GUESTS:

Carol Travis was baptized at Asbury UMC and is recorded as having delivered her first prayer at the age of 6 over 60 years ago. After a long career in corporate America, she retired to start another career in church administration, serving on the staff of diverse churches in urban and suburban settings  She currently works in several ministry areas at Asbury UMC and at the Annual Conference level where she helps to advance the UMC ‘s dismantling racism agenda.  She holds degrees from Trinity University and American University in Washington, DC. For 15 years, she was a board member of the African American Methodist Heritage Center and has been the Executive Assistant to the board since 2014.

Rev. Will Green is an Elder in Full Connection with the Northern Illinois Annual Conference currently in his fifth year of cross-conference ministry in the Baltimore Washington Annual Conference. He currently serves at Foundry United Methodist Church as an Associate Pastor and the Director of Discipleship, where he provides oversight and vision for the adult education and spiritual formation, lay leadership development, and assist the Senior Pastor with worship development and coordination.

Dr. Kumea Shorter-Gooden is a Washington, DC native and Clinical/Community Psychologist who has been active in the AME Zion Church for 40 years – in Chicago, Southern California, and in DC. I joined John Wesley AME Zion Church four years ago and has vast experience in consulting for diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Discussion Questions In This Episode:

What is the historic relationship between your three DC congregations? Carol, Dr. Shorter-Gooden, Rev. Green

Is the history of white racism unique to your congregations within Methodist history?

Can you tell us a bit about your efforts to be in relationship with each other now? Why and how did these efforts begin?

What’s next for your congregations?

Rev. Mills of Asbury UMC has said that she hopes the relationship between these three congregations can “be a model for other churches — and the world — in crossing the divide of race.” What advice might you have for other congregations?

Asbury UMC and Metropolitan AME were victims of a hate crime back in December of 2020 when Black Lives Matter signs were ripped from the walls and burned in the streets. This is not the first time that Black Methodists have been the victims of a hate crime perpetuated by white mobs. In the past how have Methodists responded to instances such as this and what can future Methodists emphasize about our roots in the future to respond to racist acts?

Host: Dr. Ashley Boggan Dreff, General Secretary of the General Commission on Archives and History of The United Methodist Church. Dreff earned her PhD from Drew Theological School’s Graduate Division of Religion, specializing in both Methodist/Wesleyan Studies and Women’s/Gender Studies. She earned an M.A. from the University of Chicago’s Divinity School, specializing in American Religious History. She has previously worked as staff at the General Commission on Archives and History (2012-2014) and the Connectional Table of The United Methodist Church (2014-2016). She was the Director of United Methodist Studies and Assistant Professor Christian History at Hood Theological Seminary (Salisbury, NC), an AME Zion Seminary, from 2017-2019 and was the Director of Women’s and Gender Studies and Assistant Professor of Religion at High Point University (High Point, NC) from 2019-2020. Dreff is a lay member of the Arkansas Annual Conference and the daughter of two ordained United Methodist ministers. She is the author of Nevertheless: American Methodists and Women’s Rights (2020) and Entangled: A History of American Methodism, Politics, and Sexuality (2018).