The 2025 Martin Luther King, Jr. Forum will feature leading theologians in a conversation on 'Where We Go From Here'.
The King & Faith Forum, serves as a vital platform for intellectual discourse and reflection on the enduring message and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This forum brings together a diverse community of scholars, theologians, activists, and the general public in a spirit of contemplation and dialogue.
Through engaging discussion, the King & Faith Forum delves into the intersection of faith, social justice, and Dr. King's teachings. It explores the profound influence of Dr. King's faith on his vision for civil rights and equality. Moreover, the forum examines how his message continues to resonate and inspire contemporary movements for justice and equity.
This gathering fosters an environment where ideas are exchanged, perspectives are broadened, and individuals are encouraged to carry forward Dr. King's legacy by promoting tolerance, inclusion, and the pursuit of a just society for all. The King & Faith Forum is a space where intellectual exploration meets the enduring spirit of hope and social change.
The 2026 service features three leading theologians. The Rev. Dr. Angela D. Sims, Ph.D. is the president of the Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School in Rochester, New York, the alma mater of Dr. King. And she is the 2026 president-elect of the American Academy of Religion. Dr. Sims is the author of Ethical Complications of Lynching; Ida B. Wells’s Interrogation of American Terror (New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2010) and co-editor of Womanist Theological Ethics: A Reader (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2011). Dr. Sims is a graduate (summa cum laude) of Washington, D.C.'s Trinity College and Howard University School of Divinity, where she was awarded her Master of Divinity degree. She received her Ph.D. from Union Presbyterian Seminary.1
Dr. Sylvester A. Johnson, Ph.D. is the department chair and professor of Black Studies at Northwestern University. He is also the co-founder and CEO of the Corporation of Public Interest Technology in Washington, D.C. As a leading theologian and technologist, whose work sits at the intersection of technical and humanistic stakeholders to advance more democratic, inclusive outcomes for an innovation-driven society, Dr. Johnson held the 2024 Klugey Chair in Technology and Society at the Library of Congress's Klugey Center. He is the author and editor of four books and the founding co-editor of the Journal of Africana Religions, and his current focus centers on a study of human identity in an age of intelligent machines and human-machine symbiosis. Dr. Johnson holds an undergraduate degree in chemistry from Florida A&M University and a Ph.D. in contemporary religious thought from Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York.2
The Rev. Canon Stephanie Spellers is one of the Episcopal Church’s leading thinkers around 21st-century ministry and mission. She is past canon to the Episcopal Church’s Presiding Bishop Michael Curry (ret.), with responsibility for guiding the entire denomination’s work on evangelism, racial justice, new ministry development and environmental stewardship. An honorary canon in the Diocese of New York, she currently serves as Canon in Residence at St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church. Canon Spellers's is the author of several books, with her latest work, Church Tomorrow?, presenting "hard truths about declining religious affiliation in America, paired with stories and wisdom from her interviews with dozens of young people who either grew up with no faith or gave up formal religion." Canon Spellers is a phi beta kappa graduate of Wake Forest University and the recipient of two Masters Degrees from Harvard Divinity School and the Episcopal Divinity School. She also holds an honorary doctorate degree from General Theological Seminary.3
The King & Faith Forum takes place annually following the Martin Luther King, Jr. Interfaith Evensong on Sunday afternoon before the Martin Luther King, Jr. federal holiday and is a partnership of the NorcalMLK Foundation, the Episcopal Diocese of California, and San Francisco's Grace Cathedral.
Watch the 2025 King & Faith Forum
NOTES:
1. See https://www.crcds.edu/meet-our-president.
2. See https://blackstudies.northwestern.edu/people/faculty/sylvester-johnson.html and https://www.cpitpbc.com/people/sylvester-johnson.
3. See https://stephaniespellers.com.
