Weekend Retreat for Black Men: How Good It Is to Center Down

About Justin T. White, Spencer A. Murray, and Reverend Brady Radford

Justin T. White, a native of Philadelphia, earned his B.A. in Sociology from Loyola University Maryland in 2009. Directly after graduating, Justin served as a Theology teacher at Cristo Rey Jesuit – Baltimore for eight years. Also, during that time he directed the school’s Community Service Program as a component of the Campus Ministry Office. Since 2017, he has worked at Loyola Blakefield, a 6-12 all-boys Jesuit school, in the offices of Campus Ministry, Community Service, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Theology, Psychology, Clubs and Activities, and Admissions. In May of 2022 he earned a Masters in School Counseling from his alma mater and
began serving as a Middle School counselor at Loyola Blakefield. He is currently pursuing his Counseling licensure. Equity work and its intersection with education, spirituality, and mental health are areas of great personal and professional interest. In his free time, Justin enjoys fellowship with family and friends, Marvel and Star Wars productions, kayaking, hiking, theater, and reading works of and about collective liberation.

Spencer A. Murray is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of NO HARM, National
Organization for Healing and Redefining Manhood. He is a teacher, author, minister, and conflict transformation practitioner who specializes in working with men and boys as it relates to unhealthy ideas of masculinity, and how these ideas cause harm towards self, women, and the community. He is also a Restorative Justice Facilitator for the Georgia Justice Project, where he creates spaces for healing, restoration, and reconciliation through victim-offender dialogue. A native of Detroit, MI, Spencer holds a Masters degrees from Wayne State University and Western Michigan Universities, as well as a Doctor of Ministry from New York Theological
Seminary, where his focus of study was Conflict Transformation. His doctoral work focused on the systemic influence of patriarchy in religion, and its tendency to oppress and perpetrate violence towards women. Based on his dissertation, Spencer published his first book, Conspiracy of Silence: Religious and Patriarchal Roots of Violence Towards Women. He is a Harm Reduction Specialist and has worked for Men Stopping Violence as a Certified Family Violence Intervention Practitioner. In addition to his harm reduction work, he’s also an Adjunct Professor at Candler School of Theology, where he teaches introductory courses in Conflict Transformation. Spencer lives in Atlanta with his wife, Erica Parks Murray.

The Reverend Brady Radford is a Presbyterian minister and the founder of The Lovewell Collective, a counseling practice devoted to couples therapy and the mental and spiritual well-being of clergy and their families. Brady’s work lives at the intersection of spiritual leadership, emotional health, and relational healing. His work with Ignatius House reflects a growing relationship with Ignatian spirituality and its invitation to notice, discern, and respond to the movements of God in everyday life. Through retreat leadership and spiritual formation, Brady brings together the pastoral imagination of the Black church, the contemplative wisdom of the Ignatian tradition, and the embodied insight of clinical care. A native Arkansan, he carries a deep attentiveness to story, culture, and the invisible dynamics that shape human relationships. Brady’s first and most important ministry is his family, whose love continues to sustain, challenge, and enlarge his calling.