changes may we expect from the media and how can we take meaningful social justice action locally?
Parishioner Diane Guinta will described the local action that Showing Up For Racial Justice Santa Clara County (SURJ SCC) does, how they work with accountability partners and how you can be involved in meaningful racial justice work in our county. Lisa Kreiger, journalist for The San Jose Mercury News and Journalism instructor at Santa Clara University, spoke about what we can expect in media coverage and how to acquire accurate information about political issues, as well as sharing her insights on public health issues.
The Gospel of J. Edgar Hoover: How the FBI Aided and Abetted the Rise of White Christian Nationalism with Dr. Lerone A. Martin
The Becoming Beloved Community Task Force was pleased to invite the community to the first talk in our speaker series on the topic of Christianity’s involvement in perpetuating racial injustice, along with efforts toward healing, reconciliation, and social change.
The speaker series began with a talk by Stanford Professor and Martin Luther King, Jr. scholar Lerone A. Martin.
Professor Martin spoke on Martin Luther King, Jr.’s beliefs about the threats to democracy of racism, materialism and militarism, and discussed how they related to the US government’s involvement in the white Christian Nationalist movement - themes found in his most recent book, The Gospel of J. Edgar Hoover: How the FBI Aided and Abetted the Rise of White Christian Nationalism.