For the fifteenth anniversary of its publication, this revised edition features a new introduction from the author on the state of the church and its "radical welcome" today, along with new reflections on how it continues to reshape the church. This book is at once a theological, inspirational, and practical guide for congregations that want to move beyond diversity and inclusion to present a vision for the church of the future: one where the gifts, voices, and power of marginalized groups bring new life to the mainline church. Based on two years of work and over 200 interviews with people in congregations all around the United States-in urban, suburban, and rural settings-it asks the question: How do we face our fears and welcome transformation in order to become God's radically welcoming people? Each chapter introduces a particular congregation and the challenges it faced, and lays out the theological underpinnings of tackling fears head-on to embrace change as a welcome part of community life. This new edition features essays from Michael B. Curry, Mark Bozzuti-Jones, Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows, and Mark Richardson.

An important work highlighting the theological foundation of social action. Christ himself lived in a time of immense social and political turmoil, as did his early followers. But can those early struggles provide guidance for God’s faithful in our own divided time? Episcopal priest and peace advocate Michael W. Hopkins proves that they can, tracing the origins of Christian responsibility all the way back to the indissoluble bond of baptism, drawing a clear line between those fraught early days and the turbulent present that Jesus commands us to engage in. With nuance and grace, Called to Act peels back the historical and scriptural underpinnings of Christianity to exhume the social obligations inherited by all members of the kingdom of God. Through interpretation of Jesus’ words, works, and sacraments, modern day Christians can begin to reframe our fundamental outlook on and participation in the world around us, working as one to build communities of mutual care. Rather than allow differences of opinion or misguided attempts at neutrality to divorce us from the necessary work of political and community engagement, Hopkins provides compelling scriptural evidence for a new kingdom, united not by what we have left undone, but by what we are called to do for each other.

Get to know the first five Black women to be elected diocesan bishops within the Episcopal Church. During this moment, with the #metoo movement, Black Lives Matter, and the increased feelings of division in our country, Black women clergy in the Episcopal Church have voiced a need to come together, believing that their experiences and concerns may be very different than those of other clergy. That need is answered here in This Band of Sisterhood. The five Black women bishops featured in this book can provide a compass for how to journey along these new paths. Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows, Carlye J. Hughes, Kimberly Lucas, Shannon MacVean-Brown, and Phoebe A. Roaf offer honest, vulnerable wisdom from their own lives that speaks to this time in American life. Both women and men will find this book invaluable in discerning how God might be calling them to use their own leadership skills.

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."