The Rev. William J. Barber II, a well-known progressive Christian and Civil Rights leader, has announced his retirement from ministry.

Barber preached his retirement sermon on Sunday at Greenleaf Christian Church of Goldsboro, North Carolina, where he served as pastor since 1993.

"Every main character that you heard, read from 2 Corinthians to Isaiah to Matthew to Samuel, is crippled, broken, handicapped," Barber said. "Is that your story, too?"

"Somewhere in this room, there's not a person in here that does not have some crippling reality, some brokenness, some handicap. And yet, when you read the texts, in some ways, their stories testify to the glory of God," he said.

During the service, The Rev. Teresa Hord Owens, president of the Disciples of Christ denomination, said that Barber has "modeled what it means to be a congregationalist pastor."

"You could have turned your back on all of this work and gone off to large, ecumenical big tables, but you began the work, and you continued the work here in this congregation," Owens said. "Greenleaf, your ministry has been a model to the rest of the Church," she continued.

"Bishop Barber, you have reminded the people that their call is to the least, the last and the lost. You have been an active member of our denomination, an active clergyperson, you have served as the moderator of this region. You have been connected to the Church. Again, a model of what it means to be part of this covenantal community."

Owen's, whose election as the first African American woman Disciples of Christ president was supported by Barber, said the retiring minister has "always been an inspiration" to her and other clergy.

According to a statement from the church, Barber will continue in civil rights activism following his retirement from ministry.

"He is dedicating his next season to continuing to build a moral movement that can redeem the heart and soul of this nation, usher in a third reconstruction, and, through his role as founding director of the recently established Yale Center for Public Theology and Public Policy, train a new generation of moral leaders to be active participants in creating a just society," the church said, as reported by CNN.

Barber grew into the national spotlight in 2013 for his weekly "Moral Monday" protests outside the state legislature. According to his online bio, more than 1,000 peaceful protesters were arrested for participating in acts of civil disobedience.

His organization, the Poor People's Campaign, hosted a "Moral Action Congress" in Washington, D.C., in 2019. At the event, nine leading Democratic 2020 presidential hopefuls, including current President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, provided their visions for the country.

Last June, the Poor People's Campaign led the "Mass Poor People's & Low-Wage Workers' Assembly and Moral March on Washington."

Barber has also supported abortion and is an outspoken critic of former President Donald Trump. In 2017, he argued that faith leaders praying over Trump at the White House "borders on heresy."

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