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Reckoning with Nehemiah
One of the Black singers said, “You know, it’s curious, but none of the white people I’ve ever met have ancestors who owned slaves….” We stood outside Riverside Church in New York City after morning worship, a group of white and Black singers, all of us members of the Riverside Church Choir in the late…
Beyond the Reach of Resurrection
In December 1969, Ridgecrest Baptist Church, the church my father had pastored for nine months, voted to dismiss him, 27-11. The night before, buckshot had ripped through the middle of a party in the parsonage, narrowly missing friends of mine, both Black and white. Ridgecrest fired my dad because he refused first to cancel the…
Dangerous Proposition
Bringing people together has always been a dangerous proposition. The man in the black and white photograph is looking to his right. The camera captures him from below, emphasizing his stature. His right hand is extended, the long fingers spread wide. Caught mid-speech, mid-sentence, mid-thought, he is intent on what he is saying. His narrow…
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holy discomfort: Love letters from a reluctant Christian 