Jesus and the African American UU Church Experience
Workshop leaders:
Rev. Joe Cook
Rev. Elizabeth K. Ellis
About the Workshop:
In Roxbury a newly organized congregation is Jesus-centered as well as universalist and
inclusive. The delicate balance of encouraging freedom of religious journey, and centering
in the story and the spirit of the gospel of Jesus of Nazareth is a challenge and an
opportunity for African American urban neighborhoods. How do we create a Howard
Thurman-style faith with the appeal of the powerful Jesus story and tradition, and
communicate a completely non-dogmatic and searching faith?
Workshop leader biographies:
Rev. Joe Cook is an Episcopal priest, who along with his wife, Angela Paige Cook, has
created and led Paige Acadamy, an Afro-centric private school for thirty years in Roxbury.
He has served as the minister for a Unitarian Universalist congregation in Roxbury in the
past, and is presently, along with Angela, the Interim minister at the First Church in
Roxbury.
Rev. Elizabeth K. Ellis is the Senior Minister and Executive Director of the UU Urban
Ministry in Boston and mentoring minister for the new church project in Roxbury. The First
Church in Roxbury merged into the UU Urban Ministry in 1976 and is one of the oldest
churches in the country. It is presently the site of three youth programs directed by the
UUUM staff, and many community meetings
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