Min. Christian S. Watkins, M.Div., is NETWORK’s Justice Systems Lobbyist. He is a proud alum of Jesuit College Preparatory (Dallas, TX) and has a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing from Loyola University in New Orleans. After working in the corporate world for about ten years after undergraduate graduation, Christian was called to ministry. In May 2019, he graduated from Southern Methodist University’s Perkins School of Theology with a Master of Divinity, with a concentration in Urban Ministry and Social Justice.

Before joining NETWORK, Christian was with the National Council of Churches, in Washington DC as the Justice Advocacy and Outreach Manager, working to elevate NCC’s work on ending racism and mass incarceration as well as supporting ministries involved in this racial equity and empowerment work.

Where do you find inspiration for your work?
In the spirit of Sankofa and in reverence to the sacred calling to ordained ministry in The UMC, I find inspiration for advocacy looking back over lived experiences—struggles and successes—of my ancestors and my own; being born and raised by a single Black mother surrounded by loving and faithful family and active justice-seekers in Dallas’ impoverished southern sector, yet educated in elite private and Catholic schools. I find inspiration from the prophetic sacred texts and in the life and ministry of Christ

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