Queering Black Churches: Dismantling Heteronormativity in African American Congregations
Thursday, September 26, 2024
5:00PM Pacific/6:00pm Mountain/7:00pm Central/8:00pm Eastern
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Co-hosted by LGBTQ Religious Archives Network and Open and Affirming in the UCC
LGBTQ-RAN advisor and pastor-scholar Rev. Dr. Derrick McQueen will interview Rev. Dr. Brandon Thomas Crowley on his newly-published: Queering Black Churches: Dismantling Heteronormativity in African American Congregations (Oxford University Press 2024). In his book, Crowley argues for a systematic approach to dismantling homophobia within African American congregations that moves beyond surface-level allyship toward actual structural renovation. Using the lenses of practical theology, ecclesiology, queer theology, and gender studies, Crowley examines the heteronormative histories, theologies, morals, values, and structures of Black churches and how their longstanding assumptions can be challenged. Drawing on the past experiences of several historically Black churches that became open and affirming (ONA), Queering Black Churches explores how historically Black churches have queered their congregations. Crowley examines the similarities and differences in their approaches and synthesizes them into a methodology called Black ecclesial Queering: a theoretical analysis and a practical method of queering that centers on the lived experiences of Black Queer folks seeking to subvert the puritanical ideologies of Black churches.
Rev. Derrick McQueen, Ph.D. is the pastor of St. James Presbyterian Church in Harlem, the oldest African American Presbyterian Church in New York City. Derrick serves as the Chair of the board of directors of Auburn Theological Seminary, which equips bold and resilient leaders with the tools and resources needed for social justice movement in a multifaith world. McQueen is the Associate Director for Community Partnerships at Columbia University Center on African American Religion Sexual Politics and Social Justice—better known as CARSS. The project brings together scholars, activists, clergy, and communities for healing in historic Black Church life culture.
Rev. Dr. Brandon Thomas Crowley is an African-American pastor, preacher, author, and scholar in religion, theology, and queer theory. Since 2009, he has served as the Senior Pastor of the Historic Myrtle Baptist Church in Newton, Massachusetts, one of America's oldest Black congregations founded by formerly enslaved persons at the end of Reconstruction and one of the nation's few open and affirming historically Black churches. In addition to his pastoral role, Dr. Crowley is a Lecturer in Ministry Studies at Harvard University's Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts.