Our Regional Gatherings

Meet, Greet, & Walk

Meet fellow AWAB members and friends and be led on a special tour of the Freedom Trail, the Black Heritage Trail, and the Equality Trail in Boston. The tour begins at 1 p.m. at the Boston Common Visitor Center (139 Tremont St) and returns to Boston Common by 3 p.m. This event is free, but registration is required.

Regional Breakfast

Connect with AWAB staff, board, members, and friends over breakfast. 8:30 am – 10:00 am, Tuesday, September 17. Old Cambridge Baptist Church (1151 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge). $5

About Our Lecturer:

The Reverend Doctor Brandon Thomas Crowley is an African-American pastor, preacher, author, and scholar in religion, theology, and queer theory. Since 2009, he has served as the Senior Pastor of the Historic Myrtle Baptist Church in Newton, Massachusetts, one of America’s oldest Black congregations founded by formerly enslaved persons at the end of Reconstruction and one of the nation’s few open and affirming historically Black churches.

In addition to his pastoral role, Dr. Crowley is a Lecturer in Ministry Studies at Harvard University’s Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He has taught courses at Boston University, the Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest, the New York Theological Seminary, and the Meadville Lombard Theological Seminary in Chicago, IL.

Reverend Crowley earned a Ph.D. in Church and Society and a Master of Sacred Theology with a certificate in social justice from Boston University’s School of Theology. He also earned a Master of Divinity from Harvard University’s Divinity School and a Bachelor of Arts in Religion with a moral cosmopolitan pastoral leadership certificate from Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. Reverend Crowley’s first manuscript is Queering Black Churches: Dismantling Heteronormativity in African American Congregations with Oxford University Press. His scholarship reflects his commitment to fostering inclusivity and challenging societal norms within African American faith communities.

Beyond his pastoral and academic roles, Dr. Crowley serves on various boards and leads several communal organizations. He serves as a member of the inaugural Council of Religious Practitioners and Scholars for the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. Additionally, Dr. Crowley is an active member of the Harvard Alumni Council and membership selection committee, the Newton-Wellesley Hospital Community Benefits and Needs Assessment Committees, and holds the position of Executive Director and Chief Curator of the African American Lectionary. Ordained in the Progressive National Baptist Convention of America, Inc., and licensed by the National Baptist Convention of America, Dr. Crowley brings a wealth of wisdom and dedication to his work. He resides in Boston with his husband, Tyrone Sutton, an administrator in the Boston public school system, and their beloved 14-year-old Maltese pup, Bishop.