Episode: 023 “A Ministry of 'Presence'”

Airdate: March 15, 2021

Length: 1:06:54

Guests: Camille Geri

In this episode I talk to Camille Geri, a dynamic justice advocate. More than the work of justice, or included in the work of justice is pastoral care for healing. The wealth of knowledge she brings to the conversation around the work of justice, pastoral care, and healing trauma is born out of her time being present in the lives of those in the communities where she has lived and served. She speaks from a pastor’s heart but with the passion of a prophet. She effortless weaves the arts and pastoral ministry to empower communities.

The conversation flows from the idea of a “ministry of presence” to the “braid of oppression”—feudalism, disability, and normalizing violence. She speaks honestly about her time spent attending and serving in a predominately white evangelical context. She is candid about what it means to be a biracial woman—Black and Filipina—at the table with all or most of the seats taken up by white men. This conversation is more than interesting, it is necessary.

Learn from Camille as we dive deep in these issues around race(ism), justice, and healing trauma from a BIPOC perspective.

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Phil Allen, Jr. is a Los Angeles-based pastor, social justice activist, filmmaker and author. Allen’s book Open Wounds explores the murder of Nate Allen—Phil Allen’s grandfather—in the Jim Crow era of South Carolina and how that traumatic event resonated through generations of his family. Open Wounds – which is based on the Allen-produced documentary of the same name – was published on February 9, 2021. Allen is a Ph.D. student studying Christian ethics at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, CA.