James Forbes and Barbara Brown Taylor to speak at ISM's 50th anniversary hymn festival
The culminating event of the ISM’s 50th anniversary celebrations will take place at 4 p.m. on Sunday, May 5 in Woolsey Hall. The Rev. Dr. Barbara Brown Taylor and the Rev. Dr. James Forbes will be the special guest preachers at “All Creation Sings”, a glorious festival of hymns led by Yale Camerata with a community choir drawn from churches avcross the state. All are invited to join us in what promises to be an inspiring and unforgettable evening. Hymns such as Love Divine, All Loves Excelling, Just as I am, and All Creatures of our God and King will focus on the theme of the diversity of creation and our duty as faithful people to care for it.
Conducted by Dr. Felicia Barber, the choirs will be accompanied by Dr. Nathaniel Gumbs and Dr. Bruce Neswick on the Newberry Organ, Dr. John Paul McGee on keyboards, and by brass, percussion, guitars, and a gospel ensemble. View full details. The event is free and open to all. We look forward to seeing you there!
Speaker Biographies
The Rev. Dr. James A Forbes, Jr, is president of Healing of the Nations Ministries and the senior minister emeritus of the interdenominational Riverside Church in New York City. He was the first African American minister to lead the congregation, and he served it for 18 years. He was also the first Joe R. Engle Professor of Preaching at Union Theological Seminary in New York City where he taught homiletics for thirteen years. As a passionate educator, administrator, community and human rights activist, and interfaith leader, Dr. Forbes has twice been designated as one of America’s greatest Black preachers by Ebony magazine. The author of several books, Dr. Forbes is also a featured TEDx speaker and a frequent contributor to national media outlets.
The Rev. Dr. Barbara Brown Taylor is the New York Times bestselling author of “An Altar in the World”, “Learning to Walk in the Dark”, and “Holy Envy: Finding God in the Faith of Others.” She has been an Avon lady, a cocktail waitress, a horseback riding instructor, and a hospital chaplain, but her favorite job was teaching world religions at Piedmont College for twenty years before putting the chalk down in 2017. She now divides her time between writing, speaking, and caring for the land on which she lives. Barbara and her husband Ed tend a small farm in the foothills of the Appalachians.