The Archdiocese of Detroit is preparing to host its annual Detroit Black Women's Conference in August, promising an array of events in keeping with this year’s theme.

“The annual #Detroit Black Women’s Conference returns this year, on Aug. 20, from 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. at Sacred Heart Major Seminary,” the archdiocese posted on Facebook this week. “The conference will unpack the theme ‘Embracing the Light of Christ,’ and will feature storytelling, workshops, Mass, Reconciliation, a youth track, and more.” 

The cost is $40 for adults and $25 for children, the archdiocese’s website said. ValLimar Jansen will be the keynote speaker, and Bishop Donald Hanchon will celebrate Mass

“This day of rest and rejuvenation will inspire and empower women who are eager to grow in care of self, family, and friends, and who strive to actively live their faith,” the archdiocese said on Facebook.

The Catholic Church in America was made up of predominantly white people until Father Herman Porter convened the first meeting of the Black Catholic Clergy Caucus in Detroit after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a Smithsonian Magazine article said. Almost 60 African American priests gathered to determine how to move forward as Black Catholics in such a racially tense time. 

The Black Catholic population in the U.S. grew from less than 300,000 in 1940 to almost 1 million in 1975, a March report from the Pew Research Center said. Today, there are approximately 3 million Black Catholics in the United States. Black Catholics represent 6% of all Black American adults and 4% of all American Catholic adults. Only one quarter of Black Catholics who attend Mass at least a few times a year go to a church where most of the other worshippers are Black.