The Villanova campus community is invited to join Campus Ministry for an evening of prayer and reflection, April 27, 7-8:15 p.m., with the song and spirit of Sr. Thea Bowman, FSPA. Presenters Rev. Naomi Washington-Leapheart and Michelle Sherman will guide participants through the story of Sr. Thea using examples of song, service, and struggle as she called the Church to address its institutionalized racism.

This event is co-sponsored with Falvey Memorial Library and is open to faculty, staff, and students.

Register at the Campus Ministry Retreats website or at this direct link. A Zoom link will be sent to you the day of the event.

Dig Deeper:

To learn about Thea Bowman, African American spirituality, biblical interpretation, and more, please check out the list of Falvey resources below.

• Stony the Road We Trod: African American Biblical Interpretation edited by Cain Hope Felder
• Daniel Rudd: Calling a Church to Justice  by Gary B. Agee * Online Version
• Let it Shine: The Emergence of African American Catholic Worship by Mary E. McGann RSCJ with Eva Marie Lumas SSS
• Taking Down our Harps: Black Catholics in the United States by Diana L. Hayes & Cyprian Davis
• Enfleshing Freedom: Body, Race, and Being by Shawn M. Copeland
• The Subversive Power of Love : The Vision of Henriette Delille by Shawn M. Copeland
• Knowing Christ Crucified: The Witness of African American Religious Experience by Shawn M. Copeland
• Black and Catholic: The Challenge and Gift of Black Folk: Contributions of African American Experience and Thought to Catholic Theology by Jamie T. Phelps
• Black, White, and Catholic: New Orleans Interracialism, 1947-1956 by R. Bentley Anderson
• Families, Black and Catholic, Catholic and Black: Readings, Resources, and Family Activities by Thea Bowman and the United States Catholic Conference. Commission on Marriage and Family Life
• The Black Church in the African-American Experience by Eric C.Lincoln and Lawrence H. Mamiya
• The Cross and the Lynching Tree by James H. Cone
• Fire in my Bones: Transcendence and the Holy Spirit in African American Gospel by Glenn Hinson
• Prophesying Daughters: Black Women Preachers and the Word, 1823-1913 by Chanta M. Haywood
• Forged in the Fiery Furnace : African American Spirituality by Diana Hayes
• Something Within: Religion in African-American Political Activism by Harris, Fredrick C.
• Dark Salutations: Ritual, God, and Greetings in the African American Community by Riggins Renal Earl
• What’s Faith Got to Do With It?: Black Bodies/Christian Souls by Kelly Brown Douglas
• Thea’s Song: The Life of Thea Bowman by Charlene Smith

For more information about student retreats offered by Campus Ministry, please check their webpage.

Regina Duffy is Communication and Marketing Program Manager at Falvey Memorial Library.