O’Fallon church hosting Black History Month sermon & lecture series

Throughout February, New Life in Christ Church in O’Fallon will celebrate Black History Month with a sermon and lecture series that examines the current state of race relations within the United States.

The series, White Privilege/Black Pride – A Biblical Perspective, will feature nationally and locally known speakers who will provide their views on the topic each Sunday during the church’s 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. service and during its Wednesday evening service, which begins at 7 p.m.

Dr. Jamal Bryant, senior pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Atlanta and a social justice advocate who’s active in the Black Lives Matter movement, will be the first speaker Wednesday, Feb. 5.

The choirs from Friendly Temple Baptist Church and Central Baptist Church in St. Louis and The Impact Church in East St. Louis will also perform during the month’s various services.

The White Privilege/Black Pride lecture and sermon series will feature the following speakers:

• Sunday, Feb. 9: Bishop Geoffrey V. Dudley, Sr., senior pastor, New Life in Christ Church and founder of the O’Fallon chapter of the NAACP.
• Wednesday, Feb. 12: The Rev. Traci Blackmon, associate general minister of justice & local church ministries for the United Church of Christ and senior pastor of Christ the King United Church of Christ in Florissant, Missouri.
• Sunday, Feb. 16: The Rev. Dr. Starsky Wilson, president & CEO of the Deaconess Foundation, board chair for the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy and former co-chairman of the Ferguson Commission, an independent 16-member body appointed to address the social and economic conditions highlighted by protests following the shooting death of Michael Brown.
• Wednesday, Feb. 19: Minister Geoffrey Dudley II, young adult pastor, New Life in Christ Church.
• Sunday, Feb. 23: Bishop Geoffrey V. Dudley, Sr., senior pastor, New Life in Christ Church.
• Wednesday, Feb. 26: The Rev. Dr. William Barber, II, national board member of the NAACP and senior pastor, Greenleaf Christian Church, Goldsboro, North Carolina.

New Life in Christ Church is located at 689 Scott Troy Road, O’Fallon. For more information, call 618-632-6542 or visit www.nlinic.org.