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Instruments of Praise

By Rev. Dr. Sondrea Tolbert, Scarritt Bennett Center Executive Director

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Psalm 150:6

In this sacred season of June, we lift our voices and spirits in gratitude and awe. We stand in the rhythm of African American Music Month, where generations of soulful sound have borne witness to resilience, resistance, and joy. We honor the divine beauty and dignity of all people during Pride Month, recognizing that every life, every identity, is fearfully and wonderfully made. And we give thanks for 37 years of sacred work through Scarritt Bennett Center — a legacy of leadership, justice, and transformation.

Scripture reminds us that our very breath is praise. Every inhale is an invitation to gratitude; every exhale, a release into grace. As Hebrews 13:15 calls us, “Let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name.” Our praise is not passive—it is active. It lives in song and silence, in protest and prayer, in the hard labor of justice and the tender work of healing.

Scarritt Bennett Center was born from the initial bold vision of Belle Harris Bennett to train women for Christian service in 1819 Scarritt Bible and Training School in Kansas City, Missouri to the move to Nashville, TN in 1924 as Scarritt College for Christian Workers to the enduring legacy of the Scarritt Graduate School of coeducational Christian training. Since June 1, 1988, Scarritt Bennett has stood as sacred ground where women are empowered, where minds are transformed, where racial justice is pursued, and where the weary find rest and renewal. It is a space for those who do justice to be held, uplifted, and sent forth again.

As we mark this 37th year, may we not only remember the past but recommit to the work ahead. Let our voices join the great symphony of those who have come before us—freedom singers, justice seekers, trailblazers of faith and love. Scarritt Bennett Center was formed as a nonprofit with a mission to be a place where individuals and groups engage each other to achieve a more just world.

Thanks to all of you, Scarritt Bennett Center has been that place: a place of radical hospitality, critical dialogue, and meaningful engagement around the most pressing social issues of our time.

We invite you to celebrate with us.

Give in honor of the vision.

Give in hope for what’s to come.

Give $37 or more and help us continue to be an instrument of praise in the world.

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.

Faithfully serving,

Rev. Sondrea L. Tolbert, J.D., M. Div.

Executive Director

Visit www.scarrittbennett.org

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