Author John Archibald to speak at Epworth learning event March 23
A new Epworth United Methodist Church initiative, Learning Community at Epworth, aims to reach across divided politics and beliefs by bringing people together to learn and discover common ground.
To kick off the learning series at 7 p.m., Saturday, March 23, Epworth UMC will host John Archibald, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner in journalism and author of “Shaking the Gates of Hell: A Search for Family and Truth in the Wake of the Civil Rights Revolution.” He will offer a presentation followed by a panel discussion. The event is free and unticketed.
In his book, Archibald struggles with his image of his father, a Methodist pastor, as a moral authority in his life, as well as his father’s seeming lack of engagement with the Civil Rights Movement in Alabama where he pastored. Archibald discovers the pressure the Methodist Church, among most Christian churches in the South, placed on pastors to remain silent or guard their words regarding the struggle for racial justice. Yet, he knew of his father’s support for racial equity.
John Archibald also shares his father’s acceptance of his queer brother, Murray Archibald and his husband, Steve Elkins, founders of CAMP Rehoboth. Still, their father never used his pulpit to speak up for LGBTQ justice. John’s book wrestles with the sin of silence, which always benefits the oppressor, not the oppressed. He writes not to condemn, but to learn from the past and change behavior in the future.
Epworth UMC organizers invite everyone to attend, to learn and have conversations, and to create new relationships. Epworth UMC is at 19285 Holland Glade Road, Rehoboth Beach.
