Religious Affairs

The Religious Affairs Committee shall include ministerial and lay religious leaders who are members of the Unit. The committee:

Promotes an educational program designed to give moral and ethical interpretation to the civil rights struggle;
Interprets the work of the Association to organized religious groups of all faiths;
Enlists the support of such organized religious groups for membership, fundraising, and thestruggle for equality and full civil rights; and
Provides resource assistance for religious education and social action activities associated with the improvement of race relations.

Meetings

2nd Thursday of the month, 9 AM- 10 AM, usually held in-person at Greater Mount Zion Holy Church, 385 Depot St. NE, Christiansburg, VA 24073. ALL ARE WELCOME. Virtual option being arranged.

The committee is interested in meeting at other predominantly Black churches in the area. Please let us know if you can host us.

Members

Rev. Mike Sanborn (Co-Chair), Dr. Dilip Nair (Co-Chair), Ms. Debbie Travis (Branch President, ex-officio), Ms. Shirley Akers (Branch Secretary, ex-officio), Rev. Dr. Linda Dickerson, Rev. Jessie Eaves, Ms. Diane Hearn, Mr. Reed Kennedy, Rev.Tommy McDearis, Rev. Pam Philips, Dr. Rebecca Scheckler

Contact

Dilip Nair, 304-638-2878; dilipnairofwv@gmail.com

Goals for 2025

Goal 2

To partner with local Islamic and Jewish faith communities to increase their social justice advocacy through engagement with the NAACP branch.

Update on Goal 2 (from March 2025 Monthly RAC Report):

A possible direction forward might lie in convening a panel of Black and Jewish people of older and younger generations to discuss preserving minority community identity and awareness across generations. Further brainstorming and discussion are needed.If you have ideas please let us know!

Goal 1

To partner with local predominantly Black faith communities to increase their racial justice advocacy through engagement with the NAACP branch.

Update on Goal 1 (from May 2025 Monthly RAC Report):

With respect to our main goal for 2025, to re-engage local predominantly Black faith communities in collaborative work with the NAACP, we have come to realize the following:

The task comes with significant challenges which will take more than a year to understand and overcome.
The process MUST involve Black members of faith communities.

Therefore the main focus of the last several months has been to shift the meetings into Black spaces and gather as many Black people from different generations at the table. We have also introduced the topic “Bridging the Generational Gap in the Black Church” as a focus for discussion.

Related Resource

Pew Research Center. February 16, 2021. “Faith Among Black Americans.”

https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2021/02/16/faith-among-black-americans/

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