Special Projects | African American-Jewish Clergy Alliance
African American-Jewish Clergy Alliance
The African American/Jewish Clergy Alliance began in 2002 when the Jewish Community Relations Council hosted a mission to Senegal and Israel for six Black Detroit ministers and three metro area rabbis. The trip created an enduring relationship between the clergy and their congregations and a model for building bridges between the Jewish community and other ethnic communities of metro Detroit.
On their “Journey to the Past, Path to the Future,” the rabbis and ministers learned about each other’s traditions and histories. They visited the slave house on Goree Island in Senegal through which millions of Africans were deported into slavery. Days later, they visited the remains of the Moment Café in Jerusalem where 11 young Israelis were killed one week earlier in a terrorist attack.
Since their return, the clergy have:  | Members of the African American/
Jewish Clergy Alliance lobby in
Washington on behalf of Darfur | | |
• Spoken at each other’s pulpits
• Sponsored joint ventures including a
multi-congregational event at the Charles
Wright Museum of African American
History, participating together on a Habitat
for Humanity house-building project
involving African American and Jewish
teens, and held three interfaith musical
programs featuring gospel and klezmer
music
• Traveled together to Capitol Hill to urge
the Michigan Congressional delegation to
provide funding and support to the people
of Darfur to end to the genocide
• Participated in a news conference at the
Holocaust Memorial Center before the
Detroit2Darfur buses departed to join the
Rally to Stop Genocide in Washington, D.C.
• Sponsored three model Passover seders  | Pastors and rabbis join hands
at the Soul Seder | | |
for Jews and African-Americans. The 2006
“Soul Seder!” attracted more than 500
participants who ate corn bread
and matzah, listened to stories of
oppression and liberation, and enjoyed
gospel music and performances by dance
ministries at Congregation Shaarey Zedek.
Participants signed postcards addressed to
President Bush, asking him to take action
in Darfur, Sudan.
Council’s Detroit Jewish Initiative (DJI) continues to facilitate joint ventures by the ministers and rabbis.
Members of the African American/Jewish Clergy Alliance:
• Dr. Benjamin Baker, New Light Baptist Church
• Rabbi Jonathan Berkun, Congregation Shaarey Zedek
• Rev. Robert Dulin, Jr, Metropolitan Church of God
• Rev. Kenneth J. Flowers, Greater New Mount Moriah Missionary
• Rev. Nicholas Hood III, Plymouth United Church of Christ
• Rabbi David Nelson, Congregation Beth Shalom
• Dr. Darryl W. Robinson, Community of Faith Baptist Church
• Rabbi Arnold Sleutelberg, Congregation Shir Tikvah
• Dr. Ronald Turner, Peace Baptist Church
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