On Wednesday, May 17, Seattle Pacific University’s School of Theology and Seminary hosted a gathering of pastors, leaders, and students from the Wesleyan Holiness tradition for WHC-SPU Pastors and Church Leaders Day, representing ministries across the country, for a time of fellowship, worship, and mutual encouragement.

As the day’s concluding plenary speaker, Dr. Salter McNeil took the stage in Upper Gwinn on SPU’s campus to offer a message on the topic of reconciliation. Dr. Brenda Salter McNeil, Associate Professor of Reconciliation Studies at Seattle Pacific University, is a renowned author and highly sought after speaker and preacher. She is an ordained clergy person in the Evangelical Covenant Church, with more than 25 years of experience in the field of racial, ethnic, and gender reconciliation.

In honor of Juneteenth, we invite you to watch a portion of Dr. Salter McNeil’s message in this YouTube clip, starting at the 4:10 minute mark.

“God is doing a new thing, and God is falling on people we did not imagine could be the recipients of the anointing of God,” Dr. Salter McNeil preached, reflecting on the story of the early church in the Book of Acts.

In her moving message, Dr. Salter McNeil invites those gathered (and attending online) to move from merely thinking or talking about reconciliation to embodying reconciliation in their own local neighborhoods and communities.

“God wants us to build bridges and cross barriers and embody what it looks like that every human being is made in the image of God, no exceptions!”

In recognition of Juneteenth and considering Jesus’s words from Luke 4:18 (NRSV)—“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed…”—what might it look like to live into this message of reconciliation in your heart? In your workplace? in your community?

Where are the places of captivity and poverty in your community that are heavy on your heart? How might God be inviting you to respond?

Alternatively, how are you already faithfully and practically embodying Jesus’ message of reconciliation in your own place of work or neighborhood? Let us know at cfb@spu.edu. We would appreciate hearing from you!