Pass The Mic

Our guest today is no stranger to many of you! The Rev. Dr. Esau McCaulley, PhD is a New Testament scholar and an Anglican Priest. He is a contributing opinion writer for the New York Times. He has also appeared in outlets such as Christianity Today, Washington Post, and of course, The Witness: BCC. He is also the host of the Disrupters Podcast and functions as a Canon Theologian for his diocese.Our topic today is his new book Reading While Black: African American Biblical Interpretation as an Exercise in Hope. The book looks at the tradition of African American biblical interpretation and argues that the Bible rightly understood and read from a decidedly black perspective can speak a word of hope to African Americans in the United States.This is a conversation that you don’t want to miss!******************************Finally, we don’t want to miss the opportunity to invite you to give to The Witness BCC for our “Will You Be a Witness?” Fundraising Campaign!The Witness BCC exists to encourage, educate, and empower Black Christians to be free in our souls and bodies. We have accomplished much in our 10 years of existence, but we are just getting started! We have 4 goals for 2021:-Hire More Staff-Hire Columnists & Writers-Double our Podcast Suite-Create Communities of RefreshingThese are LOFTY goals, but whatever vision God gives ought to be more than you can accomplish by yourself. That’s why we need YOUR help.Visit: thewitnessinc.com today to partner with us by designating your gift for “The Witness BCC” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We have a special episode for y’all today! Netflix just recently released a Black Gospel choir special called “Voices of Fire” executive produced by Grammy-winning recording artist Pharrell Williams. Pharrell’s uncle Bishop Ezekiel Williams along with a host of Gospel Music legends set out on a 6-part journey to build the world’s most inspiring Gospel Choir. What follows is a host of moving stories and beautiful music. The Witness BCC Vice President and Host of the Combing the Roots podcast Ally Henny joins us today. She interviews Voice of Fire Choirmaster Patrick Riddick and sticks around afterward to discuss the show with PTM host and Witness BCC President Tyler Burns. Hope y’all enjoy this conversation!******************************Finally, we don’t want to miss the opportunity to invite you to give to The Witness BCC for our “Will You Be a Witness?” Fundraising Campaign!The Witness BCC exists to encourage, educate, and empower Black Christians to be free in our souls and bodies. We have accomplished much in our 10 years of existence, but we are just getting started! We have 4 goals for 2021:-Hire More Staff-Hire Columnists & Writers-Double our Podcast Suite-Create Communities of RefreshingThese are LOFTY goals, but whatever vision God gives ought to be more than you can accomplish by yourself. That’s why we need YOUR help.Visit: thewitnessinc.com today and designate your gift for “The Witness BCC”! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What a special guest we have on the podcast today! If you are familiar with the conversation about reconciliation and justice in the church, you won’t get very far without hearing the name, the Rev. Dr. Brenda Salter Mcneil. Dr. Brenda Salter McNeil is a dynamic speaker, author, professor and reconciliation thought leader. Her mission is to inspire, equip and empower the next generation of Christian leaders to be practitioners of reconciliation. Dr. Brenda is an international trailblazer, leading individuals, communities, and organizations to biblical reconciliation. She was featured as one of the 50 most influential women to watch by Christianity Today in 2012. She is the author of Roadmap to Reconciliation 2.0, A Credible Witness: Reflections on Power, Evangelism and Race (2008), and The Heart of Racial Justice: How Soul Change Leads to Social Change (2005), coauthored with Rick Richardson. Her newest book Becoming Brave: Finding the Courage to Pursue Racial Justice Now is available August 2020.Becoming Brave offers a distinctly Christian framework for addressing systemic injustice. It challenges Christians to be everyday activists who become brave enough to break the silence and work with others to dismantle systems of injustice and inequality.Looking through the lens of the biblical narrative of Esther, McNeil challenges Christian reconcilers to recognize the particular pain in our world so they can work together to repair what is broken while maintaining a deep hope in God’s ongoing work for justice. This book provides education and prophetic inspiration for every person who wants to take reconciliation seriously. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What a year this week has been! After 4 stressful days of waiting and wondering, we finally have a result in the presidential election. Former Vice President Joe Biden is now the President-Elect of the United States, and Senator Kamala Harris is the first woman, Black woman, and woman of South Asian descent to secure the Vice Presidency. Jemar and Tyler are back to talk about the emotions that we’re all feeling, a few words on control, and what to do moving forward. And just in case you missed the last week…catch up belowRead about this news on our website: https://thewitnessbcc.com/the-witness-bcc-expands-to-form-the-witness-inc/----The Witness is expanding! We love to see it! Introducing: The Witness Incorporated (The Witness, Inc)The Witness: A Black Christian Collective is expanding to form The Witness Incorporated as a launching pad for multiple new endeavors. The newly minted philanthropic division is The Witness Foundation, which fills the gap of equipping Black Christian leaders to make a greater social impact. Each will have direction under Mr. Blue Check Verified himself, Jemar Tisby, who founded and led the collective for nearly a decade!Jemar Tisby, author of The Color of Compromise will serve as CEO of The Witness Inc., the parent company that will house both the foundation and the Black Christian Collective.The Witness Black Christian Collective is excited to announce that Tyler Burns will assume the role of President of the Collective. Burns, a Florida-based pastor and co-host of the Pass the Mic podcast, has served as Vice President of the Collective since its launch in 2017. His appointment as president of the Collective is the beginning of a new era in the history of The Witness.As President of The Witness BCC, Tyler hopes to continue the organization’s long tradition of amplifying the diverse voices of Black Christians. He hopes that The Witness BCC will continue to engage its core audience by encouraging, educating, and empowering Black Christians to be stewards of the Black prophetic tradition. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”“Life is too short for Black Christians not to breathe…”After announcing the exciting news of the expansion of The Witness, CEO Jemar Tisby and newly-appointed President Tyler Burns hopped on IG Live to explain more about the changes and…God showed UP! This conversation turned into a cyber sanctuary! Jemar and Tyler shared about what it means to expand under duress, fearlessly clinging to our whole identity, and most importantly telling the RIGHT story. (And they clowned a bit too…y’all know). And you might be asking “Changes?? What changes?!” Say no more, fam: ----The Witness is expanding! We love to see it! Introducing: The Witness Incorporated (The Witness, Inc)The Witness: A Black Christian Collective is expanding to form The Witness Incorporated as a launching pad for multiple new endeavors. The newly minted philanthropic division is The Witness Foundation, which fills the gap of equipping Black Christian leaders to make a greater social impact. Each will have direction under Mr. Blue Check Verified himself, Jemar Tisby, who founded and led the collective for nearly a decade!Jemar Tisby, author of The Color of Compromise will serve as CEO of The Witness Inc., the parent company that will house both the foundation and the Black Christian Collective. The Witness Black Christian Collective is excited to announce that Tyler Burns will assume the role of President of the Collective. Burns, a Florida-based pastor and co-host of the Pass the Mic podcast, has served as Vice President of the Collective since its launch in 2017. His appointment as president of the Collective is the beginning of a new era in the history of The Witness. As President of The Witness BCC, Tyler hopes to continue the organization’s long tradition of amplifying the diverse voices of Black Christians. He hopes that The Witness BCC will continue to engage its core audience by encouraging, educating, and empowering Black Christians to be stewards of the Black prophetic tradition. -----Read about this news on our website: https://thewitnessbcc.com/the-witness-bcc-expands-to-form-the-witness-inc/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Witness is expanding! We LOVE to see it! Introducing: The Witness Incorporated (The Witness, Inc)The Witness: A Black Christian Collective is expanding to form The Witness Incorporated as a launching pad for multiple new endeavors. The newly minted philanthropic division is The Witness Foundation, which fills the gap of equipping Black Christian leaders to make a greater social impact. Each will have direction under Mr. Blue Check Verified himself, Jemar Tisby, who founded and led the collective for nearly a decade!Jemar Tisby, author of The Color of Compromise will serve as CEO of The Witness Inc., the parent company that will house both the foundation and the Black Christian Collective. The Witness Black Christian Collective is excited to announce that Tyler Burns will assume the role of President of the Collective. Burns, a Florida-based pastor and co-host of the Pass the Mic podcast, has served as Vice President of the Collective since its launch in 2017. His appointment as president of the Collective is the beginning of a new era in the history of The Witness. As President of The Witness BCC, Tyler hopes to continue the organization’s long tradition of amplifying the diverse voices of Black Christians. He hopes that The Witness BCC will continue to engage its core audience by encouraging, educating, and empowering Black Christians to be stewards of the Black prophetic tradition. -----Read about this news on our website: https://thewitnessbcc.com/the-witness-bcc-expands-to-form-the-witness-inc/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Two-time GRAMMY winning hip-hop artist and bestselling author Lecrae joins the podcast today to talk about his very busy 2020. He released his album Restoration earlier this year and also recently released his second book I Am Restored just last week, a story of chaos and hope.The artist “had inspired millions with his redemptive and gut-honest art. But when his personal life spun into chaos, he was forced to face the buried impact of the unhealed wounds--sexual abuse, physical trauma, addiction, and depression--that threatened to tear it all apart. Along the way, he realized the wounds we all carry have the potential to be unlikely guides to healing and freedom for ourselves, and others.”“I Am Restored is an inspiring charge to embrace the lasting healing and restoration available now, and that we all desperately long for, because no matter what you've experienced, God is near, He hears, and He's not done with you yet.”  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

...today’s episode is fire. Tyler has the honor of interviewing powerhouse theologian and author, Dr. Willie Jennings. This episode is filled with powerful insights that will strike uncomfortably close to home. For the uninitiated, Dr. Willie Jennings is an Associate Professor of Systematic Theology and Africana Studies at Yale Divinity School. Writing in the areas of liberation theologies, cultural identities, and anthropology, Jennings has authored more than 40 scholarly essays and nearly two-dozen reviews. He is in high demand as a speaker and is widely recognized as a major figure in theological education across North America.He is the author of the book The Christian Imagination: Theology and the Origins of Race (Yale 2010), which won the American Academy of Religion Award of Excellence in the Study of Religion in the Constructive-Reflective category the year after it appeared and, is considered by many to be a “theological masterpiece.” His commentary on the Book of Acts, titled Acts: A Commentary, The Revolution of the Intimate (for the Belief Series, Westminster/John Knox) received the Reference Book of the Year Award from The Academy of Parish Clergy in 2018.His latest book and the subject of our interview today is entitled After Whiteness: An Education in BelongingFrom the book’s description: “Theological education has always been about formation: first of people, then of communities, then of the world. If we continue to promote whiteness and its related ideas of masculinity and individualism in our educational work, it will remain diseased and thwart our efforts to heal the church and the world. But if theological education aims to form people who can gather others together through border-crossing pluralism and God-drenched communion, we can begin to cultivate the radical belonging that is at the heart of God’s transformative work.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Recently the Barna Research Group released a study about “How the summer of 2020 changed perceptions of racial justice-and what it means for Christian leaders”. The discovery revealed what many Black Christians already knew: In the area of racial justice, “progress” is elusive.  Jemar and Tyler are back this week to talk about their frustrations with the ideas of progress, what encourages them about these reports, and how our ideas of progress must change as we continue this work. SN: Get ready for the next few episodes. We have some surprises for you! #StayTuned https://www.barna.com/research/american-christians-race-problem/#.X2JLefBWIA5.twitterhttps://www.washingtonpost.com/national/hurricane-sally-west-pensacola/2020/09/17/4ef58c0e-f904-11ea-be57-d00bb9bc632d_story.html Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this special crossover of Pass The Mic and Once Upon A Time in Wakanda, Tyler, Earon, and Beau discuss the passing of Chadwick Boseman whose portrayals of heroic figures from Jackie Robinson to Thurgood Marshall and the iconic Black Panther had such an impact on the culture and left a legacy of excellence. We can't imagine anything more heroic and representative of picking up your cross and following your calling more than producing cultural artifacts while fighting a silent battle bravely. To a king who never yielded, rest well.“Sometimes you need to feel the pain and sting of defeat to activate the real passion and purpose that God predestined inside of you.” – Chadwick Boseman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices