The Office of the General Minister and President is pleased to announce the establishment of the Office of Prophetic Witness in Washington, DC, the nation’s Capital, by Rev. Terri Hord Owens, General Minister and President, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada. Public witness is a historic Disciples commitment. Disciples founder, Alexander Campbell reflected, “we ought to have the largest meeting house in Washington City, and there stand in the presence of king’s and earth’s nobility and proclaim the gospel…”
The Office of Prophetic Witness will work with other denominational and faith leaders to coordinate and provide support and encouragement for their public witness in the public square, and advance necessary faith actions including Moral Witness Wednesdays and Justice Focused Weekends – One Moral Vision in 1,000 Voices beginning in April.
Envisioning a wider witness, Rev. Terri Hord Owens observed: “National City Christian Church is our national church, and I hope the Office of Prophetic Witness will further root our passion for justice alongside our national church and other manifestations of our denomination further extending our prophetic witness throughout and beyond the church.”
Rev. Dr. William Barber II, former pastor of Greenleaf Christian Church, former Moderator of the North Carolina Region of the Christian Church, founding director of the Center for Public Theology & Public Policy, Yale Divinity School, and president of Repairers of the Breach, has been appointed to serve as the inaugural Prophetic Preacher In-Residence in the Office of Prophetic Witness. He has agreed to take on this role pro bono.
In this new role, Dr. Barber will preach, teach, and lecture once a month to the nation and the church. He will employ every means including in-person gatherings and social media to remind the nation and church of the high moral stakes of the policy battles raging in Washington, DC.
