Civil rights leader Bishop William J. Barber II retires from church service

Prominent North Carolina civil rights leader Bishop William J. Barber II delivered his final sermon as the pastor of Greenleaf Christian Church as he retired after 30 years.

"I have no reason to be standing here but by the grace of God," Barber said in his retirement sermon at the church on Sunday.

Barber spoke during the sermon of his physical limitations from a form of arthritis known as ankylosing spondylitis, which causes inflammation in the joints and ligaments of the spine, according to the National Institutes of Health.

In 1993, Barber joined Greenleaf Christian Church in Goldsboro, and over the next three decades he became renowned for his work addressing issues such as poverty, inequality and racism.

Barber served as president of the North Carolina NAACP from 2005 until 2017. He has at several times called for "nonviolent direct action" in the form of protest to fight against legislation he opposed.

Barber's Forward Together Moral Movement gained national acclaim through its weekly Moral Monday protests that attracted thousands to the North Carolina General Assembly in 2013, according to the Economic Policy Institute.

Last week, the church held a retirement banquet that featured a video message from President Joe Biden.