Timothy Tyson Speaking at St. John’s MCC August 28^th
Civil-Rights Activist, Author, and Theologian Offers a Glimpse into His Forthcoming Book

Timothy Tyson, Ph.D.

RALEIGH, N.C. (August 22, 2011) - St. John’s Metropolitan Community Church of Raleigh (www.StJohnsMCC.org), a church for all people founded on the “whosoever” principal in 1976, announces today that Timothy Tyson author of “Blood Done Sign My Name” will be preaching at the 11 a.m. service on August 28, 2011. Tyson’s sermon shares insights from his forthcoming book “Teaching the Dog to Say Grace.” The church is located at 805 Glenwood Avenue in Raleigh, North Carolina and all services are open to the public.

Tyson is a senior scholar at the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University, as well as a faculty member at both Duke Divinity School and UNC Chapel Hill. He serves on the executive board of the North Carolina NAACP, the UNC Law School’s Center for Civil Rights, and the John Hope Franklin Center for Reconciliation.

“St. John’s MCC and the Metropolitan Community Churches have stood on the civil-rights frontlines for more than 40 years,” says Reverend B. Y. Boone, Senior Pastor of St. John’s MCC. “Tyson’s work serves to remind us of how far we have come and how far we still have to go in creating a society of equality, mutuality, and radical inclusivity.”

Tyson’s work includes contributing to “Raleigh’s Roots” by collecting oral histories that documented Wake County’s historic African American communities like Oberlin, Method, and Smoky Hollow. He is the author of “Radio Free Dixie: Robert F. Williams and the Roots of Black Power,” “Democracy Betrayed: The Wilmington Race Riot of 1898 and Its Legacy,” as well as “Blood Done Sign My Name.” Tyson also served as executive producer of “The Parchman Hour,” a play about the 1961 Freedom Rides. The play will be performed at the Paul Green Theater in Chapel Hill, North Carolina from October 26 to November 13, 2011.

St. John’s core tenet states, “We all are God’s beloved, deeply loved, richly gifted, highly favored, and abundantly blessed.” The church provides facilities for multiple 12-step groups, as well as HIV/STD testing by Wake County Human Services. The community regularly provides food for the citizens that call Moore Square their home. Tyson sermon will act as a motivator for the church’s second annual “Faith in Action” community service program to be held later this fall.

With worship services at 8:45 a.m. and 11 a.m. on Sundays, St. John’s offers two different styles of Christian worship experience. The 11 a.m. service, at which Tyson will be speaking, includes the singing of praise and worship songs, a time of healing and anointing, as well as open communion available to any and all who wish to partake. Seating for the service is first-come-first-serve and additional parking is available at Partnership Elementary.

About St John’s MCC:
St. John’s Metropolitan Community Church began as a small group of individuals who came together on the last Sunday in February, 1976, to study The Gospel of John. Facilitated by former Baptist pastor and Southeastern Baptist Seminary Graduate, Rev. Willie White and his partner Robert Pace, by June of 1976 the group voted to affiliate with the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches. In August of 2001, St. John’s called The Rev. B. Boone to serve as its fourth Pastor. Committed to “find them, bring them in, grow them up, and send them out,” by empowering parishioners to “Live OUT Loud in our worship, our work and our witness, Rev. Boone is leading St. John’s into a new vision for ministry in, with and among God’s people. For more information visit www.StJohnsMCC.org, or call (919) 834-2611.