Behind the scenes: the books behind the "safety in church" series

Friends,

This week I wanted to draw your attention to part 2 and part 3 of the 4-part series on What makes for a sense of safety in church? that I’ve been writing for Christians for Social Action.

(If you missed part 1, I’d recommend starting there. And be on the lookout for part 4 coming next week!)

Part 2 dives into a couple of Jesus stories, a couple of Psalms, and some history from other eras of Christianity, as a way to keep exploring what safety does and doesn’t look like. (And why “faith over fear” just doesn’t cut it.)

Part 3, then, gets deeper into the connection between church as a place of emotional safety and church as a community that’s wholeheartedly pursuing liberation and justice for all people. (Spoiler: I don’t think you can have one without the other.)

I hope you get a chance to give these two pieces a read. You might even share them with your favorite church-y friends, formerly church-y friends, pastors, ex-pastors, etc. and see what resonates.

In the “behind the scenes” category, I thought it could be fun to highlight a few of the books I draw on in the safety in church series. (This will be an incomplete list, only because it would be too long if it were complete!)

Maybe one of these books has made an impact on you, too. Or maybe there’s one that you haven’t read yet but would like to. If either is the case, drop a comment—I’d love to hear about it.

So, in alphabetical order by author, here are a few book recs if you’re looking to think more about what makes faith communities feel safe or unsafe for all sorts of people—and how this is connected to justice:

1. #ChurchToo: How Purity Culture Upholds Abuse and How to Find Healing by Emily Joy Allison

An honest deep dive into all things complementarianism, patriarchy, church, and abuse. If you’ve experienced gendered harm in faith communities—or want to make your church feel and be safer for anyone who’s not a cisgender heterosexual man—this is well worth reading.

2. A People’s History of Christianity: The Other Side of the Story by Diana Butler Bass

Church history like you may not have heard it before. A detailed and fascinating story of all the different ways a stream of Christianity that promotes love, justice, and peace—and resists violence, greed, bigotry, and empire—has shown up over the many centuries of Christian history.

3. God Is a Black Woman by Christena Cleveland

For those ready and excited to reimagine God as not-white and not-male, and to explore all the healing power of the Sacred Black Feminine.

4. Living Resistance: An Indigenous Vision for Seeking Wholeness Every Day by Kaitlin Curtice

For those ready and excited to pursue spirituality as resistance against white supremacy, patriarchy, and other expressions of empire, drawing on Indigenous perspectives and aiming toward kinship.

5. You Are Your Own: A Reckoning with the Religious Trauma of Evangelical Christianity by Jamie Lee Finch

For those ready to unpack and process all the issues evangelicalism left us with—and looking to rebuild a severed connection with our real selves.

6. Fortune: How Race Broke My Family and the World—And How to Repair It All by Lisa Sharon Harper

Family history and U.S. history interwoven in some fascinating, illuminating ways. Gets into what repentance and repair might begin to look like.

7. Raise Your Voice: Why We Stay Silent and How to Speak Up by Kathy Khang

Situated within Christian contexts, a compelling guide to what it’s like to push for change in the direction of justice and how we might become more bold to do so.

8. Shoutin’ in the Fire: An American Epistle by Danté Stewart

A memoir of what it was like for Stewart as a Black man to come to terms with where white-dominated evangelical churches are at and develop a powerful voice to call faith communities to do better.

Phew. Writing very brief summaries of what I loved about each of these books was surprisingly difficult. I hope you have a lot of grace with my highly imperfect words about each!

If you’re wanting to process your own experiences of safety/unsafety in past (or present) faith communities, I hope you find some of these authors to be wise guides on your journey. They sure have been on mine.

Or if you’re part of a faith community now that wants to be a place of safety, I hope you find some of these books (as well as the Christians for Social Action series!) to be helpful resources along the way.

In this with you,

Liz