Martin Luther King, Jr. Endowed Chair For Social Justice and Black Church Studies
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Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School
Statement for Campaign Support
The hallmark characteristics of Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School (CRCDS) are commitment to biblical witness, progressive theological traditions, serious scholarship and the social gospel. In 1907 Walter Rauschenbush, a faculty member at the then Rochester Theological Seminary, set a standard in his landmark work entitled, Christianity and the Social Crisis. In this volume the theologian forever marked the students of his time and all who would follow from Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School with the conviction that the purpose of Jesus’ message is not individualized piety, but rather a radical call of transformation.
Over the years, this fundamental and prevailing insight has imbedded itself in the fabric of Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School. Through the work of legendary greats such as Howard Thurman, Mordecai Wyatt Johnson, Ken “Snuffy” Smith, J. Pius Barbour and Samuel Proctor, the gospel mandate of personal and communal transformation has been given even greater significance and definition. These leaders represent the heritage that CRCDS joyfully embraces and out of which we passionately teach—a heritage of progressive Christianity, concerned for the common good and committed to social justice.
In the spring of 1951, a young aspiring minister, trained in this tradition, graduated from Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania. The young minister, a prophet in and for our time, was Martin Luther King, Jr. His fidelity to God’s Word, transformative leadership and personal sufferings exposed this country and ultimately the world; to the oppression and injustice of racial discrimination, the futility of war and the dehumanizing effects of poverty which marks the day to day existence of the poor and marginalized, especially as experienced by African-Americans.
In response to the life and legacy of Dr. King, students and faculty who were then “On the Hill” organized efforts to raise funds to endow an academic chair and support student scholarship. While their efforts met with initial success and were prominently supported by members of Dr. King’s family, friends and colleagues; today the endowment for the academic chair lacks sufficient funding. In recognition of this urgent need, the Board, administrative leadership and dedicated alumni now commit themselves to raise $1.30 million to complete the funding of this endowed chair.
The MLK, Jr. Chair for Social Justice and Black Church Studies will be held by an academically credentialed faculty member/program administrator who will teach in the area of social justice. The fully funded academic chair will ensure that the position of Dean of the CRCDS Black Church Studies program is permanent and full-time. The mandate of the endowed professorship, in harmony with Dr. King’s enduring spirit, will be to address the wider social and political realities of the day across the academic curriculum and bring to the Black Church Studies program, to include the PEARL Program, invigorated purpose, scholarship and a new level of academic prominence and leadership among theology schools within the United States and Canada.
The Black Church Studies program offers our students an opportunity to expand their ecclesial and theological formation as they learn of a historically viable tradition of the church that is often misunderstood or rarely encountered by many divinity students. It is imperative that the historical and theological contributions, public voice and spirituality of the black religious experience challenge and influence the thinking and ministry of every CRCDS graduate. The challenge to complete the endowed professorship is a unique opportunity to place the CRCDS Black Church Studies program on a forward looking foundation and to witness to the broad array of Dr. King’s ministry which was marked by ecumenism, social justice and social action.
One of the tenets of CRCDS’s theological heritage is the understanding that the starting point of all prophetic witness and biblical insight is the intersection of God’s Word and human experience. Dr. King was a prophet of non-violent resistance, a theologian of liberation and hope; a disciple whose journey remains unfinished. As Dr. King stood at the crossroad of the prophets his heart was inspired by a Dream; a Dream which continues to transcend time and summon all people.
Now is the time for CRCDS alumni/ae and friends to hear the call and rekindle the Dream. If you believe, as we do, that today’s leaders should embody the courage and foresight of Dr. King and the biblical witness of the Black Church, Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School deserves your support.
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