Race in the United States has been, since the nation’s inception, an issue of utmost importance and tragic dimension. Racial reconciliation has been at the heart of my personal ministry, as it is integral to a fully Christian spirit and practice. As a priest in the Eastern Orthodox Church, I am called to share my faith to challenge and console God’s people, yet am continuously confronted with the relative absence of American people of color in my Church, in a day and age when the Church could provide the means of promoting reconciliation. As one of a handful of African American clergy, I am uniquely qualified to engage deeply with this issue. Furthermore, my roots are in the African American Christian tradition, having come from a long line of African Methodist Episcopal preachers.

I will conduct primary research through interviews and an interactive web blog; prepare two presentations with strong visual and audio components, present my findings at an annual conference for African American and other Orthodox sponsored by the Brotherhood of St. Moses the Black