Raised during the Civil Rights Movement, Rev. Dr. Velda R. Love is deeply rooted in the Black Church. She has been a prophetic womanist voice for social justice both in Academia and in Church leadership. Before joining the United Church of Christ staff, she served for 16 years as the director of Intercultural Learning and Justice at North Park University in Chicago. She spent nine years at North Park Theological Seminary in Chicago as an adjunct professor and conference speaker. Currently, she serves the National Ministries of the United Church of Christ as the Minister for Racial Justice and Lead for Join the Movement toward Racial Justice.
Her racial justice work includes developing anti-racism curricula, training clergy, denominational leaders and laypersons. Her work centers on Restorative Justice, addressing historical and contemporary injustice resulting in systemic, structural, and individual racism impacting local communities, and national and global policies and practices. Dr. Love invites people into being advocates for racial justice in the Christian Church and society. Her culture-centered historical and contemporary education workshops include Decoding the Doctrine of Discovery, Decolonizing the Christian Church, Eradicating the Myth of Race, Healing Practices for Staying Human, Uprooting Internalized, Systemic, and Institutional Racism, Embodied Spirituality, and Liberating Theologies-Black Liberation and Womanist.
Education
2006 – Master of Arts in Theological Studies North Park Theological Seminary, Chicago, IL
Social Justice and Public Theology
MA Thesis: Reclaiming the Spirit of God in Womanist Theology
2016 – Doctor of Ministry Chicago Theological Seminary, Chicago, IL
African Centered Pedgogy and Social Transformation
Doctoral Dissertation: Cultural Immersion as a Pedagogical Tool to End Racism