“Where are the wisdom warriors?” This was the question posed on 18 June, as the Queen’s Foundation opened its three-day racial justice conference titled Take Me to the Water: A Baptismal Pedagogy for Antiracist Theological Education. It was not a rhetorical question. It was a call—a challenge—to those of us who teach, preach, study, lead and embody the Christian faith to step into deeper, riskier waters. Some 40 delegates were welcomed by Queen’s Foundation’s Principal The Rt Revd Anne Hollinghurst, Dr Dulcie Mckenzie, Director of the Centre for Black Theology, and Dr Mabel Alkali, Postdoctoral Research Associate for the Church of England funded Racial Justice Project. Together, they opened a space for lament, courage, and theological reckoning.
The Prophetic Voice of Beckford
From the first lecture on Wednesday, June 18, Professor Robert Beckford set the tone with a provocative address titled “Why are we still talking about race? How can we stop talking about race?” Beckford’s lecture laid out the case for Black theological principles as the bedrock for anti-racist theological education. He wove together autobiographical narrative, socio-cultural critique, and documentary media to challenge attendees to view baptism as a radical immersion into justice and transformation. He spoke of the convivial society, challenging us to embody communities of radical hospitality and courage. Beckford reminded us that the water is not warm, but it is holy. And that the call to justice is not metaphorical—it is baptismal.
Relearning the Scriptures
Dr Mukti Barton followed with a searing critique of Christian supremacy and the theological deification of whiteness. She reminded us that justice is not peripheral to scripture but central—‘If you take out the word justice from the Bible, there would be hardly anything left.’ Barton called on us to reject mammonised forms of Christianity and recover the radical, justice-oriented spirit of the early church. She challenged us to re-read Scripture free from colonial assumptions and warned against tying our identities solely to biology or nationalism.
Pick Up Your Cross!
In a series of revolutionary sessions, Professor Randall Bailey captured the room with his direct and prophetic challenge: “Pick up your own damn cross!” Theology, he insisted, must be boundary-breaking and community-forming. We are not called to preserve comfort but to disrupt it. Bailey called us to let God show us new things, to move beyond fossilised theologies and into the work of justice-making. The cross, he argued, is not metaphorical—it is weighty, costly, and real.
Speaking Out and Standing In
Day Two expanded the conversation through lived experiences. Speakers including Dr Valentina Alexander, Dr Benda Munyurangabo, Dr Dulcie Mckenzie and Bishop Smitha Prasadam shared stories of navigating theological education while holding their dignity and hope. They reminded us that performative inclusivity is not progress, and silence is not neutrality. The testimonies were unsettling and deeply necessary.
Refuse to Die a Stranger to Yourself!
Revd Dr Starlette Thomas whose work: Take me to the waters the conference theme draws on, took us deeper still—into the embodied nature of resistance. Across multiple sessions, she dismantled race and whiteness as a theological structure, speaking powerfully of internalised self-hatred and the necessity of reclaiming one’s sacred identity. “Being created,” she reminded us, “is enough reason to belong.” Her sessions, interwoven with poetry and song, left many of us with a visceral understanding of what embodied freedom looks and feels like. Her refrain—‘ You are Somebody! and ‘Refuse to die a stranger to yourself’—was both pastoral and prophetic.
Baptism as Moral Courage
Throughout the conference, the metaphor of baptism was not softened but sharpened. To be baptised is not just to dip one’s feet in holy water, but to be fully submerged into a new way of being. It is a public declaration that we reject the spiritual cowardice of silence, the safety of performance, and the sin of complicity.
Delegates left the conference not only inspired but unsettled. They were invited to return to Galatians 3:27–28—“For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” What does it mean to be clothed in Christ in a world where racialised violence continues to shape theological institutions, hiring practices, and spiritual formation?
Carrying the Water Forward
As David Gibbs, a Queen’s Foundation student later reflected, “From the deep waters at Queen’s, something was birthed—urgent and holy but unfinished.” This was no ordinary academic gathering; it was a watershed moment, where voices were raised, truths embodied, and visions cast. Dr Mukti Barton challenged us to be rid of mammonic motives and trust God. Revd Dr Starlette sang, preached and moved. Professor Randall demanded bold action. Professor Robert Beckford reminded us to go beyond talk into structural disruption.
Throughout the conference, the metaphor of baptism became sharper based on the work “take me to the water” . Not a gentle cleansing but a dangerous, public immersion—a dying to old ways and rising into justice. Galatians 3:27–28 came alive in new ways: ‘For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.’ What does it mean to be clothed in Christ in institutions shaped by racialised exclusion?
We leave the waters changed. The haunting questions remain: So what? Now what? The answer, perhaps, is that we stand—beloved somebodies—on the edge of new waters. This work will stretch us. It will confront and comfort, disrupt and deliver. But we do not go alone. We go together. And we go with God.
‘The Spirit of the Lord God is upon somebodies…’
Authors:
- Dr Mabel Alkali: Postdoctoral research associate anti racist theological education, The Queen’s Foundation.
- David Gibbs: Doctoral Candidate, The Queen’s Foundation.
