Rev. Lisa has the honor of being one of the speakers at the 2025 Minns Lectures. In the three-part series Deconstructing Mythologies of Unitarian Anti-Racism, Rev. Dr. Wayne Arnason, Rev. Lisa Friedman, and Rev. Dr. Mark Morrison-Reed narrate a new story of pre-merger Unitarianism beyond heroic stories of abolition and Civil Rights.  Recent scholarship centering black lives and revealing the depths of white supremacy culture has challenged the usual pre-merger historical narrative, which centered heroic Unitarian abolitionists and 20th century political leaders. The three Minns Lectures for 2025 seek to demythologize this common narrative.

The first Minns Lecture “Rehearsal for Reconstruction” by Rev. Dr. Wayne Arnason will be held at Unity Church in St. Paul on April 30.  Rev. Lisa’s lecture is the second in the series on May 8 at her home congregation in Rochester, N.Y. Her lecture is entitled “To Uplift the Race” and is focused on showing how Unitarians remained comfortably situated in their privileged caste, supporting industrial education to “uplift the race” while remaining silent as Reconstruction crumbled and the Lost Cause movement resurrected the dominance of white supremacist culture. Rev. Dr. Mark-Morrison Reed’s lecture is the final lecture in the series in Boston on May 14. All lectures can be attended in person or online (register at minnslectures.org). The recorded lectures will also be posted on the Minns website later this spring.