Ferguson and Faith

Gunning Francis Leah

Description

The shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, reignited a long-smoldering movement for justice, with many St. Louis-area clergy stepping up to support the emerging young leaders of today's Civil Rights Movement. Seminary professor Leah Gunning Francis was among the activists, and her interviews with more than two dozen faith leaders and with the new movement's organizers take us behind the scenes of the continuing protests. Ferguson and Faith demonstrates that being called to lead a faithful life can take us to places we never expected to go, with people who never expected us to join hands with them.Ferguson and Faith is the first book from the partnership of the Forum for Theological Exploration (FTE) and Chalice Press.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie
• Christianity

Informations

• Publié par: Chalice Press
• Date de parution: 04 août 2015
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780827211063
• Langue: English

Extrait

Through the curation of poignant testimonies and reflections from local Ferguson clergy and activists, Dr. Gunning Francis has created a pathway for the construction of practical theologies that will inform and shape the prophetic leadership of preachers, pastors, and faith-based organizers in the ongoing struggle for freedom, justice, and peace in our communities.
-Michael Ray Mathews, Director of Clergy Organizing, PICO National Network
Words-hard words, blunt words, truthful words, empowering words-Words of God. Leah Gunning Francis enlivens sacred stories of religious leaders-old and young-as they confront systemic evil. Using the best of qualitative research and practical theology, Dr. Gunning Francis records the words faithful people use to connect the resources of faith traditions, personal skills, and passionate hearts into actions. The clues we encounter call us to search, to live, and to enflesh the words of God.
-Jack Seymour, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary
While the Church often overplays its role in the Civil Rights Movement, its contributions to that freedom struggle have nevertheless been tangible and transformative. How will the faith community be remembered for its response to the Black Lives Matter movement that is aggressive and sometimes profane, non-hierarchical, and wary of organized religion? Rooted in St. Louis, Leah Gunning Francis effectively weaves together profiles of local Christian and Jewish leaders who, inspired by the Ferguson moment, are working to creatively disrupt white supremacy in their religious institutions and the wider society.
-Ethan Vesely-Flad, Director of National Organizing, Fellowship of Reconciliation
The movement that sprung from the ground where Michael Brown s body lay is one of diverse voices brought together by a common call. There was no owner s manual, no rules on the back of the game box, just people compelled by their faith sense of justice to stay silent no longer. Dr. Gunning Francis powerfully brings those voices together and lets them tell the story of the first days of this new civil rights movement.
-Michael Kinman, Dean of Christ Church Cathedral, St. Louis
Leah Gunning Francis, as a mother of two young African American sons, a clergy spouse, and a seminary professor, resolves to make audible the voices of twenty-four clergy and thirteen young leaders at ground zero in Ferguson, Missouri, in the aftermath of the shooting death of Michael Brown. With vivid and breathtaking prose, she shares their stories of lived faith on the frontlines of injustice that forms a seamless vestment of justice and hope. Specifically, Francis focuses on clergy leadership who through interaction with young movement leaders where compelled to embody their faith commitments in the midst of teargas and rubber bullets wielded by police and the National Guard. Professor Gunning Francis helps clergypersons answer the question: How must I live my faith when injustice brings tragedy to the community? This book is required reading for clergypersons serving in congregations and social agencies regardless of their social location as well as required reading for seminary students preparing for leadership in faith-based communities. Lastly, this book is essential reading for all those seeking to weave together a spiritual, political, and social life that is sacred and consistent with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
-Evelyn Parker, Perkins School of Theology
This is a very important book. Leah Gunning Francis has penned a theological memoir of a movement. It is an invitation to see the spirituality at the heart of this movement. And it is an invitation to get into the streets since we don t just change the world with our heads, but with our hands and feet and sweat and tears. One of the most important things this book does is celebrate a new generation of activists and faith-rooted organizers, without forgetting the freedom-fighters of old. This is not your granny s revolution. A fresh, new, holy uprising is happening if we will only have eyes to see and ears to hear-and the courage to join them in the streets.
-Shane Claiborne, Author, Speaker, Activist
Their work was a work of justice. This volume is a work of justice too, as it allows us to hear the voices of both the young activists and the clergy who were on the streets of Ferguson during those stressful weeks and months. The ecclesiology that emerges from these testimonies is compelling. This is a must-read for all leaders of faith communities. In addition, this is a model for the power of qualitative research to change the narrative. Because Leah Gunning Francis has allowed the voices of these leaders to speak through her pages, we have a completely different picture of what was happening in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014. Her work allows us to hear and see the vocation of the church, of the clergy, and of all children on God.
-Margaret Ann Crain, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary
This book is a powerful collection of stories of clergy and young activists who were visible and vocal in the struggle for racial justice in Ferguson. They embodied the best of the human spirit that resonated with many around the globe, and challenged this nation to live up to its ideal of liberty and justice for all.
-Emanuel Cleaver, U.S. Representative (Missouri)
Leah Gunning Francis-seminary professor, activist, mother, and church leader-offers an on-the-ground account of the Ferguson, Missouri, protests rocking the nation in the aftermath of the killing of Michael Brown. Through interviews with church leaders and young people participating in the outcry for justice, Gunning-Francis offers a story of Ferguson largely untold by news media accounts. It is a story beginning in her own experience as the mother of two sons. She uses her passion from her personal stake in the police killings of African American young men as the jumping-off point for faith-based activism in the events of Ferguson, and for interviews with St. Louis area church leaders. The story she tells is one of church leaders in solidarity with young people as together they demanded change and were willing to put themselves at risk to make their voices heard. Gunning Francis paints a compelling picture of theology in action as people of faith joined together not only to express their outrage but ultimately in the hopes of confronting and transforming racism in America.
-Joyce Mercer, Virginia Theological Seminary
FERGUSON FAITH
Sparking Leadership Awakening Community
LEAH GUNNING FRANCIS
Copyright 2015 by Leah Gunning Francis
All rights reserved. For permission to reuse content, please contact Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, [phone], www.copyright.com .
Cover art and design: Bidemi (Bd) Oladele
Photographs used throughout this book are the copyrighted works of the photographers credited and are used with their permission. All rights reserved.
www.ChalicePress.com
Paperback: 9780827211056 EPUB: 9780827211063 EPDF: 9780827211070
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Francis, Leah Gunning.
Ferguson and faith : sparking leadership and awakening community / by Leah Gunning Francis. - First Edition.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-8272-1105-6 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Protest movements-Missouri-Ferguson. 2. Social movements-Religious aspects. 3. Community development-Missouri-Ferguson. I. Title. HN59.2.F73 2015 303.48 40977865-dc23
2015022562
Contents
Editor s Foreword
Foreword
Introduction
1 Just Protest This by Prayer!
2 Praying with Their Feet
3 Not Looking Away
4 Jesus Is in the Streets!
5 Where Have All the Leaders Gone?
6 This Is What Theology Looks Like
7 Why Are Your Doors Open to Us?
8 There Is a Ferguson Near You
9 Standing on the Side of Love
10 #staywoke
About the Author
Index
Editor s Foreword
Cultivating Faithful, Wise and Courageous Leaders for the Church and Academy
Welcome to a conversation at the intersection of young adults, faith, and leadership. The Forum for Theological Exploration (FTE) is a leadership incubator that inspires diverse young people to make a difference in the world through Christian communities. This series, published in partnership with Chalice Press, is for individuals reimagining Christian leadership and creating innovative approaches to ministry and scholarship from diverse contexts.

These books are written by and for a growing network of: FTE partners seeking to cultivate Christian leaders, pastors, and theological educators needed to renew and respond to a changing church. Young leaders exploring traditional and alternative paths to ministry and teaching that serve the common good and justice-both inside and beyond the walls of the church and theological academy. Christian leaders developing new ways to awaken the search for meaning and purpose in young adults who are inspired to shape the future of the church, academy, and world. Members and leaders of faith communities creating new solutions to address the needs of their congregations, institutions, and the broader community.
This series offers an opportunity to discover what FTE is learning, widen the circle of conversation, and share ideas FTE believes are necessary for faith communities to shape a more hopeful future.
Thank you for joining us!
Dori Baker, Series Editor
Stephen Lewis, FTE President
Foreword

by Jim Wallis
Ferguson and Faith is a frontline account of the experiences of young activist leaders and local clergy--the two groups who have played the biggest role in transforming the aftermath of Michael Brown s tragic death from a moment to a movement. To create this book, Leah Gunning Francis interviewed dozens of clergy and young leaders, from diverse religious and racial backgrounds, who found themselves united in a desire to confront and transform a criminal justice system--and broader society--that s