The Risk of Being Woke: Sermonic Reflections for Activists

by Curtiss Paul DeYoung

The Risk of Being Sermonic Reflections for Activists is a 21st century call to embrace racial justice action, live in beloved community, and seek refreshing mystic moments as we emerge from a health pandemic and engage in a racial reckoning.

Are you a Christian, an activist, or both yearning for justice to roll down like water? Are you seeking Biblically informed spiritual guidance while keeping your eyes open to challenging societal truths? This collection of sermonic reflections from Curtiss Paul DeYoung, CEO of the Minnesota Council of Churches, written following the murder of George Floyd, provides spiritual sustenance for the activist soul.

This book is divided into three sections that call us into the biblically inspired work of racial justice through action, community, and mystic moments. For preachers, teachers, and activists, these reflections serve as inspiration for one’s own oratorical promptings and social engagement.

172 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 15, 2023

About the author

Rev. Dr. Curtiss Paul DeYoung is a racial justice academic, author, and activist. He served as the Co-CEO of the Minnesota Council of Churches (MCC)—an ecumenical council of 27-member denominational communions from Historic Black, Mainline Protestant, Pentecostal, Peace, and Greek Orthodox churches. MCC has programs in racial justice, refugee services, and interfaith relations. DeYoung previously served as the Executive Director of the historic faith-based racial justice organization Community Renewal Society in Chicago, IL with its unique programmatic combination of church-based community organizing, policy advocacy, and investigative journalism.

Dr. DeYoung was the inaugural Professor of Reconciliation Studies and Co-chair of the Department of Anthropology, Sociology, and Reconciliation Studies at Bethel University in St. Paul, MN. He served as an adjunct professor at McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago, IL.

Rev. DeYoung served on staff at congregations in Minneapolis, New York City, and Washington, DC. He is an ordained minister in the Church of God (Anderson, IN). He consults and speaks nationally and internationally with extensive relationships among activists and peacemakers across the United States and in South Africa and the Holy Land.

Reviews

[Daniel Kleven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really helpful reflections from a long-standing figure in Christian struggle for racial justice and reconciliation. I first encountered Dr. DeYoung's work when reading United by Faith: The Multiracial Congregation As an Answer to the Problem of Race (the sequel to Emerson and Smith's Divided by Faith: Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America). As I've followed DeYoung's work over the years, I've been struck by his willingness to place himself as a learner in predominantly Black and Brown spaces, attending seminary at Howard University, serving in a Black church, and finally his role in Minnesota's Council of Churches.

These reflections take account of the last few years, including the murder of George Floyd, how to think biblically about the ongoing struggle for racial justice in America. The "sermons" are full of good footnotes, and as a result of this book I've now discovered The People's Bible which I am excited to read soon.