Break With a Purpose

January 13-19 | Civil Rights and Black Liberation Theology (Selma, Birmingham, & Montgomery, AL)

The Civil Rights Movement touched many cities across the South, but three stand out as sites of particular significance: Selma, for Bloody Sunday; Birmingham, for the bombing of 16th St. Baptist Church; Montgomery, for the bus boycott. Each of these places is full of stories of violence, struggle, and resilience in the face of overwhelming oppression.

This year’s BWAP trip will take us to each of these cities, where we will tour museums, visit historical sites and monuments, and learn directly from local experts. Together, we’ll reflect on the ongoing legacies of Jim Crow in the South and in our own communities, including Madison. We will explore how to engage in the struggle for racial justice as a spiritual struggle. Guided by Black liberation theology, we will directly confront the question, “Where was God amidst slavery and Jim Crow segregation?” And we will experience firsthand how trust, vulnerability, community, and faith are crucial tools in our fight for a better future.

Read all the stories from BWAP 2025:

Trip Itinerary

The first day of our trip took us to Selma, where we walked across the Edmund Pettis Bridge and toured the National Voting Rights Museum and the Slavery and Civil War Museum. By pure coincidence, the first person we met in Selma was Annie Pearl Avery, one of the foot soldiers of the movement who marched on Bloody Sunday. Later in the day, we also visited Old Cahaba, the former capital of Alabama and the site of a POW camp for Union soldiers.

We spent our next two days in Birmingham, where we visited three houses of worship: 16th St. Baptist Church, First Presbyterian Church of Birmingham, and Temple Beth-el. 16th St. Baptist Church was bombed in 1963. The bombing killed four young girls and awakened the nation to the depth of racial violence happening in Birmingham. At FPC, we learned about one of the church’s former pastors, Edward V. Ramage, one of the eight white clergy King was responding to in his “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” At Temple Beth-el, we learned how Jews in Birmingham – who were also targets of white supremacist violence – engaged with the Civil Rights Movement.

On day two in Birmingham, we visited the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute and learned more about the campaign to end segregation in Birmingham. We also met a local historian named Barry McNealy, who gave us an immersive tour of Kelly Ingram Park and “Dynamite Hill,” one of the neighborhoods in Birmingham most heavily targeted by racial terrorism.

Our final two days were spent in Montgomery. There, we visited the Legacy Museum, an enormous and immersive museum that takes visitors on a journey from the start of chattel slavery in the 1600s to the era of mass incarceration today. We also toured the Freedom Rides Museum and the Rosa Parks Museum. The last site we visited on our trip was the National Memorial for Peace and Justice – also known as the Lynching Memorial. There, steel boxes and plaques commemorate over 4,000 victims of racial terrorism across the country from 1877 to 1950.

Application Timeline

October 9: Application opens
October 28, midnight: Application closes
October 30: Team members & waitlist notified
November 1: Deadline for team members to confirm & pay registration fee

Team Member Expectations

We will engage with some of the most challenging aspects of U.S. history on this trip. Our team must be prepared to not only learn but also to support one another through what may be an intense and emotional experience. Our pre-trip preparations reflect these expectations and are designed to help us build shared knowledge and trust before we embark on our journey.

Team members will be required to read James Cone’s The Cross and the Lynching Tree, a seminal work of Black liberation theology, and complete weekly journaling assignments in response to the reading. Team members must also attend regular pre-trip meetings, where we will discuss Cone’s work, share our journaling responses, and do team-building activities. The dates for these meetings are below. Attendance at all pre-trip meetings, as well as completion of all required readings & journaling assignments, is required to go on the trip.

Sunday, November 3, 7:30-8:30 pm
Sunday, November 10, 7:30-8:30 pm
Sunday, November 17, 7:30-8:30 pm
Sunday, December 1, 7:30-8:30 pm
Sunday, December 8, 7:30-8:30 pm
Sunday, December 29, 7:30-8:30 pm (virtual)
Sunday, January 5, 7:30-8:30 pm (virtual)

On the trip itself, team members will be expected to co-lead at least one nightly debrief and reflection. More details on the expectations for this will be shared at our first team meeting.

Team members are also required to attend two worship services at Pres House (one pre-trip and one post-trip):

Sunday, December 1, 4:30-6:30 pm: Team Commissioning
Sunday, February 2, 4:30-6:30 pm: Sharing Trip Reflections

The trip itself is January 13 – 19. Team members must participate in the entire trip.

Lastly, all team members are required to write a post-trip reflection, which will be shared publicly on the Pres House website. A selection of the team will share their reflections with the Pres House community on February 2.

BWAP FAQs

How much does it cost?

The total cost per student is $1500 for this trip. However, thanks to generous Pres House donors, we subsidize ⅔ of the cost so students are only responsible for a $500 registration fee, which covers lodging and transportation (airfare + van rental), pre-trip resources (i.e. a copy of The Cross and the Lynching Tree), and all meals, site admissions, and team activities while we are in Alabama. We recognize that students have varying financial resources, so we invite you to prayerfully consider one of three options when you apply:

Standard Registration ($500)
Standard Registration ($500) + Donation: To support other students with financial constraints, you can donate an additional amount. Any additional funds donated are tax-deductible.
Scholarship Registration: Students with financial constraints can request a scholarship from Pres House for up to half ($250) of the standard registration fee.

Where will we stay, and what's it like?

We will be staying at Living River, a PC(USA) retreat center in Montevallo, AL. Living River sits along the Cahaba River and is centrally located among the cities we will be visiting during our trip.

Our lodge has a full kitchen and den area. There are eight bedrooms with two twin beds in each room. Every two rooms share one bathroom.

Living River also has numerous hiking trails and various options for outdoor activities (weather permitting).

What sites will we visit?

Our trip itinerary is subject to change. However, here are some of the locations we plan to visit:

The National Voting Rights Museum and Institute (Selma)
The Edmund Pettis Bridge (Selma)
16th St. Baptist Church (Birmingham)
The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute (Birmingham)
The Legacy Museum (Montgomery)
The National Memorial for Peace and Justice (Montgomery)

Is BWAP a mission trip?

BWAP is not a mission trip. We do not go in hopes of evangelizing, converting, or otherwise colonizing the places we go. Rather, we seek to come alongside, listen to, and learn from folks who are part of the communities we enter. We believe that we have more to gain from these experiences than we have to give. As we partner with and bear witness to God’s work in unfamiliar places, we become more equipped to do so in the places we call home.

We also acknowledge that opportunities to learn and grow in this way are a mark of our privilege. As Christian folks living in the United States, we are complicit in many of the systems and structures that create the problems we see in the world. So along with an eagerness to learn and excitement to serve, we also come with humility, knowing that we are not the solution to all the world’s problems. We engage this tension directly and intentionally in our team trainings and trip reflections.

Who is leading the trip?

This BWAP trip is led by Nii Addo Abrahams, the associate director of campus ministry at Pres House. Learn more about him here.

How do I join the team?

To be part of the BWAP 2025 team, you must complete the application below.

This is NOT a first-come, first-serve application process. All applications will be considered as we seek to build a healthy, balanced team. We will weigh factors such as racial/ethnic identity, gender, year at UW, previous BWAP experience, and more. There are ten spots for students on the team.

If your application is accepted, your spot on the team is not confirmed until you submit your registration fee, which can be paid online or via cash/check. We will share more information about the payment process when we notify team members of their acceptance. Registration fees are non-refundable.
If your application is not accepted, we will automatically add you to our trip waitlist. Waitlist order is determined at the discretion of Pres House staff, taking into consideration the same factors we consider for the application. If a spot on the team opens up, we will reach out to people one at a time, in waitlist order, until the spot is filled.

Vaccination against COVID-19 is required for all team members.

Apply for BWAP 2025

The application is below. Please note the following:

This is NOT a first-come, first-serve application process. All applications will be considered as we seek to build a healthy, balanced team. We will weigh factors such as racial/ethnic identity, gender, year at UW, previous BWAP experience, and more.
If your application is accepted, your spot on the team is not confirmed until you submit your registration fee, which can be paid online or via cash/check. We will share more information about the payment process when we notify team members of their acceptance. Registration fees are non-refundable.
If your application is not accepted, we will automatically add you to our trip waitlist. Waitlist order is determined at the discretion of Pres House staff, taking into consideration the same factors we consider for the application. If a spot on the team opens up, we will reach out to people one at a time, in waitlist order, until the spot is filled.

We highly recommend filling out the application on a computer rather than a phone or tablet.
We highly recommend typing out short answer responses in a separate Word processor to avoid losing your responses if there is an error with your submission.
You can save & continue the application later. The button to do so is at the very bottom of the application. You should receive an email with a unique link that will allow you to resume your application; do not close your browser until you have received this email.
Once you have successfully completed the application, you will IMMEDIATELY receive a confirmation email. If you do not IMMEDIATELY receive a confirmation email, YOUR APPLICATION WAS NOT SUBMITTED SUCCESSFULLY.
After you press “Submit,” this page will reload. After the page reloads, please check this box for any error messages, even if you receive a confirmation email. If you have repeated errors, please contact Nii Addo as quickly as possible so we can troubleshoot.

Previous BWAP Trips

Nicaragua (2024)

For BWAP 2024, we traveled to Nicaragua. This unique, immersive experience was the fruit of a partnership between Pres House and Working Capital for Community Needs., a microfinance organization that provides working capital to low-income entrepreneurs throughout Latin America. Our trip allowed us to:

Learn first-hand how microfinance can empower people and families to transform their lives through small business generation; see Pres House investment funds directly at work
Learn about the economy of food, textiles, coffee production, the educational system, and more
Have conversations about wealth and poverty, impact investing, migration, religion, and more
Hike to the top of a volcano, experience the history and beauty of a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Leon, and participate in the vibrant life of Granada, Managua, and Jingotega

Team Reflections:

Mark Elsdon: “Why Nicaragua?”
Jack Wilharm: “Power of Microfinancing”
Mei Hippe: “Perfect Solutions?”
Nathan Tan: “Politics & Faith”
Aurora Kuelbs: “Opportunity”
Allyson Mills: “Grace & Power Under Dictatorship”
Will Clancy: “Politics of Faith”
Kyle Digman: “Murals in Nicaragua”
Sophie Elsdon: “Nicaraguan Pride”

Learn more about our partners for BWAP 2024:

Working Capital for Community Needs
Naturally Smart Travel

Puerto Rico (2023)

For Break With a Purpose (BWAP) 2023, we partnered with Presbyterian Disaster Assistance and Techos Pa’ Mi Gente to aid in the ongoing rebuilding and relief efforts in Puerto Rico.

Climate disaster has wreaked havoc on the island of Puerto Rico. Hurricanes Maria (2017), Irma (2017), and Fiona (2022) — as well as earthquakes in 2020 — caused hundreds of billions of dollars of damage to homes and infrastructure on the island, and the situation is exacerbated by ongoing U.S. colonization, slowing the recovery efforts. PDA and Techos are two organizations that offer local leadership and creative solutions to the systemic problems Puerto Rico faces.

Team Reflections:

Laura Hyde: “Unexpected Connections”
Lauren Pettis: “From Learning to Living”
Lydia Larsen: “The Cost of Paradise”
Aurora Kuelbs: “Deep Roots”
Mei Hippe: “Deep Love”
Kevin Lee: “What the Great Commission Didn’t Tell Me”
Madelyn Peppard: “Three Kings Day, a Four-Day Celebration”

Learn more about our partners for BWAP 2023:

Presbyterian Disaster Assistance – Puerto Rico
Techos Pa’ Mi Gente

Fort McCoy (2022)

In the wake of the U.S. military’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, approximately 15,000 Afghan refugees were temporarily housed at Fort McCoy (the military base between Sparta and Tomah, WI) while awaiting resettlement. As part of the operation, the US government contracted with various social service agencies and corporations to help facilitate the resettlement process and to offer hospitality to the refugees while awaiting resettlement. Our team was one of many groups who helped to offer MWR — morale, wellness, and recreation — to Afghan guests, under the leadership of Catholic Charities.

Team Reflections:

Emma Elsdon: “The Setting”
Olivia Avery: “The Mess”
Andrea Wegrzynowicz: “Come, Lord Jesus (A Scriptural Collage)”
Lauren Pettis: “Presence”
Madelyn Peppard: “Untitled Poem”
Evan Digman: “Moments of Grace”