Coming together to extinguish global fires
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October 2025 – Drew Theological School hosted its annual Tipple Celebration & Lectures Day, bringing together students, faculty, alums, and guests for a day of worship, dialogue, and community centered around the timely theme, “Faith & Politics: Being Church in These Troubling Times.”
Tipple Day, an annual tradition honoring the legacy of The Rev. Dr. Ezra Squier Tipple, the fifth president of Drew Theological School (1912–1929), provides an opportunity for the Drew community to gather and reflect on ministry, faith, and the state of the church and society today.
Opening keynote speaker, the Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis G’04, Senior Minister of Middle Collegiate Church in New York City, kicked off the event with her talk “How to Love Your Neighbor in a Political Hot Mess.”
“I’m so glad to be back home at Drew,” Lewis began. “I’m honored to be your lecturer again.”
Lewis shared a moving video on the rebuilding of Middle Church after a devastating fire that stemmed from a neighboring building destroyed the church in 2020. “We didn’t start the fire, the conditions of the United States helped the fire,” she said, referring to the unsafe living conditions in the surrounding area. “This country is on fire … this globe is on fire, and white Christian nationalism has its hand on the switch.”
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She spoke passionately about the rise of white Christian nationalism and the ways in which faith has been distorted to justify violence and exclusion.
Lewis asked, “What does it mean to be Christian in our hearts? How do we move forward?”
“We need to get back to Jesus,” she said.
Lewis urged attendees to rediscover a loving and justice-centered faith. “We live in a hot mess—and when the world is on fire, we have to be firefighters. We can take back Christianity if we do it together. Love God with everything, and love your neighbor as yourself. Love, period.”
A panel of Drew Theological School faculty explored the question “How Do Our Faith Traditions Help—or Harm—Our Politics?” from their areas of expertise. Panelists included Dr. Gladson Jathanna, Associate Professor of the History of Christianities; Dr. Laurel Kearns, John Fletcher Hurst Professor of Ecology, Religion and Society; and the Rev. Dr. Dong Sung Kim, Assistant Professor of Hebrew Bible.
Chapel worship was led by the Rev. Dr. Gary V. Simpson, Associate Professor of Preaching and Pastoral Formation at Drew and Senior Pastor of The Concord Baptist Church of Christ in Brooklyn, New York.
“When I teach at Drew, every corner of the earth is in my classroom,” Simpson shared during his sermon, entitled “An Unrealistic Expectation.”
“When I hear the stories of racism from my sisters and brothers of many races and ethnicities, I wish I could get those voices out of my head and I thank God that I am who I am,” he said. “Diversity is not something that can be controlled. It is part of the givenness of the world. Diversity is who we are. It cannot be something that can be eradicated.”
“Put some Jesus in you,” he continued, urging attendees to allow faith to transform from within. “We come to the table so all of us can get a little bit of Jesus in us.”
Simpson was joined in worship leadership by Dr. Mark Miller, Associate Professor of Church Music and Composer-in-Residence, who led the community in song, and the Rev. Donna Owusu-Ansah T’19 presided over Holy Communion. Collectively, they created a space for reflection and renewal.
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The afternoon keynote was delivered by Bishop Joseph Tolton, President of Interconnected Justice and Bishop of East Africa for The Fellowship of Affirming Ministries. His lecture, “From Selma to South Africa: How Christian Nationalism Threatens to Resegregate America and Recolonize Africa,” sounded an urgent call to action.
“Christian nationalism is the most dangerous ideological threat facing not only African Americans, but Black people globally,” he said.
“Our ancestors gave us two great gifts,” said Tolton. “From Selma, the gift of discipline—nonviolent resistance rooted in faith. From South Africa, the gift of liberation theology—naming Apartheid as not only wrong, but a sin. We must bring those gifts together to forge a new movement with radical imagination, spiritually grounded, designed to be inclusive and global in its reach.”
“The bridge from Selma to South Africa is not a metaphor, it’s a map. We refuse to let the gospel of love be weaponized into a doctrine of hate. We must restore Christianity’s true purpose—the liberation of all God’s people.”
The event concluded with a networking reception, where attendees enjoyed fellowship, renewed purpose, and a shared commitment to shaping a more just and compassionate world through faith in politics.
