Panel Discussion
Lecture
The 2023 Mac Bryan Prophetic Preaching Series Symposium
The Mac Bryan Prophetic Speakers Series brings preachers and speakers to the Wake Forest University campus who will inspire students to live and serve at the intersection of Christianity and social justice. The theme for this year’s lecture and symposium is “‘Daughters of Thunder’: Black Women Preaching in an Age of Crisis.” Our distinguished guests are women in ministry serving on the front lines of today’s most important issues for the church and the world.
Panel Discussion | Nov. 9 | 12 p.m. | ZSR Library Auditorium
The Reverend Racquel C. N. Gill
Minister for Intercultural Engagement, Duke Chapel, Duke University
In her role as minister for intercultural engagement, the Rev. Racquel C.N. Gill offers spiritual guidance, mentorship, care, and programming to students, particularly students of color, and also deepens relationships between the Chapel and campus cultural and identity centers. She is a graduate of Duke Divinity School.
The Reverend Dr. Kia Hood-Scott (MDiv ’10)
Pastor, Union Baptist Church Jamestown-High Point
A national preacher, motivator, speaker and mentor, Rev. Dr. Kia Hood has a passion to reach those who desire to hear about the unmovable word of God. She is known for her preaching, energy, personality, and commitment to doing Kingdom Work. She holds a Masters in Divinity from Wake Forest University School of Divinity and a Doctorate of Ministry from United Theological Seminary.
The Reverend Lové Lemon (MDiv ’15)
Executive Director, 18 Springs Community Healing Center
Lové is the Founder/CEO of Healing Heights, created as a trauma-informed training focused on healing practices, tools and resources. Raised in the oldest Black Community in Winston-Salem, Happy Hill Gardens, and a graduate of Wake Forest University School of Divinity, Lové identifies as a Black Womxnist Queer Liberation Theologian, living to challenge the status quo with the intent to change the world we live in.
The Reverend Dr. Michelle Meggs (MDiv ’03)
Executive Director, Women + Girls Research Alliance, urbanCORE, UNC Charlotte
Dr. Michelle Meggs is the Executive Director of the Women + Girls Research Alliance, an affiliate of urbanCORE at UNC Charlotte. She seeks to connect community organizations doing work on the ground with university researchers whose research relates to women’s health, economic security, employment, civic and political engagement and violence against women. Dr. Meggs holds a Doctor of Arts in Humanities with a concentration in Africana Women’s Studies from Clark Atlanta University and a Master of Divinity from Wake Forest University School of Divinity.
The Reverend Dr. K. Monet Rice-Jalloh
Associate University Chaplain, Wake Forest University
Rev. K specializes in spiritual well-being with a current gravitational pull towards cultivating spiritual practices for descendants of enslaved Africans. She loves academic chaplaincy work because it allows her the privilege of engaging in theological discourse with bright and inquisitive minds while liturgically engaging the academic community. She holds a Master of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary and a Doctorate of Ministry from Duke Divinity School.
Lecture and Conversation | Nov. 9 | 4 p.m. | Wait Chapel
The Reverend Dr. Chelsea Brooke Yarborough (MDiv ’15)
Assistant Professor of African American Preaching, Sacred Rhetoric, and Black Practical Theology, Phillips Theological Seminary
Yarborough is an ordained minister, a poet, and an enneagram enthusiast. Her interest focuses on how Black women’s preaching pushes against spatial demarcation for the sacred in order to invite a wider canon of worship and preaching expressions. Her work imagines the possibilities of preaching outside of the pulpit by looking at historical Black women who were non-pulpit preachers. Yarborough is a graduate of Wake Forest University School of Divinity and holds a PhD in Homiletics and Liturgics from Vanderbilt University.
The Reverend Dr. Melva L. Sampson
Assistant Teaching Professor of Preaching and Practical Theology, Wake Forest University School of Divinity
Sampson is a practical theologian and ordained minister. Her research interests include Black preaching women’s embodiment, African heritage spiritual traditions, Black girls’ ritual performance, and the relationship between digital proclamation and spiritual formation. She is the creator and curator of Pink Robe Chronicles ™ and Raising Womanish Girls ™, both digital platforms used to elucidate the role of sacred memory and ritual in the collective healing of marginalized communities. She holds a Master of Divinity from Emory University Chandler School of Theology and a PhD from Emory University.
More about The Mac Bryan Prophetic Speakers Series
The Mac Bryan Prophetic Speakers Series was established in honor and memory of George McLeod “Mac” Bryan, Sr. (’41, MA ’44) by George (’61) and Carol (’64) Williamson, long-time supporters of Wake Forest University and early advocates for the importance of the School of Divinity. Bryan was professor of religion and taught at the University for thirty-seven years after joining the religion faculty in 1956. He introduced courses on feminism, religion and science, medical ethics, and black and liberation theology. He fought tirelessly for Civil Rights, pursued social reform, and was instrumental in helping to integrate Wake Forest College in the 1960s.