CHRISTOPHER PAUL MOMANY
ABOUT ME
I was born in Benton Harbor, Michigan and very early in life learned that all people possess an intrinsic worth. This truth shapes everything about my writing and speaking. I am the author of many academic articles and popular commentaries, along with three books. I combine a deep interest in the history of the abolitionist movement and contemporary ethics. My style is both substantive and engaging.
https://www.umnews.org/en/news/wesleyan-theology-demands-that-we-be-antiracist
EDUCATION
Doctor of Ministry, Drew University, 1992
Master of Divinity, Princeton Theological Seminary, 1987
Bachelor of Arts, Adrian College, 1984
HISTORY COMES ALIVE
Some think history is one dusty fact after another. Not so. Stories of courage and justice, in particular, have much to teach us. Many of these stories remain untold and are waiting for us to hear them.
In 2015 I identified the author of a long-lost, handwritten journal. The writer, David Stedman Ingraham, was an abolitionist missionary to Jamaica in the 1830s and 1840s The twenty-fourth page of this journal features a sketch of the slave brig Ulysses and a detailed description of the conditions endured during a fifty day voyage from West Africa. Ingraham cried out: "How long, O Lord?" How long, indeed! Today an international team of twelve scholars is studying this document and its story to find ways forward in the critical work of racial justice. Our team is named the Dialogue on Race and Faith.
https://michiganumc.org/a-forgotten-journal-an-unforgettable-trip/
Members of the Dialogue on Race and Faith Meet in Oberlin, Ohio,
Sketch of Brig Ulysses, Used for Transporting Enslaved People from West Africa,
David Ingraham Journal, 1839
https://www.historiansagainstslavery.org/main/2015/11/the-art-of-hearing-to-speech-by-momany/
LET’S CONNECT
269-462-5317
PROGRAMS AND PRESENTATIONS
"For Each and All: America's Constitution and the Antislavery Movement" ~ Historians typically think that those who supported the Constitution before the Civil War supported slavery and those who resisted slavery neglected the Constitution. However, there was a lively movement to embrace the Constitution as an antislavery charter for freedom.
"Hearing to Speech: How Teaching Overlooked History Can Give People Voice Today" ~ When we listen to neglected stories of courage from history we open ourselves to new possibilities for the future.
"The Challenge of Discovery: How 'Finding' History Calls us to Listen" ~ In 2015, people at Adrian College "discovered" the journal of antislavery missionary to Jamaica, David Stedman Ingraham. How does this find call us to hear those who were enslaved? How does this discovery offer both truth and hope for justice today?
Day of Healing - Nationwide Bell Ringing Ceremony
August 25, 2019 was the 400th anniversary of the first landing of enslaved Africans in English-occupied North America at Point Comfort in Hampton, Virginia.
This heavy anniversary demanded that we pause and remember those who suffered. It also called us to confront the meaning of this history for our future.
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