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A review by grandrevans
Dear Church: A Love Letter from a Black Preacher to the Whitest Denomination in the Us by Lenny Duncan
4.0
First and foremost, I am glad that Lenny Duncan wrote this book and am grateful for his ministry of speaking truth. This book is a must read for leaders on every level in the ELCA (and would probably translate well to other denominations as well, though I can’t speak to that experience).
Rev. Duncan does a solid job tracing the overt and subtle acts of racism in the Lutheran Church from the 1800s to today. He raises up the voices of forgotten black leaders in the church (Pastor Jehu Jones in particular—the first black pastor in the American Lutheran denomination). Duncan explores the uncomfortable truth that both Dylan Roof, the man who murdered a group of black Christians at a bible study in Charleston, NC, on June 15, 2015, and Duncan himself are Lutherans, and he asks the church to do some soul searching on what type of environment exists in the Lutheran Church that could allow Roof’s white supremacist views to take root. Duncan also offers some concrete examples for how the church can, on both a congregational and synod level, address some of the wrongs of the past and offer reparations (in the sense of “to repair”, not strictly in financial terms) to its black and brown brothers and sisters. He even puts forth the call to the church to take on the mantle of radical hospitality: to welcome the LGBTQ+ community, immigrants, and all others as part of God’s family, because the Gospel is clear that God’s Love is for all people. All of these truths are essential and need to be said.
My only complaints with the book are that 1) it uses a fair amount of jargon from the progressive church without stopping to define terms, which could make it a bit alienating for newcomers to the ideas presented in the book; and 2) there are some points in the book that I read and went, “OK, yes, I agree with this, but I want the book to dig deeper on this topic”—which isn’t strictly a bad thing: this book is more of a survey (in the academic sense) of the ways the church has failed to live up to its promises than a deep dive into each of the oppressions listed in the book. That said, if you’re already well versed in progressive Christian spaces, you might find yourself nodding in agreement (or maybe pushing back to engage in a deeper dialogue on some topics depending on where you’re at; I can’t speak for anyone else) more often than you find yourself engaging a new concept (though you’ll likely encounter some of those as well).
In my reviews, I tend to reserve the fifth star for books that have changed my life in some way or that have connected with me on a deeply personal level. So the four stars on this review mean “This is a book I would very much recommend, particularly to its intended audience.”
With that said, DEAR CHURCH is must read for Lutherans in the ELCA, and I would recommend it even stronger to churches, church leaders, and laypeople who are just beginning to recognize the need to do more anti-racism work in their community but who aren’t quite sure where to start.
Rev. Duncan does a solid job tracing the overt and subtle acts of racism in the Lutheran Church from the 1800s to today. He raises up the voices of forgotten black leaders in the church (Pastor Jehu Jones in particular—the first black pastor in the American Lutheran denomination). Duncan explores the uncomfortable truth that both Dylan Roof, the man who murdered a group of black Christians at a bible study in Charleston, NC, on June 15, 2015, and Duncan himself are Lutherans, and he asks the church to do some soul searching on what type of environment exists in the Lutheran Church that could allow Roof’s white supremacist views to take root. Duncan also offers some concrete examples for how the church can, on both a congregational and synod level, address some of the wrongs of the past and offer reparations (in the sense of “to repair”, not strictly in financial terms) to its black and brown brothers and sisters. He even puts forth the call to the church to take on the mantle of radical hospitality: to welcome the LGBTQ+ community, immigrants, and all others as part of God’s family, because the Gospel is clear that God’s Love is for all people. All of these truths are essential and need to be said.
My only complaints with the book are that 1) it uses a fair amount of jargon from the progressive church without stopping to define terms, which could make it a bit alienating for newcomers to the ideas presented in the book; and 2) there are some points in the book that I read and went, “OK, yes, I agree with this, but I want the book to dig deeper on this topic”—which isn’t strictly a bad thing: this book is more of a survey (in the academic sense) of the ways the church has failed to live up to its promises than a deep dive into each of the oppressions listed in the book. That said, if you’re already well versed in progressive Christian spaces, you might find yourself nodding in agreement (or maybe pushing back to engage in a deeper dialogue on some topics depending on where you’re at; I can’t speak for anyone else) more often than you find yourself engaging a new concept (though you’ll likely encounter some of those as well).
In my reviews, I tend to reserve the fifth star for books that have changed my life in some way or that have connected with me on a deeply personal level. So the four stars on this review mean “This is a book I would very much recommend, particularly to its intended audience.”
With that said, DEAR CHURCH is must read for Lutherans in the ELCA, and I would recommend it even stronger to churches, church leaders, and laypeople who are just beginning to recognize the need to do more anti-racism work in their community but who aren’t quite sure where to start.