Online Book Study
Join members of the Louisiana Conference Anti-Racism Taskforce to study Jonathan C. Augustine's groundbreaking book, Called to Reconciliation.
The online book study will meet every Wednesday in February at either Noon or 7:00pm, via Zoom.
Rev. Donnie Wilkinson, pastor at Broadmoor United Methodist Church in Baton Rouge will lead the Noon class; while Jennifer Rossnagel, a lay person, will lead the evening study.
About the Book
Nationally recognized speaker and church leader Jay Augustine demonstrates that the church is called and equipped to model reconciliation, justice, diversity, and inclusion. This book develops three uses of the term reconciliation: salvific, social, and civil. Augustine examines the intersection of the salvific and social forms of reconciliation through an engagement with Paul's letters and uses the Black church as an exemplar to connect the concept of salvation to social and political movements that seek justice for those marginalized by racism, class structures, and unjust legal systems.
Augustine then traces the reaction to racial progress in the form of white backlash as he explores the fate of civil reconciliation from the civil rights era to the Black Lives Matter movement.
This book argues that the church's work in reconciliation can serve as a model for society at large and that secular diversity and inclusion practices can benefit the church. It offers a prophetic call to pastors, church leaders, and students to recover reconciliation as the heart of the church's message to a divided world.
About the Taskforce
The Louisiana Antiracism Task Force is a group gathered to create a shift in action, thoughts, and systems in the United Methodist Church in Louisiana. They invite race consciousness, increased equality, education, and advocacy. The group is committed to an ongoing conversation that challenges our conference and its people to move toward a greater understanding of disparities within our system and the world around us.
