Trying to Save America: The Black Social Gospel, Then and Now

Featuring Dr. Gary Dorrien, professor of social ethics, theology, and philosophy of religion at Columbia and Union Theological Seminary

Grace Church Brooklyn Heights invites you to a free lecture, "Trying to Save America: The Black Social Gospel, Then and Now" timed in the lead-up to America's 250th Birthday, at 254 Hicks Street on Saturday, June 20, 2026 at 11 am.

Featuring Dr. Gary Dorrien, who teaches social ethics, theology, and philosophy of religion as the Reinhold Niebuhr Professor of Social Ethics at Union Theological Seminary and Professor of Religion at Columbia University, this lecture will discuss Black American Christianity, double-consciousness, and the struggle for justice.

Dr. Dorrien has published several books, including a three-volume work, The New Abolition: W. E. B. Du Bois and the Black Social Gospel; Breaking White Supremacy: Martin Luther King Jr. and the Black Social Gospel; and A Darkly Radiant Vision: The Black Social Gospel in the Shadow of MLK (Yale University Press, 2015, 2018, 2023).

All are welcome. A light lunch will be served. Registration is limited and required.