ESTHER’s 17th Annual “Banquet” will be held on Sunday, November 1, starting at 5:00 pm. Due to the pandemic, it will be an online event only. A separate online silent auction will begin on October 29 and continue until 10:00 pm on November 1.

Our keynote speaker this year will be Rev. Traci Blackmon. She is the Associate General Minister of Justice and Local Church Ministries for the United Church of Christ and Senior Pastor of Christ The King United Church of Christ, three miles from Ferguson, Missouri. She was a registered nurse for 25 years prior to becoming an ordained minister. As a featured voice on many regional, national, and international platforms, Rev. Blackmon’s life work focuses on communal resistance to systemic injustice. Her response in Ferguson to the killing of Michael Brown resulted in national and international recognition, gaining her audiences at the White House, the Carter Center, and the Vatican. She co-authored the White Privilege curriculum for the UCC and has toured the nation with Rev. Dr. William Barber of Repairers of the Breach and Sister Simone Campbell of Nuns on the Bus, proclaiming the need for a Moral Revival in the nations.

The banquet will be preceded by a an online silent auction, starting on October 29. The November 1 program will feature musical entertainment, presentation of ESTHER’s 2020 individual and community awards, the keynote address, and a few surprises!

ESTHER gratefully acknowledges sponsorship support from
William J. and Barbara A. Schmidt Family Foundation