Syndicated columnist Rev. Byron Williams to speak at SFTS

Rev. Byron Williams will be a guest lecturer at San Francisco Theological Seminary on Tuesday, May 10, from 2-5 p.m. as part of the Church History course being taught by Rev. Dr. James Noel. The title of Williams' lecture, which is open to the public, is "1963: A Year of Hope & Hostility."

Williams has served as pastor of the Resurrection Community Church in Oakland since 2002. He writes a twice-weekly social/political column for the Bay Area News Group, which includes the Oakland Tribune, San Jose Mercury News and Contra Costa Times. His column appears in 30 publications and several progressive web sites across the country.

In addition, Williams has had articles appear in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Atlanta Journal Constitution, Los Angeles Daily News, Christianity Today, UK Guardian, Tikkun Magazine and Public Theology.

Rev. Dr. J. Alfred Smith, Sr. of Allen Temple Baptist Church calls Williams “the Reinhold Niebuhr of his day.” Williams' forthcoming book projects include Inconvenient Love: African American Clergy and Theologians in support of LGBT Rights and 1963: A Year of Hope and Hostility.

Among the luminaries Williams has interviewed  are former speechwriter to President Kennedy, Ted Sorenson, former presidential candidate John Kerry, Senator Ted Kennedy, Senator Joe Biden, Princeton professor Cornel West, social critic Michael Eric Dyson, former Chief of the CIA Counterterrorist Center’s bin Laden Unit Michael Scheuer and writer/poet Maya Angelou.

Williams is the author of Strip Mall Patriotism: Moral Reflections of the Iraq War, a series of essays covering a four-year span on America's enterprise in Iraq. The book contains 240 biographical entries on individuals who work in the various news media outlets.

Additionally, several of his articles are featured in college textbooks for writing students. For the second consecutive year Williams' work was nationally recognized when was nominated by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) as "Columnist of the Year." In 2011, his column was considered for a Pulitzer Prize.

Williams has spoken throughout the country, and has appeared on numerous television and radio news programs, including CNN, ABC Radio, Fox News and National Public Radio. He recently appeared on MSNBC's "Debating the Black Agenda." 

He is a contributor to The Huffington Post, serves as a member of People for the American Way's African American Religious Affairs and is religious co-chair for the National Black Justice Coalition.  

After earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science, Williams earned his master’s degree Pacific School of Religion of the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. His thesis emphasized a theology of liberation. 

The lecture will take place in Scott Hall on the SFTS campus in San Anselmo.