The Rev. William J. Barber II Retires From Church Service Duties
The Rev. William J. Barber II has retired from active church service duties at Greenleaf Christian Church, Disciples of Christ in Goldsboro, N.C.
Barber delivered his final service on Sunday, June 18, telling parishioners, “I have no reason to be standing here but by the grace of God,” according to CNN.
During his sermon, Barber shared that he has been experiencing physical health challenges including a form of arthritis known as ankylosing spondylitis, which causes inflammation in the joints and ligaments of the spine.
The National Institute of Health notes that "Many people with ankylosing spondylitis have mild episodes of back pain and stiffness that come and go. But others have severe, ongoing pain with loss of flexibility in the spine. In addition, other symptoms may develop depending on which other areas of the body are affected by the disease."
Barber took over leadership at Greenleaf Christian Church in 1993. His work has been focused on addressing issues such as poverty, inequality and racism.
He was the architect of the Forward Together Moral Movement that gained national acclaim with its Moral Monday protests at the North Carolina General Assembly in 2013, according to his bio.
These weekly actions drew tens of thousands of North Carolinians and other moral witnesses to the state legislature. More than 1,050 peaceful protesters were arrested, handcuffed and jailed.
Barber was the leader of the North Carolina NAACP the largest state conference in the South, from 2005 to 2017 and he sat on the National NAACP Board of Directors.
President Joe Biden sent Bishop Barber a video message of congratulations, according to CNN which received a press release from the church. In the message, Biden said, “Thank you for showing all of us how to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly. I’ll never forget your homily at my inaugural prayer service when you called on us to be repairers of the breach and heal the soul of the nation."
Despite stepping away from the pulpit, Greenleaf Christian Church said that Bishop Barber will remain engaged in civil rights action, writing in a press statement, "He is dedicating his next season to continuing to build a moral movement that can redeem the heart and soul of this nation, usher in a third reconstruction, and, through his role as founding director of the recently established Yale Center for Public Theology and Public Policy, train a new generation of moral leaders to be active participants in creating a just society."
