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Since its inception in 1997, the BRSG has been committed to creating dialogues that forge bonds of communication for partnership and innovation among Black peoples.

About the Black Religious Scholars Group

The guiding vision of the Black Religious Scholars Group (BRSG) is to sponsor consultations and speaking series for the edification of the liberating theology and witness of the Black Church tradition within the academy, church and wider Black community. This vision originated during a session of the Black Theology Group during the 1996 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion/Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting in New Orleans, LA.  Those in attendance realized that the discussion and work of Black religious scholars tend to be situated firmly within academic circles, causing us to lose sight of the goal of Black religion, liberation and human fulfillment in all areas of life.

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“We recognized that faithfulness to our call as religious scholars, preachers and community activists requires relevant theological activity that is both committed and accessible to the larger African diasporan church and society.”

Endorsements

"The Black Religious Scholars Group (BRSG) is the premier academic organization that intentionally engages to bridge the regrettable chasm between Athens and Jerusalem - the theological academy and the Black church. The BRSG is, in fact, a space for grace. Holding community, dialogue, liberation, and transformation as its core values, it offers space for scholars of Black religion to revivify right relationship with the communities that birthed them and to whom their scholarly witness remains accountable."

Rev. Eboni Marshall Turman

Ph.D. Associate Professor of Theology and African American Religion Yale University The Divinity School

"The Black Religious Scholars Group is a vital resource for church ministry, religious leadership and community organizing requires consultants equally invested in education and empowerment that nurtures, sustains, and mobilizes the diverse constituencies to collaborate with civic, corporate, and philanthropic leaders to address critical needs of human rights and social justice within local, national, and global communities. If you want your organization to soar, the BRSG will provide you with wind beneath your wings so that you and your organization can operate victoriously."

Dr. Frederick D. Haynes

Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference, Inc. (SDPC) Co-Chair Friendship West Baptist Church Senior Pastor

"The Black Religious Scholars Group (BRSG) is a beautiful village of black scholars, religious practitioners, and social activists. We embrace and examine the distinctive characteristics and contributions of black religions in general and black Christianity in particular. Forged more than twenty years before diversity, equity, and inclusion became “fashionable” in the academy, BRSG insists that various religious/ethical practices and principles in black cultures are treasures that can enrich all cultures. Furthermore, amid destructive hierarchies that divide diverse groups, we build bridges between diverse groups, and especially between academic and religious communities. The spirit of humility constantly reminds us that everyone in the village has something to teach and something to learn."

Brad R. Braxton

Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer St. Luke’s School, New York, NY Senior Program Advisor, Creative Encounters: Living Religions in the United States 2023 Smithsonian Folklife Festival, Washington, DC

"Unless theological reflection is rooted within a community - informing and being informed by those on the margins - then such reflection is useless, if not meaningless. Because organizations like BRSG bring together academicians, ministers, and community activists to wrestle with the reality of the Back experience, it fosters an academic rigor which benefits all of us - even those of us who are not part of the Black community."

Dr. Miguel A. De La Torre

Award Winning Scholar and Screenwriter, Iliff School of Theology Professor of Social Ethics and Latinx Studies

"The work and vision of the Black Religious Scholars Group (BRSG) has consistently crafted sacred space for scholars, advocates, church, and community leaders to convene around the issues that impact the life and liberation of all Black people. BRSG annual consultations have become hallowed gatherings where the spiritual legacy, creative genius and prophetic witness of Black religious scholars and activists are honored, and the heritage of our faith provides strength for the journey ahead. As a Pan-African transnational faith leader, I have found that BRSG is a home for intergenerational, interdisciplinary, and international leaders seeking the well-being and thriving of all Black lives and Black communities worldwide."

Rev. Dionne P. Boissiere, M.Div.

Chaplain of the Church Center for the United Nations

"For a quarter of a century, the BRSG has been leading conversations about and providing resources for religious literacy in civil dialogue and social transformation. We need the BRSG not just to continue this work but to expand upon it. Religious and theological literacy that bridges the gap between the academy and the church has always been an agent for social justice. That work is never finished. It is more urgent than ever."

John F. Kutsko, PhD

Executive Director of the Society of Biblical Literature

"The AAR is grateful for, and inspired by, the work and enduring legacy of the BRSG for all the ways it fosters excellence in the academic study of religion and enhances public understanding of religion."

Alice Hunt, PhD

Executive director of the American Academy of Religion

Creating, collaborating, and consulting with and for Black religious scholars, clergy, and community leaders.