Guest Preacher: The Rev'd Traci Blackmon

We welcome the Rev'd Traci Blackmon, Executive Minister of Justice and Witness Ministries for the United Church of Christ and Senior Pastor of Christ the King United Church of Christ in Florissant, MO, as part of the Michael B. Curry Distinguished Preachers Series. 

Initially ordained in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Rev. Blackmon served in various ministry capacities for nine years before being ordained in the UCC and installed as the first woman and 18th pastor in the 159-year history of Christ the King UCC. A registered nurse with more than 25 years of healthcare experience, Rev. Blackmon's clinical focus was cardiac care. In later years, her focus shifted to mobile healthcare in underserved communities, with the greatest health disparities being in her revion. As pastor, the Rev. Blackmon leads Christ the King in an expanded understanding of church as a sacred launching pad of community engagement and change.

On Saturday evening, join us in Kempton Hall for a lecture and Q&A by Rev'd Traci Blackmon, focusing on the Power of Hope in Troubling Times.  See here for more information: https://www.trinity-episcopal.org/events-1/lecture-the-power-of-hope-in-troubling-times 

About the Michael B. Curry Distinguished Preachers Series

Trinity Cathedral is pleased to announce the formation of a new preaching series featuring the leading prophets and preachers of our age. Named in honor of our Presiding Bishop, this series is made possible by a gift from the estate of Trinity’s longtime historian and faithful prophet, Professor Ann Weikel, the first woman to receive tenure in the History Department at Portland State University.

About the Rev'd Blackmon

Rev. Traci Blackmon is Associate General Minister of Justice and Local Church Ministries for the United Church of Christ, a denomination inspired by God’s grace to welcome all, love all, and seek justice for all through God-centered action, Christ -driven connection, and Spirit- led leadership. As a public theologian, Rev. Blackmon’s voice is featured on many local, national, and international platforms spanning the breadth of the White House to the Carter Center to the Vatican, as well as several documentaries and print publications. She currently serves as pastor in residence for Eden Theological Seminary in Webster Groves, MO.

From 2009 through 2020, Rev. Blackmon served as pastor of Christ the King United Church of Christ in St. Louis, MO, a position she retired from to serve the wider church fully. The ministries of the church expanded under her leadership as well, serving as a sacred launchpad for communal engagement. After the police killing of Michael Brown, Jr., Christ The King hosted the first community-led town hall meeting and dialogue with law enforcement and elected officials. The church led several other mobilization efforts and healing spaces during the Ferguson uprising.

From 2000 through 2014, she also worked as a registered nurse in the city. Under her healthcare leadership, a community based mobile health unit was established engaging thousands of residents annually and providing a culturally attuned access point to heath care in underserved and uninsured communities.

President Barack Obama appointed Rev. Blackmon to the President's Advisory Council on Faith-Based Neighborhood Partnerships for the White House and awarded her special recognition as a presidential volunteer for her community service. She was also appointed to the Ferguson Commission by Governor Jay Nixon and led the criminal justice reform task force featured in the ‘Forward Through Ferguson: A Path Toward Racial Equity ’Report, calling for sweeping changes in policing, the courts, child well-being and economic mobility in 2015.

Rev. Blackmon is the co-author of The White Privilege Curriculum for the United Church of Christ , and is a prominent voice in the PBS Special; The Black Church, and is featured in several print publications. She currently serves on the board of the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference. She is a recipient of the NAACP Rosa Parks Award; the Hannah G. Solomon Founder's Award from the National Council of Jewish Women, the National Planned Parenthood Faith Leader Award, and The Urban League of St. Louis Woman in Leadership Award, to name a few. She is listed as one of Ebony Magazine’s Power 100, the St. Louis American’s Citizen of the Year, and one of the 15 Faith Leaders to watch in 2020 by The Center for American Progress.

Speaking engagements include the World Council of Churches, the National Council of Churches, the Pontifical Council, the United Nations, Global Women’s Forum at the Carter Center, the Festival of Homiletics, the United Reformed Church, SURRENDER Conferences of Australia.

Rev. Blackmon earned a bachelor of science degree in nursing from Birmingham-Southern College where she is listed among Distinguished Alumni, a Master of Divinity degree and honorary Doctor of Ministry from Eden Theological Seminary. She is a graduate of Leadership St. Louis and is listed as one of St. Louis’ 100 most influential voices. Rev. Blackmon was inducted into the 33rd Martin Luther King Jr. Board of Preachers of Morehouse College. Rev. Blackmon currently resides in St. Louis, MO.

Until the lion tells the story, the hunter will always be the hero.

— West African Proverb

"I speak from the chorus of lions. And we are many!" 

— Rev. Traci D. Blackmon

Follow Rev. Blackmon’s ministry at:

http://twitter.com/pastortraci

https://www.facebook.com/traci.blackmon