Description
A “Be-It-Yourself” Guide to Anti-racism for Churches and Church Leaders
Whether you have been an ally for years or just recently opened your eyes to racial injustice, guiding your predominantly white church toward anti-racism is a daunting task. Where do you even begin? White churches especially feel an urgency to respond but at the same time suffer a sense of overwhelmingness and futility, as if no one action, sermon series, or service project will solve the problem of racism in America. And they’re right. Instead, we must begin to look deeply at our organizations—our traditions, our ministries, our leadership, our ways of making decisions, our ways of interacting with the world beyond the church—to identify and address implicit biases and to discover how white pseudo-supremacy has been encoded into our way of “doing church.”
Wait—Is This Racist? is here to guide you and your church through this challenging and uncomfortable work. Intentionally interactive, practical, and biblically based, Wait—Is This Racist? guides church leaders and staff through an examination of all aspects of church life, including leadership, preaching and liturgy, music, small groups, buildings and grounds, and more, to help churches create an action plan that will take them toward not only becoming anti-racist but also actually doing anti-racist work. Offering educational tips, powerful stories, and insightful questions, anti-racism consultants Kerry, Bryana, and Josh will accompany you through this necessary work so that your church can truly become a justice-oriented organization that leans more fully into the kin-dom of God.
The assessments found in each chapter are intended for use with your leadership team to dive deep into an examination of your own organization. This downloadable packet includes 8.5x11 versions of the assessments, which may be printed for each member of your team to allow more space for written responses than is available in the book. Each member of the team should also have their own copy of the book in order to deeply engage the material in each chapter and to revisit key sections as time goes on.Features:
- A clear audit of church operations and reasons why this work is so important
- Workbook-style questions at the end of each chapter
- A workable action plan for churches to implement what they have learned
- Tips, encouragement, and questions for BIPOC leaders in primarily white churches
- Helpful glossary of terms to aid general understanding
Product Excerpts and Related Resources
Reviews
“In Wait—Is This Racist? you have before you a guidebook, a survival guide, a deconstruction chisel, and a faithful interpretation of the reign of God that is at hand. This book made me think critically about my own blind spots while also acknowledging the potential areas of growth that could happen in my personal and professional life. The book masterfully offers a clarion call to embrace a God who unites rather than the idol of white supremacy that divides. You would be wise to sit with this book—it will change you.”
-Robert W. Lee, pastor and author of A Sin by Any Other Name: Reckoning with Racism and the Heritage of the South
“Wait—Is This Racist? is a practical guide to the work that so many white Christians feel paralyzed by in our churches: how to examine the lingering presence of white supremacy culture in our ministry practices and where to turn for tangible ways of untangling ourselves from it. The authors draw on a wealth of experience to help churches prepare for and navigate the journey toward freedom from the lie of whiteness, and their wisdom is essential guidance for those of us who are looking for a way forward.”
-Chris Furr, author of Straight White Male: A Faith-Based Guide to Deconstructing Your Privilege and Living with Integrity
“Wow. Read this book right now and tell everyone involved in church to read this book. Then use it as the thorough-yet-concise, accessible, practical handbook that it is to help your church not only do anti-racism work but become anti-racist. The book is a perfect combination of theory and practice, and it manages to do in one volume what previously has required using multiple resources and piecing something together to move forward. There’s nothing else out there quite like it. This book has the power to change us for good.”
-Jaime Clark-Soles, Professor of New Testament, Perkins School of Theology
“Whether you are contemplating or are already in the process of making systemic changes toward racial equity in your church, this book is for you. Transparent, engaging, and at times disruptive, Wait—Is This Racist? is a practical guide that helps you and your leadership team ask all the right questions about every aspect of your church, moving you beyond performative allyship to genuine transformation.”
-Sari Ateek, rector, St. John’s Episcopal Church, Norwood Parish, Chevy Chase, Maryland
“The white Christian church in America has blood on her hands for conflating white supremacy with the church—a violent truth many churches aren’t willing to face and one that didn’t happen only in the past but that continues today. Wait—Is this Racist? is a necessary stop in any white congregation’s road in the soul work of anti-racism.”
-Amanda Hambrick Ashcraft, executive minister, Middle Collegiate Church, New York City, and founder of Raising Imagination
“The progressive church preaches and performs anti-racism. However, it’s incredibly rare to find the church that invests in being anti-racist and divesting their privilege. Wait—Is This Racist? is a powerful, uncomfortable, and necessary challenge to dismantle the systems of whiteness in our churches. It’s the perfect guide for those who are ready to get serious about embodying an anti-racist gospel.”
-Jonathan Williams, author of She’s My Dad: A Father’s Transition and a Son’s Redemption, and founder of Forefront Brooklyn
“Wait—Is This Racist? is an incredibly powerful tool and a work of collaborative art. The teaching, suggested practices, and deep wisdom in these pages are tailor-made for all churches that want to be a part of this work of anti-racism—this work that is so vital to the good news that the incarnate Jesus brings to us today. As a pastor committed to leading an anti-racist church, I am eager to begin using this resource in my own community. I can’t recommend it any more highly to fellow church leaders and clergy.”
-Amanda Rigby, Associate Pastor for Discipleship and Youth, The Peak Church, Apex, North Carolina