Howard Thurman: Reflections on a Luminous Life

Thank you Rev. Dr. Curtiss DeYoung for writing today’s Weekly Word.

Dear Park Community,
 

This Sunday, September 13, a new book that I edited, Howard Thurman: Reflections on a Luminous Life (Howard Thurman – Friendship Press), will be officially launched at Park Avenue United Methodist Church. This coincides with our annual “Sunday Funday” that introduces and launches the congregation’s fall programming. After a long and traumatic winter and spring of ICE Metro Surge, we need a Funday. We need to have some FUN, to reclaim our humanity and enhance our treasured relationships with our neighbors.  
 

And we need to read about Howard Thurman. He was one of the most celebrated preachers and theologians of the 20th century. He mentored most of the faith-based civil rights activists in the 1930s-1970s including Martin Luther King Jr., John Lewis, Pauli Murray, and Jesse Jackson, during a season like our recent winter and spring. 
 

One of Thurman’s closest proteges was James Earl Massey, who was the author of this book, Howard Thurman: Reflections on a Luminous Life. Dr. Massey was my mentor and he asked me to serve as his literary executor after his death. Among his papers, now archived at Anderson University (IN), was an unpublished book on Howard Thurman from the 1970s. The book is a biography of Thurman and an assessment of his preaching, theology, and socially-engaged mysticism (Massey was one of the earliest Thurman scholars, as well as mentee.)  

 

My role was to edit Massey’s original manuscript: transferring it from manually typed pages; updating language from the 1970s to 2026; adding relevant citations; and copy-editing. In order to tell the story of their relationship and why the book had not been published, I read over 70 pieces of correspondence between Thurman and Massey, much of which was handwritten and not easily legible, preserved in the Massey Papers at Anderson University; I examined their autobiographies and biographical pieces written by others; and I accessed my own journal and memory for anecdotes from Dr. and Mrs. Massey. I was honored to serve in this way. 

I hope you will consider purchasing a copy of the book, available after the morning service for the discounted price of $20. 
 

At the invitation of Pastor Shandon, I will also preach on Sunday: “Looking to Jesus: The Pioneer, The Perfector—Forever the Same” (Hebrews 12: 2-3; 13:8-9a). My sermon is inspired by the times we are in. We face many of the same questions that motivated the first century author of Hebrews and the 20th century Howard Thurman. So we join them and look to the historic Jesus as the model for our faith and the guide through existing challenges of racism, Christian nationalism, false teachings, and empire-influenced actions.  
 

Please pray and join us for Sunday Funday and word from God. 



Sincerely,

Rev. Dr. Curtiss DeYoung