Faith in the Free State Podcast: Episode 4: Pastor Arsenial Runion
Title
Faith in the Free State Podcast: Episode 4: Pastor Arsenial Runion
Subject
Faith in the Free State Podcast: Episode 4: Pastor Arsenial Runion
Description
As a healthcare professional, Pastor Runion has been concerned about Covid-19. As a pastor, Pastor Runion has been concerned about what he can do to alleviate pandemic related issues in his church and community. Emily and Grace met with Pastor Runion over Zoom, along with Darby Breaux-Vickers, Dr. Dorthy Pennington and Dr. Michael Zogry, in order to understand how Pastor Runion and his church, First Regular Missionary Baptist Church in Lawrence has been responding to the challenges brought forth by the pandemic and social change. First Regular Missionary Baptist Church is the oldest congregation interviewed for this project at nearly 150 years old. Comments regarding Covid-19 reflects circumstances at the time of recording and may have changed.
This project is funded by the second of two grants from Humanities Kansas for the Religion in Kansas Project. Humanities Kansas is a nonprofit cultural organization connecting communities with history, traditions, and ideas to strengthen civic life. Additionally, the project is supported by the Friends of the Department of Religious Studies (or FODORS), and the Department would like to thank the Board members, along with our generous donors, for their unwavering support.
The Religion in Kansas Project is an open access digital archive that creates and curates' online collections of oral histories, digitized ephemera, and digital exhibitions relating to religious experience and diversity in Kansas. Faith in the Free State, a limited-series podcast, will explore the faith and activism of Black Churches in the northeast Kansas region and investigates how Black Churches have served as a place of fortitude in communities. The podcast endeavors to share the evolving ways in which black churches provide spiritual inspiration, cultural strength, and social empowerment to African American communities, offering a compelling living narrative of Kansas religious experience. The podcast aims to focus on how Black Churches in the northeast Kansas area have responded to COVID-19 as well as social justice issues in the past and present. Black churches tell a rich story about identity, faith, community, and the American experience. Communicating Black Churches’ affirmation of cultural survival and dedication to justice contributes to a greater story of American religious experience, sharing a story that is uniquely Kansan and truly American. The podcast brings community and scholarly voices together to offer nuanced narratives about the challenges faced by and the strengths found within black churches today in the Northeast Kansas region.
More information about First Regular Missionary Baptist Church can be found at:
https://www.facebook.com/FRMBC/
This project is funded by the second of two grants from Humanities Kansas for the Religion in Kansas Project. Humanities Kansas is a nonprofit cultural organization connecting communities with history, traditions, and ideas to strengthen civic life. Additionally, the project is supported by the Friends of the Department of Religious Studies (or FODORS), and the Department would like to thank the Board members, along with our generous donors, for their unwavering support.
The Religion in Kansas Project is an open access digital archive that creates and curates' online collections of oral histories, digitized ephemera, and digital exhibitions relating to religious experience and diversity in Kansas. Faith in the Free State, a limited-series podcast, will explore the faith and activism of Black Churches in the northeast Kansas region and investigates how Black Churches have served as a place of fortitude in communities. The podcast endeavors to share the evolving ways in which black churches provide spiritual inspiration, cultural strength, and social empowerment to African American communities, offering a compelling living narrative of Kansas religious experience. The podcast aims to focus on how Black Churches in the northeast Kansas area have responded to COVID-19 as well as social justice issues in the past and present. Black churches tell a rich story about identity, faith, community, and the American experience. Communicating Black Churches’ affirmation of cultural survival and dedication to justice contributes to a greater story of American religious experience, sharing a story that is uniquely Kansan and truly American. The podcast brings community and scholarly voices together to offer nuanced narratives about the challenges faced by and the strengths found within black churches today in the Northeast Kansas region.
More information about First Regular Missionary Baptist Church can be found at:
https://www.facebook.com/FRMBC/
Files
Collection
Citation
“Faith in the Free State Podcast: Episode 4: Pastor Arsenial Runion,” Religion in Kansas Project, accessed June 23, 2025, https://ksreligion.omeka.net/items/show/4649.