Poets Among Our Alums: Mark Morrison-Reed
April is Poetry Month! To celebrate it this year, we want to lift up the poets among our alums. Meadville Theological School, Lombard College, and Meadville Lombard Theological School, all share a rich history of poetry. As part of Poetry Month, we asked our alums to submit recordings of them reading their poetry so you can not just read their words, but hear their voices. To find more poets among our alums, go to the MLTS Library's Poetry Month page.
Mark Morrison-Reed, DMin 1979, DD 2007
The Task of the Religious Community
The central task of the religious community is to unveil the bonds that bind each to all. There is a connectedness, a relationship discovered amid the particulars of our own lives and the lives of others. Once felt, it inspires us to act for justice.
It is the church that assures us that we are not struggling for justice on our own, but as members of a larger community. The religious community is essestial, for alone our vision is too narrow to see all that must be seen, and our strength too limited to do all that must be done. Together, our vision widens and our strength renewed.
[Readings #580, Singing the Living Tradition]
Rev. Dr. Mark Morrison-Reed
DMin 1979, DD 2007
Rev. Dr. Mark Morrison-Reed is regarded as the preeminent scholar of black Unitarian Universalist history. His books include "Black Pioneers in a White Denomination," "How Open the Door? Afro-Americans’ Experience in Unitarian Universalism," "Darkening the Doorways: Black Trailblazers and Missed Opportunities in Unitarian Universalism," "In Between, Voices from the Margins," "The Selma Awakening: How the Civil Rights Movement Tested and Changed Unitarian Universalism," and "Revisiting the Empowerment Controversy," all from Skinner House Books. Mark served as co-minister of Unitarian Universalists congregations in Rochester, New York, and Toronto with his wife, the Rev. Donna Morrison-Reed, also an alum, until 2005 when they retired. He taught at MLTS until his retirement in 2018.
