“As we explore the history of the ‘school of the prophets’ at Vanderbilt that goes back almost 100 years, one of the most exciting discoveries is that intersectional engagements of religion, race, and class were live from the beginning,” says Dr. Joerg Rieger, Distinguished Professor of Theology Cal Turner Chancellor’s Chair of Wesleyan Studies and Founding Director of the Wendland-Cook Program in Religion and Justice, “There is much to be learned for the intersectional challenges of the present age that some of us are calling the ‘Capitalocene,’ and for the next 100 years.”
This project examines the history of the social gospel in the South and will feature insights for current faith communities, connecting Vanderbilt Divinity School to the Nashville-area community and beyond. Audiences will be able to access the group’s research through a number of platforms including podcasts and academic publications.
"The social gospel isn't just a movement of the past. It's alive and well today in the cooperative and solidarity economy movements. Churches and movements can and are picking up this work,” states Rev. Dr. Aaron Stauffer, Associate Director of the Wendland-Cook Program in Religion and Justice and Director of Online Learning, “This grant will help tell the long story of this movement. It will help tell the often-forgotten story of how faith leaders and organizers built economic and political power against racial and economic injustice. More than focusing on what was, by telling this story we believe movements and congregations can play a part in building its future."
Various figures will serve as examples for this story. What makes them unique are not only intellectual and activist efforts but also the ways in which they were able to integrate cultural and religious sentiments of the South with progressive purposes and to link them to broader social movements. Among them is Dr. Alva Taylor, one of the leading voices in the Social Gospel movement. Arriving at Vanderbilt School of Religion in 1928 from Oberlin College, Taylor argued that Christian faith made no real sense apart from social engagement and worked to introduce students and the broader public to the more radical Jesus of the Social Gospel movement. Taylor’s impact is best seen in the work of his students. Claude Williams learned from Taylor that it was possible to read the Bible in solidarity with the poor and oppressed. An ordained Presbyterian minister, Williams spent more than 50 years toiling in and with the struggle for civil rights, the labor movement, and economic justice. He founded the prominent People’s Institute for Applied Religion and served as the director of Commonwealth College in Arkansas. Howard “Buck” Kester, another of Taylor’s students, came to realize that racial and economic justice could only be established in tandem. Kester organized labor and fought for racial justice through his involvement in organizations such as the YMCA, The Fellowship of Reconciliation, and the NAACP, testifying before Congress on behalf of anti-lynching legislation multiple times.
This history will be examined and told featuring insights for faith communities aiming to navigate contemporary challenges. In this form, it will be of interest to large audiences who can access it over a number of platforms, ranging from podcasts to academic publications. Religious and community leaders can draw inspiration from this history as well, connecting Vanderbilt Divinity School more profoundly to its constituencies.
