Love without action cannot heal. Love without justice cannot last. Join us September 20th as we gather across traditions to breathe new life into love itself. Together, we will explore how love can be reimagined as a force that liberates, heals, and reconciles, a love that refuses to leave anyone behind.
This is not just an event. It is a convocation of the beloved, united by the belief that love, when reimagined, has the power to transform our communities and our world.
Meet Our 2025 Speakers
Join us for an enlightening discussion with renowned faith leaders who will present transformative theological interpretations. Delve into the complexities and possibilities that faith communities face as they navigate a 'new world order,' confronting the persistent legacies of colonialism and the negative impact of oppresive theologies.
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Rev. Eldritch is an interfaith minister and community organizer. For the past forty years, Eldritch has helped organize, energize and inspire a variety of effective federal programs, community events and interfaith sessions. Eldritch writes articles, music, liturgy and rituals that inspire community cohesion.
Eldritch retired after working for thirty years managing accessibility and diversity programs within the Library of Congress in Washington, DC. He continues co-coordinating projects with the Faith Institute (within the National LGBTQ Task Force) within Center Faith, LGBTQ Interfaith Services (within the DC Center for the LGBTQ Community). Center Faith provides interfaith referrals and coordinates the annual Washington, DC Pride Interfaith Service (now celebrating its 43rd year). One hallmark of his ministry was serving on the planning team for “A Prayer for Love and Justice!” – a stunning sunrise interfaith service — held at 7am on March 26th, 2013 the morning the Supreme Court began oral arguments on Marriage Equality.
Rev. Eldritch is ordained as a Pagan minister with Circle Sanctuary (a Nature Spirituality church based near Madison, Wisconsin). He is a co-administrator and instructor for Circle’s Ministry Training Program. Eldritch designs ceremonies for Circle’s annual Pagan Spirit Gathering, and teaches in the Pagan Leadership Institute.
Originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Eldritch has lived in the Washington, DC area for the past 40 years. Eldritch lives in College Park, MD with his husbands Twist and Arden.
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Rev. Peter M. Wherry, D.Min., Ph.D., since 2007, has been the Lead Pastor of The Field Charlotte (Mayfield Memorial Missionary Baptist Church), a visionary community of faith committed to holistic and justice-centered ministry in Charlotte, North Carolina. He is also the inaugural Director of the Doctor of Ministry Program at the historic Howard University School of Divinity in Washington, D.C., where he guides a new generation of scholar-practitioners.
Dr. Wherry has earned recognition as a gifted preacher and teacher, serving in faculty roles at some of the nation's leading theological institutions. His past teaching assignments include Christian Theological Seminary, where he taught homiletics in the Ph.D. program in African American Sacred Rhetoric; Wake Forest University School of Divinity; and the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union University, where he taught Baptist History and Ethics. At Union Presbyterian Seminary, where Dr. Wherry serves as a trustee, he recently taught “Awakening the Church to Social Justice” in their Center for Social Justice and Reconciliation. He has also taught and lectured at Hood Theological Seminary, Regent University, and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Dr. Wherry was recently inducted into the Bishop Alfred G. Dunston College of Preachers, Lecturers, and Scholars, an honor conferred upon him by the A.M.E. Zion Church.
As a scholar and advocate, Dr. Wherry has made a significant impact on the intersection of faith and social/biblical justice. A founding former Moderator of the United Missionary Baptist Association, he once led more than 70 congregations comprising over 40,000 constituents. He was one of the earliest foot soldiers of the Forward Together Moral Movement, under the leadership of Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II.
His ministry has been marked by global reach, having preached and taught across the United States, as well as in Haiti, South Africa, Greece, El Salvador, Burundi, and Zambia. He has been a featured preacher at the Yale Divinity School, where he shared facilitation duties with award-winning Gospel artist Lisa Page-Brooks and multiple Grammy Award winner Kirk Franklin. Dr. Wherry was the noonday mainstage preacher, to wide acclaim, at the centennial celebration of the Hampton University Ministers Conference,
Dr. Wherry is also a prolific author. His published works include Preaching Funerals in the Black Church: Bringing Perspective to Pain (Judson Press) and a groundbreaking devotional co-authored with his wife, Dr. Wanda H. Wherry, titled A Door of Hope: A Devotional with Sermons and Songs of Hope. His work in collaboration with scholars such as Dr. Rodney S. Sadler Jr. and Dr. William Turner produced “The Forward Together Lectionary,” equipping clergy to preach prophetically for social transformation. He is also a contributing author in the soon-to-be-released anthology, The Sound of the Genuine, edited by Dr. Frank Thomas.
Married for 45 years (June 2025), he and Dr. Wanda H. Wherry are the proud parents of two adult children, Justin and Bethany, and the joyful grandparents of Amaya, Michael, Marco III, and Saniyah. His ministry continues to inspire, teach, and equip leaders in the church and the academy.
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Rev. (Elder) Carmarion D. Anderson-Harvey is an ordained minister, pioneering leader, and passionate advocate for marginalized communities. She is the former Alabama State Director with the Human Rights Campaign in Washington, DC, where she made history as the first transgender person of color to serve in a senior leadership role in the organization’s history.
A steadfast champion for equality, Rev. Carmarion has helped shape local, state, and national policy, including through strong engagements with the White House. Her nationally recognized work advances justice, inclusion, and access to respectful, culturally competent outcomes.
As a dynamic public educator and speaker, she has been featured on numerous platforms—including documentaries, national publications, and media engagements—to raise awareness and drive transformative change. Rev. Carmarion’s lived experience and ministry call have been highlighted on CNN’s United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell and in an Emmy Award–winning interview with Dyllon Burnside, featured in the Prideland documentary.
She is ordained through The Fellowship of Affirming Ministries (TFAM). She is a Committee on Ministry (COM) Privilege-of-Call candidate with the Southeast Conference of the United Church of Christ. Rev. Carmarion currently serves as an Associate with First Congregational Church, United Church of Christ, in Birmingham, Alabama, and was recently named Minister for Congregational Leadership with the Faith INFO Team on the United Church of Christ National Ministries Staff.
Originally from Dallas, Texas, with deep family roots in Natchez, Mississippi, Rev. Carmarion is a proud mother and grandmother. Her unwavering commitment to inclusion and social justice reflects her calling to help create a more just, loving, and equitable world for all.
Past Speakers
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Jé Exodus Hooper (they/them) is a multifaceted individual who has dedicated over eight years to the Ethical Culture and Congregational Humanist Movements, while also instructing performance theory at Ohio University School of Theater. They embody the role of arts and cultural community curator, clergy, and scholar. Dr. Hooper's activism intertwines with aesthetics, ethics, and community-based performance, positioning them as a neo-mannerist within the Humanist spectrum, aiming to expand our understanding beyond conventional boundaries. Their work delves into the margins, encouraging us to engage with wonder, transcending typical Humanist paradigms and embracing the complexities of self and the world.
With a prolific body of work, Dr. Hooper's influence extends through various platforms, including articles like UU World Magazine's Spring 2022 edition and productions like the film "Humanitas: A Conscious Coloring of Kindness." Their exploration encompasses diverse topics such as queer identities, race, art, and organizational practices. Beyond academic confines, they thrive in digital spaces, artivism, and preaching stages, striving to create a space for all voices. Dr. Hooper's call to authenticity and their commitment to reimagining narratives underscore their mission to honor the inherent worth and dignity within every individual, shaping a narrative of unity and empathy.
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The Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II (he/him) is the President and Senior Lecturer of Repairers of the Breach; Co-Chair of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival; Bishop with The Fellowship of Affirming Ministries; Visiting Professor at Union Theological Seminary; and Senior Fellow at Auburn Seminary. For more than a quarter century, he has pastored the Greenleaf Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Goldsboro, North Carolina. Since Rev. Dr. Barber began his ministry at Greenleaf 29 years ago, the church has sponsored efforts that have led to more than $12 million of community development, in addition to welcoming all into the body of Christ.
He is the author of four books: We Are Called To Be A Movement; Revive Us Again: Vision and Action in Moral Organizing; The Third Reconstruction: Moral Mondays, Fusion Politics, and The Rise of a New Justice Movement; and Forward Together: A Moral Message For The Nation.
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Rev. Angela Tyler-Williams (she/her) is Co-Director for Movement Building at SACReD (Spiritual Alliance of Communities for Reproductive Dignity). Angela is a queer pastor ordained by the Presbyterian Church (USA) into her call to engage people of faith to speak publicly and politically in support of reproductive health, rights, and justice along with LGBTQIA+ equality. Angela holds a Master of Divinity from Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. The Center for American Progress named Angela as one of the 22 Faith Leaders to Watch in 2022. Angela learned about faith-based community organizing and building people power to create positive social change from the Industrial Areas Foundation.
She finds life in experiencing music, listening to podcasts, exploring creation, and engaging in theological discussions that go off the beaten path. She and her wife Adelyn live with Mouse, the cat, in Washington D.C.
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Roberto Che Espinoza, Ph.D. (he/him) has been described in a myriad of ways: a scholar-activist, scholar-leader, thought-leader, teacher, public theologian, ethicist, poet of moral reason, and word artist. Among these ways of describing Dr. Espinoza, they are also a visionary thinker who has spent two decades working in the borderlands of church, academy, and movements seeking to not only disrupt but dismantle supremacy culture by focusing his Ph.D. studies on new concepts of being and becoming, decolonizing knowledge production, and bridging with radical difference. Dr. Espinoza is the founder of the Activist Theology Project, a Nashville-based collaborative project that seeks to work with the dominant culture and produces curriculum at the intersection of scholarship and activism. Activist theology as a disciplinary off-shoot of liberation theology and movement has been incubating since 2008 with Dr. Espinoza and further developed throughout their doctoral program and engagement with movement leaders. Dr. Espinoza writes and creates both academic and other valuable resources, including digital resources. Dr. Espinoza is a non-binary transqueer Latinx who calls Nashville, Tenn. home. He is the author of Activist Theology, 2019, published by Fortress Press and the forthcoming book Becoming Bodied.
Our Liberating Theologies’ Speaker Series features both emerging and established theologians who share their radical, culture-shifting theological interpretations and perspectives. Join us as we explore the challenges and opportunities of international communities-of-faith as a “new world order” emerges in the face of continued colonial, white supremacist legislation and violence.
Presented in partnership with Union Theological Seminary, this event is an extension of The Freedom Center for Social Justice’s “Do No Harm” initiative, which works with people of faith and the broader community in North Carolina to shift culture and narratives that cause harm through the interpretation of Holy Text and other religious writing.
Liberating Theologies captures the spirit of our work — it brings the community together to explore and discuss ideas that have the potential to change the ways people think, which in-turn changes the way people act and the way we relate to one another. It is about reawakening the radical activist in each of us and equipping people with perspectives that have the power to change minds, hearts, and policies. Liberating Theologies belongs to our Faith-Based Organizing body of work and provides an opportunity for people to question religious narratives and ideas that have been used to oppress people and to explore perspectives that affirm the dignity and humanity of all.
Sponsorship Opportunities: If you are a part of an organization that would like to make a bold statement about the importance of restorative justice for those in the LGBTQIA+ community who have been religiously ostracized, please consider becoming an event sponsor!