Rev. Rob Lee: Sunday Q&A in New Lenox

NEW LENOX, IL – Grace Episcopal Church in New Lenox will welcome The Rev. Robert W. Lee, IV, on Sunday, October 28, 2018 for a special morning of preaching and conversation in advance of the church’s 150th Celebration. Lee will preach at the church’s 8:00 am service, and its 10:00 am service. Following the latter, Lee will participate in a forum and Q&A with the church’s priest, the Rev. Gregory L. Millikin.

A prolific speaker, preacher and public theologian, Lee is an outspoken advocated for oppressed minorities in today’s society. He made national headlines in 2017 in the wake of the Charlottesville white supremacy protests that resulted in the death of Heather Heyer. As a descendent and namesake of Confederate General Robert E. Lee, he became an outspoken critic of white nationalism, white supremacy, and American idolatry of his ancestor and Confederate statues across the nation. He came to national prominence when he appeared at the MTV Video Music Awards on August 27, 2017 with Heyer’s mother, Susan Bro, to speak out about racial injustice following the tragedy in Charlottesville. Lee followed up this appearance with one on The View to assert his position. Since then he has gained a substantial following on social media and has been the guest preacher and/or speaker at churches of many denominations in the last thirteen months.

A graduate of Duke Divinity School, Lee is an ordained minister who also serves on the faculty of Appalachian State University. He is a PhD candidate at Chicago Theological Seminary, a columnist for the Statesville Record & Landmark, North Carolina, and his work has appeared in outlets such as NPR’s Weekend Edition, The State of Things, The View, MTV’s Video Music Awards, Ministry Matters, the Methodist Federation for Social Action, the Huffington Post, the Common English Bible: Student Edition, and the Washington Post. He has preached all across the country from churches with 10 members to churches with 4,000 members.

Lee’s first book, Stained-Glass Millennials, explores the relationship between the institutional church and the Millennial generation. In the spring of 2019, Penguin Random House will release his highly anticipated follow-up, A Sin By Any Other Name, which includes his reflections on his experience in the national spotlight in the last year and his work to end systemic racism in America.

Grace Episcopal Church is a mission congregation in New Lenox, IL, and a member of the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago. 2018 marks the church’s 150th year, or sesquicentennial, of continuous worship as a faith community. Grace’s iconic church sanctuary, an example of prairie gothic architecture and the brainchild of famed New York architect Richard Upjohn, is a tourist destination in the southland area and holds the distinction of being the oldest house of worship in New Lenox still in operation. Recently Grace installed its 36th Vicar (an Episcopal term for the leader of a mission congregation) and looks to celebrate is 150th year with a gala event on Saturday, November 10, 2018 – open to the community.

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For further information or interviews, please contact:

The Rev. Gregory L. Millikin (Greg)

greg@gracenewlenox.org

815-485-6596

GRACE EPISCOPAL CHURCH

209 N. Pine Street

New Lenox, IL 60451

1868 CELEBRATING 150 YEARS 2018