Preaching Black Lives (Matter)

Edited by Gayle Fisher-Stewart

Jun/2020, 304 Pages, PAPERBACK, 6 x 9

ISBN-13: 9781640652569

$27.95

$27.95

Winner of a Gold Medal - 2021 Illumination Book Awards

Preaching Black Lives (Matter) is an anthology that asks, “What does it mean to be church where Black lives matter?”

Prophetic imagination would have us see a future in which all Christians would be free of the soul-warping belief and practice of racism. This collection of reflections is an incisive look into that future today. It explains why preaching about race is important in the elimination of racism in the church and society, and how preaching has the ability to transform hearts. While programs, protests, conferences, and laws are all important and necessary, less frequently discussed is the role of the church, specifically the Anglican Church and Episcopal Church, in ending systems of injustice. The ability to preach from the pulpit is mandatory for every person, clergy or lay, regardless of race, who has the responsibility to spread the gospel.

For there’s a saying in the Black church, “If it isn’t preached from the pulpit, it isn’t important.”

Read an excerpt. 

GAYLE FISHER-STEWART is an Episcopal priest and interim rector at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Washington, DC. She has been involved in the valuing of diversity and black lives for over forty years. She has taught and preached nationally, both in and out of the church. She is a Christian educator and activist; her most recent work was published by Anglican Theological Review.

Paul Roberts Abernathy

Claudia Marion Allen

Jennifer Amuzie

Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows

Antonio J. Baxter

Nathan D. Baxter

Tempie D. Beaman

Walter Brownridge

Mariann Edgar Budde

Kevin Burdet

Staci L. Burkey

Nicole D.

Kelly Brown Douglas

Laura Evans

Gayle Fisher-Stewart

Marlene Eudora Forrest

Charles D. Fowler III

Wilda C. Gafney

Morgan G. Harding

James C. Harrington

Vincent Powell Harris

MaryBeth Ingram

Peter Jarrett-Schell

F. Willis Johnson

Mike Kinman

Ginny Klein

Steve Lawler

Charles Michael Livingston Jr

Monai Lowe

Sandra T. Montes

Deniray Mueller

Rebecca S. Myers

Kevin C. Pinckney

Judith Rhedin

Gene Robinson

Glenice Robinson-Como

Cara Rockhill

Jamie Samilio

Ruth McMeekin Skjerseth

Carolyne Starek

Rebecca Steele

Rob Stephens

Frank A. Thomas

Kwasi Thornell

Shayna J. Watson

Alissa Williams

Beginning Words

Kwasi Thornell

Introduction to Preaching Black Lives (Matter)

Gayle Fisher-Stewart

 

PART I. Preaching Black Lives Matter

1. Introduction: Is There a Word from the Lord?

Gayle Fisher-Stewart

2. Just a Few Thoughts (Questions, Really) on Race

Paul Roberts Abernathy

3. Christmas: A Season of Peace?

Nathan D. Baxter

4. Demons

Tempie D. Beaman

5. Anniversary of the Arrival of the First Africans in British North America

Walter Brownridge

6. Disturb Us, O Lord

Marlene Eudora Forrest

7. Strategies of Resistance

Wilda C. Gafney

8. Listening for Black Lives: A Sermon to Myself and My White Colleagues

Peter Jarrett-Schell

9. The Pilgrimage

Rebecca S. Myers

10. Which Is It? The Tower of Babel or the New Commandment?

Kevin C. Pinckney

11. Samaritan Sunday

Gene Robinson

12. What Does the Lord Require?

Glenice Robinson-Como

13. The Wall of Whiteness

Cara Rockhill

14. The Absent God

Rob Stephens

Reflection Questions

 

PART II. Advocating for Black Lives

15. From the Trenches: Advocating for Black Lives (Matter)

Gayle Fisher-Stewart

16. Activists and Churches

Jennifer Amuzie

17. Our Duty to Preach #BlackLivesMatter

Claudia Marion Allen

18. Why Are We So White? Being a Black Bishop in a Diocese That Wants to Dismantle Racism

Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows

19. Real Presence and How it Makes Black Lives Matter (Black LGBTQ)

Antonio J. Baxter

20. Leading as if Black Congregations Matter

Mariann Edgar Budde

21. I’m Searching

Kevin Burdet

22. A Call for the Church to Embrace All, Unconditionally

Nicole D.

23. Multicultural or Multiracial?

Gayle Fisher-Stewart

24. Drinking the Kool-Aid

Morgan G. Harding

25. From the Protest Line: Why Are You There?

James C. Harrington

26. Following Jesus While Black

Vincent Powell Harris

27. Preaching from the Margins

F. Willis Johnson

28. Why Are You Throwing Yourself on This Fire?

Mike Kinman

29. I Am a White Guy

Steve Lawler

30. Church and Trauma

Charles Michael Livingston Jr.

31. Between the Pews

Monai Lowe

32. Welcoming or What?

Sandra T. Montes

33. Acknowledging White Privilege

Deniray Mueller

34. Books and Their Covers

Jamie Samilio

35. From Blackface to Black Panther: The Impact of Pop Culture in the Black Lives Matter Movement

Shayna J. Watson

36. Adventism and White Supremacy

Alissa Williams

Reflection Questions

 

PART III. Teaching for Black Lives

37. Can I Be Black and Episcopalian?

Gayle Fisher-Stewart

38. Transformative Theological Education When Race Matters: The Work Our Soul Must Do

Kelly Brown Douglas

39. Travel for Black Lives

Gayle Fisher-Stewart

Four Days in Alabama / Staci L. Burkey

A Reflection / Laura Evans

Reflections on Our Pilgrimage to Alabama / Ginny Klein

Reflecting / MaryBeth Ingram

Alabama / Judith Rhedin

Pilgrimage / Ruth McMeekin Skjerseth

A Journey / Carolyne Starek

40. The Pain of Racism

Charles D. Fowler III

41. Black History

Rebecca Steele

42. The Browning of Theological Education

Frank A. Thomas

 

Reflection Questions

Contributors

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$27.95

Keywords

  • social justice
  • inclusivity and diversity
  • POC
  • white fragility
  • anti-racist
  • white privilege

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