238 - Black History Month: A Look into Black Church History with Dr. Will Gravely

Scholar, leader, professor, and pastor Dr. Will Gravely joins Latasha Morrison on this episode of the Be the Bridge podcast for a conversion that dives deep into church history, multi-ethnic churches, and the way forward for the American church. They discuss the history, theology, and necessity of the Black church. As a pastor of a cross-cultural and community-driven church himself, Dr. Gravely speaks to how to support fellow pastors in similar spaces and how to support pastors of color in predominantly white spaces. Their discussion offers insight and knowledge, solidarity and hope in this current cultural context and on this racial righteousness journey. Host & Executive Producer - Latasha Morrison Senior Producer - Lauren C. Brown Producer, Editor & Music By - Travon Potts Transcriber - Sarah Connatser Quotes: “Black Christianity was not a product of slavery. The Black church was framed during the time of enslavement, but the Black church in and of itself was birthed in the time of Christ.” - Dr. Will Gravely “Just by a casual exposure to church history, you'd understand how critical the Black church has been all the way from the time of Jesus up until now.” - Dr. Will Gravely “The root and foundation of all Christian theology was in North Africa shortly after Jesus ascended.” - Dr. Will Gravely “The Black church has a wealth of not only history of struggle and triumph but also theology.” -Dr. Will Gravely “The Black church was born by necessity, not narcissism. The Black church was identified as Black because we were not allowed to worship the same God with white people. And so the Black church had to take on a faith life of its own, not being allowed to worship in the same spaces as whites. And so that's why I think just studying that history is critical.” -Dr. Will Gravely “My prayer is that we would just be better neighbors to one another and not seek to tear each other down. Even when we make mistakes.”             - Latasha Morrison Links: Ad for BetterHelp:  BetterHelp.com/BetheBridge [get 10% off your first month] Ad for Athletic Greens: AthleticGreens.com/BTB [Free One Year Supply of Vitamin D + 5 Travel Packs] Ad for A Spoonful of Faith: spoonfuloffaith.com/a-spoonful-of-faith-childrens-book That Sounds Fun Network listener survey: thatsoundsfunnetwork.com/ instagram.com/tsfnetwork/ Dr. Will Gravely:  instagram.com/dr.willgravely refugecommunitychurchatl.com/ instagram.com/refuge_community Be the Bridge:  BeTheBridge.com facebook.com/beabridgebuilder/ instagram.com/bethebridge/ twitter.com/BAbridgebuilder Latasha Morrison: facebook.com/LatashaMMorrison instagram.com/latashamorrison/ twitter.com/LatashaMorrison Not all views expressed in this interview reflect the values and beliefs of Latasha Morrison or the Be the Bridge organization.