July 19 2015 “The Gospel According to Nina Simone: A New Dawn, A new Day”

Yani Davis is the daughter of a Presbyterian Minister and a Student at San Francisco Theological Seminary, starting the final year of her Master of Divinity degree. In this sermon, she asks if the new media focus on race, law enforcement and economics represents a genuine, lasting step-up in the public dialogue on social justice.  And, she challenges us to imagine how church communities like ours could lead — and live — this change.

She closed by noting that this vision for all of us has been celebrated in Black churches for over 100 years in James Weldon Johnson’s great hymn of hope and affirmation.