The Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II is the President and Senior Lecturer of Repairers of the Breach; and other initatives, delivered his final sermon in Goldsboro, North Carolina as the pastor of Greenleaf Christian Church as he retired after 30 years.
In a news release, the church said, “He is dedicating his next season to continuing to build a moral movement that can redeem the heart and soul of this nation, usher in a third reconstruction, and, through his role as founding director of the recently established Yale Center for Public Theology and Public Policy, train a new generation of moral leaders to be active participants in creating a just society.”
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The release also said that Barber plans to remain engaged in his civil rights work.
Barber spoke during the sermon of his physical limitations from ankylosing spondylitis, a form of arthritis which causes inflammation in the joints and ligaments of the spine.
“I have no reason to be standing here but by the grace of God,” Barber said in his retirement sermon at the church on Sunday.
In 1993, Barber joined Greenleaf Christian Church in Goldsboro, and over the next three decades, he became renowned for his work addressing issues such as poverty, inequality, and racism. Over those years, he’s served as 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,
He also served as president of the North Carolina NAACP from 2005 until 2017. He has at several times called for “nonviolent direct action” in the form of protest to fight against legislation he opposed.
Barber’s Forward Together Moral Movement gained national acclaim through its weekly Moral Monday protests that attracted thousands to the North Carolina General Assembly in 2013, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
President Joe Biden delivered a message via video during the retirement banquet last week.
“Thank you for showing all of us how to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly. I’ll never forget your homily at my inaugural prayer service when you called on us to be repairers of the breach and heal the soul of the nation,” President Biden said in his video message, according to a news release from Greenleaf Christian Church.
