Nationally recognized speaker and church leader Jay Augustine demonstrates that the church is called and equipped to model reconciliation, justice, diversity, and inclusion. This book develops three uses of the term "reconciliation": salvific, social, and civil. Augustine examines the intersection of the salvific and social forms of reconciliation through an engagement with Paul's letters and uses the Black church as an exemplar to connect the concept of salvation to social and political movements that seek justice for those marginalized by racism, class structures, and unjust legal systems. He then traces the reaction to racial progress in the form of white backlash as he explores the fate of civil reconciliation from the civil rights era to the Black Lives Matter movement. This book argues that the church's work in reconciliation can serve as a model for society at large and that secular diversity and inclusion practices can benefit the church. It offers a prophetic call to pastors, church leaders, and students to recover reconciliation as the heart of the church's message to a divided world. Foreword by William H. Willimon and afterword by Michael B. Curry.

The Keys Are Being Passed celebrates the 50th anniversary of the American Civil Rights Movement through the interdisciplinary lens of law and religion. It draws a parallel between how Jesus, in Matthew 16, built upon Jewish tradition by passing "the keys" of responsibility to the apostle Peter to establish Jesus' legacy in the Christian church. Just as Jesus gave the keys of legacy and responsibility to Peter, the interfaith leaders of the Movement are similarly passing on the keys of legacy and responsibility and challenging the current generation to accept them. The Keys Are Being Passed honors the Movement's interconnected legacy of law and religion, while also challenging its readers to accept their keys of responsibility in contemporary areas like voting rights, environmental justice, and education reform. The choice is yours. Will you accept your keys?