The Board of Trustees of Seminary of the Southwest hosted the 2021 Payne Lecture with Civil Rights Era icon Ruby Sales. Sales – a well-known theologian, historian, activist, social critic, and educator – delivered her lecture, titled, ‘Where Do We Go From Here: Community or Chaos,’ on Tuesday, February 9, 2021 via Zoom Webinar to an audience of several hundred.
Presented in partnership with St. James’ Episcopal Church, this year’s Payne Lecture was a part of Black History Month at Southwest.
“Ruby Sales brought her wisdom and breadth of vision to our community,” said the Rev. Dan Joslyn-Siemiatkoski, Dean of Community Life at Seminary of the Southwest. “Her words were an invitation into a courageous and brave way of living in the world that calls the church to repentance so it can move more deeply into becoming the Beloved Community.”
A recording of Ms. Sales’ lecture can be found here.
The Payne Lecture is hosted annually in February by the Board of Trustees of the seminary and is focused on mission, congregational leadership, evangelism, or congregational development in honor of Bishop Claude Payne, who led the Episcopal Diocese of Texas to 1995 to 2003. Past speakers have included Jimmy Bartz, Bréne Brown, and Reggie McNeal.