These resources provide visions of engagement and reconciliation for all people, as told from the vantage point of Black men and women across several generations. The stories, sermons, reflections and research in these books provide unique perspectives and gospel-centered approaches to conversations around the church, race, reconciliation and God’s heart for those on the margins.

These resources were compiled by Jennifer Thigpenn, multiethnic ministry coordinator for the Western District.

Resource Links

  • “One Blood: Parting Words to the Church on Race and Love” by Dr. John M. Perkins

    In this prophetic appeal, Dr. John Perkins has an honest and loving conversation with the American church on race, faith, discipleship and biblical reconciliation. Perkins invites God’s people to lead the conversation around reconciliation, allowing the gospel to pave the way for transformative, loving, relational engagement with those of different racial and ethnic backgrounds.
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  • “Disability and the Church: A Vision for Diversity and Inclusion” by Lamar Hardwick

    Lamar Hardwick takes a theological and practical look at the responsibility of the church to disabled people. Weaving together his own story with biblical text, Hardwick invites communities to practice welcome, honor and include the voices and experiences of disabled men, women and children, ministering alongside them as people created in the image of God.
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  • “Soul Care in African American Practice” by Barbara L. Peacock

    Spiritual director Dr. Barbara Peacock invites readers to a journey of prayer, spiritual direction and soul care from an African American perspective. Reflecting on the lives of significant African American spiritual leaders, Dr. Peacock examines the rich legacy of faith and spiritual practices in African American culture and history.
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  • “How We Love Matters: A Call to Practice Relentless Racial Reconciliation” by Albert Tate

    In a series of essays, pastor Albert Tate offers an invitation to the family table, in which brothers and sisters in the faith can have the hard conversations about that which divides. Tate paints a picture of discipleship centered on love of God and love of neighbor that invites us to tell the truth, carry one another’s burdens and move us toward hope, healing, justice and reconciliation.
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  • “Redemptive Kingdom Diversity: A Biblical Theology of the People of God” by Jarvis J. Williams

    In this work, Dr. Jarvis Williams provides a comprehensive and biblical overview of the diverse people of God, as seen from Genesis to Revelation. Williams provides a gospel lens through which the modern church can engage conversations and practice of ethnic and racial reconciliation in service to God’s redemptive work of all creation.
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  • “The Colors of Culture: The Beauty of Diverse Friendships” by MelindaJoy Mingo

    In “The Colors of Culture,” MelindaJoy Mingo explores the connection between culture and identity while offering practical applications for how to be in authentic, life-giving cross-cultural relationships.
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  • “Josey Johnson’s Hair and the Holy Spirit” by Esau McCaulley

    In this short, animated book for children, Esau McCaulley creates a space for children to understand and celebrate humanity’s beautiful diversity that reflects God’s image.
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  • “The Celebration Place” by Dorena Williamson

    With colorful illustrations and delightful rhyme scheme geared to children, Dorena Williamson paints a picture of a unified church that gathers to worship and celebrate God’s redemptive love across lines that often divide us, including ethnicity, age and style.
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  • The Jude 3 Project

    Founded by Christian apologist Lisa Fields, the Jude 3 Project aims to help Christians understand what they believe and why. This collection of resources and curriculum is committed to equipping the local church according to the mandate of Jude 1:3. While accessible to all, there is a distinctive emphasis on providing resources for those of African descent in the U.S. and abroad.
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  • “Silent Voices, Powerful Messages” by Doretha O’Quinn, Ph.D.

    Doretha O’Quinn, Ph.D., highlights the stories, struggles and contributions of African American pastors and leaders in The Foursquare Church from its founding to the beginning of the 21st century. These stories bear witness to the enduring call to reach the whole world with the whole gospel, even from the margins of society and culture.
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  • “Jesus and the Disinherited” by Howard Thurman

    In his seminal work, Howard Thurman offers a prophetic call that invites the reader to follow Jesus’ model of love for those on the margins of society. This book inspired generations of civil rights leaders to fight for justice and freedom for the oppressed as an expression of the kingdom of God in their contexts.
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  • “Strength to Love” by Martin Luther King Jr., Ph.D.

    A collection of Martin Luther King Jr.’s most famous sermons, “Strength to Love” offers a theological foundation for King’s passion of justice and freedom as an extension of the kingdom of God for all people.
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  • “Oneness Embraced” by Tony Evans, Th.D.

    In “Oneness Embraced,” Tony Evans, Th.D., founding pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, weaves biblical truth and his own narrative into a compelling call to kingdom-focused and kingdom-shaped unity.
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  • “Reading While Black” by Esau McCaulley, Ph.D.

    New Testament scholar Esau McCaulley, Ph.D., invites his readers to look at biblical interpretation through the eyes of historic Black church traditions. This embodied approach of biblical interpretation not only provides insight to contextual realities that Black people have faced, and continue to face, but also is an exercise in hope in a God who brings abundant life to all people. This book is also available in Portuguese.
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  • “Be the Bridge” by Latasha Morrison

    “Be the Bridge” offers insight into historical events and trends, present hot topics, and a biblical foundation of God’s heart for racial reconciliation. Additionally, author Latasha Morrison offers practical ways of engaging the content so that all people can be equipped and mobilized to build bridges of justice, righteousness and racial unity to their communities.
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  • “Building a Multiethnic Church” by Derwin L. Gray, D.Min.

    In “Building a Multiethnic Church,” Derwin L. Gray, D.Min., utilizes the New Testament model of the church to cast a vision for congregations that are ethnically, socio-economically and generationally diverse. He encourages pastors and leaders to see the gospel as an invitation to build hope-filled communities that are shaped by love, grace and reconciliation.
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  • “Subversive Witness” by Dominique Dubois Gilliard

    In “Subversive Witness,” Dominique Dubois Gilliard extends an invitation to sacrificial love of neighbor that sees missional purpose in the eradication of injustice. Utilizing the narratives of Moses, Esther, Zacchaeus, Jesus and others, Gilliard explores the biblical precedent of leveraging one’s privilege to bring healing, help and wholeness to others for the sake of God’s kingdom.
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