On Sunday Rev. William Barber preached his final sermon at Greenleaf Christian Church in Goldsboro, NC. Despite having a disease that caused severe arthritis he continued to fight for civil rights and social justice, reviving Dr. Martin Juther King's Poor People's campaign. Rev. Barber, 59 is leaving the pulpit to focus on his health. He also was a previous president of the local NAACP Barber served as president of the NAACP's North Carolina state chapter, the largest in the Southern United States and the second-largest in the United States. He fought vigorously against poverty and racism. Social Justice melded into morla messages from his sermons.
During the divided political climate where the messaging of the Christian evangelicals became deeply polarizing he said the nationalists among them were spreading heresy.
Christian nationalism attempts to sanctify oppression and not liberation. It attempts to sanctify lies and not truth. At best it’s a form of theological malpractice. At worst, it’s a form of heresy.
Rev. William J. Barber II
In his last sermon he noted Juneteenth was not the cause de celebre it is projected to be. It "Juneteenth should be the time that you really ask the question, 'How much more will you fight for truth when people have lied to you and stolen from you?'" he said.
Rev. Barber will continue to teach at the Yale Divinity School.
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