Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II will direct new Center at Yale Divinity School

Dear Repairers of the Breach Family,

Today, Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, our founder and president, announced the establishment of the new Center for Public Theology and Public Policy at Yale Divinity School. Dr. Barber will be the founding director of the new Center and join the faculty of the Divinity School as Professor in the Practice of Public Theology and Public Policy. The Center will focus its work on the intersection of theology, social justice, and public policy. This endeavor is a continuation and institutionalization of Rev. Barber’s decades-long moral movement-building work that grows out of his understanding of theology and practice of public ministry. 

Photo Credit: Bryan Woolston/AP

The Center will teach and train students to examine the relationship between conventional religious study and practice and their theologically-based moral requirement to care for “the least of these” who face poverty, injustices, and oppression in their everyday lives. The Center is built on the fundamental idea that theology is not an isolated practice and that, at its very core, it obligates us to address and challenge the things that adversely impact people’s lives. Through the Center, students will have the opportunity to participate in social justice movements and to study and learn directly from clergy and pastors who do social justice work as an integral part of their pastoral obligations.  

The Center will also be a collaborative space for scholars, advocates, researchers, economists, and activists to come together to engage in critical research seeking policy solutions to respond to the injustices that plague our nation and to examine the moral framework and underpinning for the country’s most significant civil and human rights movements.  

The Center will build bridges beyond the Yale Divinity School to include students at the Yale Law School and undergraduate students at Yale College. It will develop a foundational partnership with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) in the U.S. South that will create opportunities and pathways for students to meaningfully engage with the Center and with Yale University. 

The creation of the Center for Public Theology and Public Policy grows out of and is a testament to the powerful work we have done together since 2015. For all these years, we in Repairers of the Breach, have worked to build a more just society for all people, especially “the least of these.” We have been successful in ushering in social change in the streets, suites, courtrooms, and ballot boxes. We are building a strong fusion movement.

Photo Credit: Steve Pavey & Kevin A. Smith 

All our work has been guided by a moral framework that is built on our collective understanding that our movement must be rooted in moral values that can change the soul of America. We have seen the value of our commitment to moral analysis, moral articulation, and moral activism. Now through the Center, we have an opportunity to institutionalize the work we have been doing. The Center is an opportunity to share our movement’s ideology, methodology, and lessons with untold numbers of divinity students and new and young activists. The Center reflects our collective work and intention to build a social justice movement in this country.  

The Center for Public Theology and Public Policy is a new and important addition to our movement-building capacity. It is not a replacement for the work we must continue to do together. Dr. Barber will continue to serve as founding president of Repairers of the Breach and co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival.  We look forward to continuing our collective social justice work across this country that makes the Center for Public Theology and Public Policy possible.

To learn more about our work: https://theologyandpolicy.yale.edu/

Forward Together, Not One Step Back!

Repairers of the Breach Team