Introduction: How Did We Get Here?
Part 1: Dismantling White Supremacy is the Way of the Cross
Chapter 1: Dismantling White Supremacy and the Power of the Gospel
Chapter 2: The Roots are Infected
Chapter 3: Repentance, Reparations, Reconciliation
Chapter 4: Dylan Roof and I are Lutheran
Chapter 5: Decolonizing the Liturgy and the Power of Symbols
Part 2: Grace is an Ever Widening Circle
Chapter 6: The Church is Queer
Chapter 7: Toxic Masculinity is Killing Us
Chapter 8: Resisting Nationalism is the Way of Jesus,
Part 3: The Church can Lead the Way
Chapter 9: Dear Church, I Love You
Chapter 10: Stretching God's Tent is Front Line Freedom Fighting
Chapter 11: It's Time for a Revolution
Lenny Duncan is author of Dear Church, and Mission Developer Pastor at Messiah Lutheran Church in Vancouver, WA. Formerly incarcerated, formerly homeless, and formerly unchurched, Duncan is now a sought-after speaker and writer on topics of racial justice and the role of the church in the twenty-first century.
"This book is the sermon the church most needs to hear and is most afraid to heed." --The Christian Century "Our brother Lenny Duncan has crafted a masterful and heartbroken indictment of where the Lutheran Church could be and where it is instead. He stands fiercely grounded in the Lutheran tradition of revealing our own brokenness, proclaiming our hope in Christ, and challenging us to live into love of neighbor. His individual experiences and our churchwide practices are woven together in an unsettling illustration of how the American idol of white supremacy has laid the foundation for a wide array of vitriol, from Dylann Roof to transphobia to the election of the forty-fifth president. Prepare yourself, church. This is a love letter you have to read--and a proclamation that will leave you convicted." --Emmy Kegler ELCA Pastor and author of One Coin Found "An inherently fascinating, inspired and inspiring read from beginning to end...unreservedly recommended and worthwhile reading for all members of the Christian community regardless of their denominational affiliations." --Midwest Book Review "May we love the church as much as Duncan does so that we cannot just take his words to heart but also engage to dismantle the powers and principalities that keep us from being siblings in Christ with one another. His words about the whitest denomination in the United States and its relationship to white supremacy are the truths that we need to acknowledge. Duncan's love letter to the church is the modern day epistle we all need to read." --The Reverend Tuhina Verma Rasche "There are so many necessary voices leading the charge with creating a shameless view of sex for our society and our church. Lenny Duncan's voice is one of them." --Danielle Kingstrom, Patheos Blog "Marrying stunning, reverberant personal stories with little-known Lutheran history, Duncan makes readers laugh out loud in grim recognition. His critiques of our beloved church strike a tender spot in the heart, not because they are harsh, but because they are true. I pray we will engage in truth-telling with the same rigor Duncan does, because only truth will open the path to justice." --Emily Scott, ELCA Mission Developer and Dinner Church Movement "The Reverend Lenny Duncan writes with a searing message urgently rooted in true love. His deep commitment to speak the truth to his white siblings in the church reads as a desperately clarion call. Dear Church isn't just a good idea for a book study--the grace-filled ferocity that overwhelms its pages reminds one of early writings from the Latin American base communities that formed liberation theology as we know it today. Duncan has written a necessary addition to the corpus of Christian writings in the twenty-first century. We ignore his plea at our own peril." --Jason Chesnutt ANKOS Films, The Slate Project and #slatespeak and #slatereads "Lenny Duncan has given us a bold and fearless book filled with unsettling but indispensable insights into the stranglehold white supremacy inflicts upon our churches. At the same time, we feel a holy, ferocious love radiating from every page. This book should be required reading for all who love our church and lament our failures. If you don't come away breathless, hope-struck, and fired up for revolution, check your pulse." --Heidi Neumark, Trinity Lutheran Church Manhattan
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