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In 45 minutes, Rev. Cheryl Ivey Green, D. Min., participated in a clinical trial that could change the way cancer is diagnosed and treated for generations to come.

“It is my prayer that it will help find solutions and remedies to the many cancers facing the Black community in particular,” said Ivey Green, the executive minister at First Baptist Church of South Richmond (FBC). “There is so much fear about coming out and doing something like this. We need to be the model and allow others to see we can be a part of clinical trials and not be fearful of them.”

Ivey Green worked with Massey to coordinate the enrollment event at FBC. There were tents set up in the parking lot to provide information and to support the patient consent process. Inside a mobile unit, phlebotomists drew blood from each participant for the study.

Rev. Dwight Jones (left) hopes events like this one advance the dialogue between the science and faith communities.

“Outcomes in communities such as this one are very poor,” said Rev. Dwight Jones, senior pastor at the church. “Across the board, African Americans score lowest in most disease profiles. It is important we bring services to the community instead of waiting for them to go.”

Jones and Ivey Green are both regular members of the bi-weekly Facts and Faith Fridays calls, which bridge the gap between science and religion. Held through a partnership between Massey and area faith leaders, Facts and Faith Fridays served as a connection point during the clinical trial event to help navigate the faith community’s clinical trials reluctance and build trust.

Facts and Faith Fridays began in March 2020 after Rudene Mercer Haynes, J.D., a Massey Advisory Board member and partner with the Hunton Andrews Kurth law firm, connected Rev. F. Todd Gray of Fifth Street Baptist Church with Robert A. Winn, M.D., director and Lipman Chair in Oncology at Massey.

“I cannot tell you how it felt being at First Baptist Church of South Richmond in the heart of one of Richmond's historic black communities and seeing the Massey on the Move van alongside the multi-cancer early detection clinical trials mobile unit,” said Haynes on site at the clinical trial enrollment event. “The fusion of facts and faith could not be more evident, and I was heartened to see church leadership, health ministry members and VCU Massey Cancer center staff and technicians collaborating in the cause of early detection of cancer.”

While Facts and Faith Fridays started as a call to provide faith leaders with accurate health information about COVID, it has evolved to include conversations about higher rates of cancer and other diseases in diverse communities.

“Facts and Faith Fridays pushed me to want to ensure that I’m part of the solution and not the problem of the Black community not being present in clinical trials,” said Ivey Green. “Put people in safe places with people they trust, like their church.”

Jones added that the Aug. 31 collaboration between his congregation, Facts and Faith Fridays and Massey’s Community Outreach and Engagement and Clinical Trials Office teams was the first in an ongoing effort.

“Information is king, and information allows you to make more informed decisions about your health,” Jones said. ”I have spent my entire ministry and life trying to level the playing field for impoverished communities that have been left out. This is another opportunity for us to make available to this community the kind of services they need to have.”

Written by: Amy Lacey