This simulcast event will include Baltimore Ravens tight end Benjamin Watson, Hall of Fame coach Tony Dungy, former Walter Payton NFL Man-of-the-Year Warrick Dunn, Heisman Trophy winner Danny Wuerffel, and ESPN’s Sage Steele, among others.
Carol Stream, Ill. (December 13, 2016) — In November 2014, Benjamin Watson, then a tight end with the New Orleans Saints, posted a Facebook essay expressing the different emotions he felt after a Ferguson, Mo., grand jury voted not to indict a white police officer, Darren Wilson, in the shooting death of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager. Watson’s Facebook post, which effectively expressed an assortment of emotions that ranged from anger to embarrassment to hopelessness to hopefulness, was “liked” by nearly one million people.
One year later, Tyndale House Publishers released Watson’s Under Our Skin: Getting Real about Race—and Getting Free from the Fears and Frustrations That Divide Us. The highly regarded book, which has been referred to as part memoir and part social commentary, is a challenging look at race, bias, and justice.
On Thursday, February 16, 2017, Watson (now with the Baltimore Ravens) and other national thought leaders—including author and Hall of Fame football coach Tony Dungy, former NFL Walter Payton Man-of-the-Year award winner Warrick Dunn, Heisman Trophy winner and Executive Director of Desire Street Ministries Danny Wuerffel, author and speaker Mo Isom, Detroit pastor and author J. Kevin Butcher, and Executive Director of Restoration Academy Ben Sciacca—will come together at The Crossing Church in Tampa to discuss race and faith. The event will be moderated by ESPN’s Sage Steele and music will be provided by Lizzy Cameron. In addition to the onsite event, the forum will be broadcast live via www.Livestream.com across the world. More information is available at www.underourskinforum.com.
For many, the racial divide is an argument, a political position, or a debate on television. The participants in Under Our Skin: A Forum on Race and Faith desire to move this argument and debate to one of understanding different perspectives by putting ourselves in someone else’s shoes. While many similar forums often end with engaging discussion but no action, this forum will provide a call to action for forum attendees to take with them to their homes, churches, schools, and jobs so that this discussion can continue far beyond one three-hour event.
“I think it’s important for all of us to let down our guard, to show some empathy, and be open to someone else’s experience, even if it’s different from our own,” said Watson. “Though our forum panelists won’t agree on everything, we’ll be intentional about having honest, heartfelt, and respectful dialogue. We all need a change of heart on the subject of race, and we all need to look introspectively. I think it’s incumbent upon all of us to see where our own lives intersect with this dialogue. Our greatest desire is to equip people who view the Under Our Skin forum with tools to help them engage in their own communities.”
WHAT: Under Our Skin: A Forum on Race and Faith
WHEN: Thursday, February 16, 2017 from 7:00–10:00 pm ET (book signing prior to event)
WHERE: The Crossing Church in Tampa
WHO: Panelists who are scheduled to participate include author and Baltimore Ravens tight end Benjamin Watson, Hall of Fame football coach Tony Dungy, former NFL Walter Payton Man-of-the-Year award winner Warrick Dunn, Heisman Trophy winner and Executive Director of Desire Street Ministries Danny Wuerffel, author and speaker Mo Isom, Detroit pastor and author J. Kevin Butcher, and Executive Director of Restoration Academy Ben Sciacca, among others. The event will be moderated by ESPN’s Sage Steele with music performed by Lizzy Cameron. Greg Dumas, pastor at The Crossing Church, will provide opening remarks.
WHY: For national thought leaders to have an engaging and respectful discussion on race, and for the panelist to provide viewers with a call to action in their own community
COST: General Admission at The Crossing Church in Tampa: $29.99 ($24.99 before 1/16/17). Livestream.com feed for churches/groups of more than twenty: $199.00 ($149.00 before 1/16/17) Livestream.com feed for individuals: $9.99 ($7.99 before 1/16/17)
DONATION: Tyndale House Publishers will provide a charitable donation to the charity/foundation of choice for forum participants.
MORE INFORMATION AND TO PURCHASE TICKETS: www.
Please consider inviting your family and friends to join Tyndale House Publishers, along with an impressive panel of leaders, as we come together to take a closer look at the issues of race and faith in America and the power and possibility of faith as a step toward healing. The Under Our Skin panel will closely examine the truths, myths, and realities of racial conflict and reconciliation in a setting that will encourage all of us to empathize with others and to implement what we learn by taking several concrete action items into our own communities.
Tyndale House Publishers, founded in 1962, is the world’s largest privately held Christian publisher of books, Bibles, and digital media. Tyndale has published many New York Times bestsellers. The largest portion of its profit goes to the nonprofit Tyndale House Foundation, which makes grants to help meet the physical and spiritual needs of people around the world. Tyndale was founded to publish Living Letters, which later comprised part of The Living Bible, a contemporary paraphrase of the Bible that became a global publishing phenomenon. Tyndale now publishes the Holy Bible, New Living Translation (NLT), the translation of choice for millions of people.
