Who Lynched Willie Earle?: Preaching to Confront Racism

by William H. Willimon

Pastors and leaders long to speak an effective biblical word into the contemporary social crisis of racial violence and black pain. They need a no-nonsense strategy rooted in actual ecclesial life, illuminated in this fine book by a trustworthy guide, Will Willimon, who uses the true story of pastor Hawley Lynn’s March of 1947 sermon, “Who Lynched Willie Earle?” as an opportunity to respond to the last lynching in Greenville, South Carolina and its implications for a more faithful proclamation of the Gospel today.

By hearing black pain, naming white complicity, critiquing American exceptionalism/civil religion, inviting/challenging the church to respond, and attending to the voices of African American pastors and leaders, this book helps pastors of white, mainline Protestant churches preach effectively in situations of racial violence and dis-ease.

Genres: Nonfiction, Theology, Anti Racist, Social Justice, Religion, Race

152 pages, Paperback

Published February 7, 2017

About the author

The Reverend Dr. William H. Willimon is Professor of the Practice of Christian Ministry at the Divinity School, Duke University. He served eight years as Bishop of the North Alabama Conference of The United Methodist Church, where he led the 157,000 Methodists and 792 pastors in North Alabama. For twenty years prior to the episcopacy, he was Dean of the Chapel and Professor of Christian Ministry at Duke University, Durham, North Carolina.

Reviews

[Ned · Rating 4 out of 5]

Few will read this, I fear, but it is the best I’ve encountered about how to understand, and perhaps begin to resolve, one of our nations most original sins. The author is a Methodist minister, which may put some readers off, but he speaks honestly as a white man about his own un-intended yet lazy complicity. He is a southerner, to boot, who learned in college about the subject of his book: the answer to the question is that “we” killed Willie Earle. Not the 31 men acquitted in 1947 for dragging this terrified man from his jail cell in the middle of the night, torturing and killing him. The townspeople would like to bury this, don’t record it in their history or in any other way – Willimon uses this as analogy for how America still refuses to confront our “sin”. His argument is that conventional morality is inadequate to truly solve this, and we must exhort the teachings of the bible where “all” are truly equal before God and the human artificiality of race destroyed. The author uses Hawley Lynn as inspiration, who was one of the few who spoke up boldly at the time of the murder in 1947, at the time a recently widowed young white preacher in the town. Without his fervor and courage, the true history may have been further lost to the dustbins and selective memory.

This book is confrontational, yet kind: Willimon is a Methodist pastor who wrote this book to help other pastors reverse the trend of increasingly white congregations. It is a call to action, starting with acknowledgement of White Privilege, which most today still deny. The book reminded me of the importance of churches, where moral instruction (he would say “biblical”) is still desperately needed. His challenge is that white people need to fix themselves first and foremost, and not play the savior for victims. I couldn’t agree more with this, but those not raised in the church may struggle with the concept of repentance, not seeing the need to be forgiven. The church is much maligned, and in popular press its failures and corruption are often all the unchurched see – but Willimon reminds us that there are steady, honest and sincere efforts in play all across America. He exhorts white churches to learn from the black, and to bring us together by all means necessary – and he gives solid, practical advice for preachers and parishioners for doing just that.

The author is well informed: In case you’ve not been keeping up (p. 44): “The United States is number one among the nations in imprisonment of our own citizens. Twenty-five percent of all the world’s prisoners are in us jails, a 500 percent increase in four decades. Rapid rise in incarceration has little to do with rising crime; it’s caused by changes in sentencing law and legal policy that criminalized the most vulnerable people in our culture. We were told that we were declaring war on drugs; we declared war on the poor and particularly upon African Americans. Theologian Sarah Coakley says that mass incarceration is the ‘acid test’ of American democracy , a test that we flunked.”

Willimon quotes Jim Wallis’ articulation of white privilege (p. 72): “Whether we or our families or our ancestors had anything to do with the racial sins of America’s establishment, all white people have benefited from them…You can never escape white privilege in America if you are white.”

Further, the author acknowledges honestly (p. 78): “White supremacist society is seductive with its lures of material success, its promise that even subordinated groups can progress if they work hard, fit in, and obey our rules. My own up-from-racism sanctification continues in the writing of this book.”

Willimon is well-read on his subject, and worries that without God there is a tendency to despair (p. 92): “Ta-Nehisi Coates begins his riveting Between the World and Me by announcing that he is an atheist. [his book] is an honest but brutal, sorrowing, eloquent, hopeless lament over the intractability of American racism. Coates castigates those African Americans who speak of hope and forgiveness. The thoughtful approach to racism is to bow to its invincibility.”

The author gets to the heart of his thesis on pp. 96-97: “When mainline Protestant preachers succumbed to the error of thinking that America was a basically Christian culture, that one became Christian by being fortunate enough to be born in the USA, there was no need for teaching sermons or for invitation to metanoia. Church degenerated into a a place we go to bolster our belief that we don’t need it because America is the kind of God. That’s why most preaching in my church family is … better attitudes and behavior in basically nice people who are urged, in the sermon, to be a bit nicer…..Affluent, self-satisfied folks prefer to be less miserable than saved...advice to help the mildly afflicted white middle class anxieties with a positive attitude…Some of the stress and anxiety we are attempting to soothe is a sinful reaction of white people realizing they are losing their privilege.” He goes on to quote James Cone that obsession with why a good God permits suffering is another means to “evade our own complicity and responsibility.”

One of the most important lessons I took away was to avoid the trap of blaming the racist outbursts on a few lesser beings (“white trash”) and ignoring our own culpability to the overall culture that enabled it (pp.98-99): “It will be sad if, in the interest of confronting racism, we preachers lapse into the self-righteous identity politics of some political progressives. In some cases these liberal ‘progressives’ show contempt for their fellow Americans who are lower class, poorly educated, sinking economically- and white. White male privilege is real, but that phrase probably mystifies a fifty-nine year old Walmart greeter in southern Ohio. A study by two Princeton researchers shows widespread despair among poor whites that often feeds bigotry, misplaced anger, and the racism that Donald Trump leveraged to his political advantage. Apparently, white racism trumps common sense, or even political self-interest in evaluating the fitness for public office of a man like Trump. Carol Anderson documents the unspoken but devastatingly effective strategy of the Republican Party (which I witnessed firsthand in North Carolina) to work white rage through passage of laws that have disadvantaged black Americans.”

p. 117: “As William Stringfellow used to say, it’s not that people have evil minds as much as they have paralyzed consciences.”

p. 119: “I know a pastor who began his sermons after the Charleston massacre by asking, ‘How come the Bible studies in this church have not been truthful enough, intense enough, for anybody to want to kill us? Church, we need to ask ourselves how we can be so faithful in our life together that the world can look at us and see something that it is not.’”

p. 121: “When there is a racial tragedy, the inclination of white Americans is to grieve, to brush ourselves off, and to get back to being the ‘real America.’ But white supremacy is the ‘real America.’”

p. 122: “We can also testify to the community about the freedom that comes from honest admission of our complicity in the community’s racism.”

[Michael Philliber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Given the present environment of racial tensions in the U.S.A. there are a rising number of volumes from diverse authors rolling out of publishing houses across the country. Will Willimon, retired Bishop of the North Alabama Conference of The United Methodist Church and Professor of the Practice of Christian Ministry at Duke University Divinity School, has recently added his voice with his tiny 137 page paperback “Who Lynched Willie Earle: Preaching to Confront Racism”. Though the manuscript is popularly written and small in size, it is deep in thought and significant in intention.

The first four chapters of the book deals with the story of the lynching Willie Earle on February 17, 1947, and the critical analysis of the only local sermon preached by a white pastor the following Sunday (Hawley Lynn). The remainder of the material covers the place and problem of racism as well as preaching and pastoral avenues that can be pursued to remediate it. But one warning that is worth hearing in this highly uncivil era is that as “Christians we must find a way to talk about difference, including racial difference, without granting our difference sovereignty” (74). This irenic point, “without granting our difference sovereignty,” seems to course through the arteries of this work as the author touches several sensitive subjects

Willimon maps out numerous theological and practical paths for preachers to walk their congregations down to help them see not only that racism exists, exists in our churches and denominations, but also some approaches that should be tracked to help to begin to turn things around. The ground for such acknowledgments and advances has to do with the Gospel and God’s world rescue operation. “The baptized swear allegiance to a kingdom that is not characterized by white supremacy, progressive self-improvement, and national borders or gained by gradual softening of white privilege; citizenship in this realm is constituted by the vocation and election of God in Christ” (65). Even while describing “white privilege” the author exhibits how the Gospel guides the advantaged: “People who have benefited from power are now commissioned to own our power, sometimes to relinquish our power, at other times to use our power for good” (79). This principle follows well Paul’s on admonition to the favored of his day when he told Timothy, not that the wealthy are to get rid of their wealth, but rather, as “for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share” (1 Timothy 6.17-18).

When discussing the importance of preaching to confront racism, the author’s decades of homiletical experience shows forth in his sagacious advice. Willimon’s wisdom is a generous reminder to those who are, and those who should be, addressing systemic prejudice in their sermons: “Our preaching about race will tend…to be more indicative than imperative, more descriptive than prescriptive, more graciously inviting than guilt-building” (112). But the way to speak to racism is through and because of and by announcing the Gospel. As the author notes, preaching “is not primarily about racism or any other human sin. Preaching is about the God who, through Jesus Christ, justifies, seeks and saves, loves, forgives, sanctifies, and transforms sinners” (58).

At the end of the day, “Who Lynched Willie Earle” is a tactful corrective and charitable tutorial on the “why and how” of approaching this subject in our congregations. Though there were a few minute points I found disappointing, overall I would say that every Christian preacher should obtain a copy of this smallish portfolio, pour over it, pray through it, and then allow this ecclesiastical elder to encourage you with some fatherly directions. I highly recommend this book!

[Phil Aud · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a small book, only 132 pages long, but as I read it I knew I was holding something weighty. Who Lynched Willie Earle? is, like the sermon from which the title was taken, a bold book. Will Willimon is a Duke professor and a retired bishop of the North Alabama conference of the United Methodist Church. He’s also a white southerner. The prelude to the book begins with Willimon recalling a defining moment he had as a college aged student seeking advice regarding his academic future. He stood in Dr. Jones’s office asking for help with his academic future when he first learned about the lynching of a young man named Willie Earle. This lynching, he came to understand, took place in his own community. Willimon writes, “Thus began my life with the dead: Willie Earle, who was lynched; Hawley Lynn, the Pickens preacher who spoke up; the Greenvillians who murdered him; the Greenvillians who acquitted the killers; and those who tried to forget–until God made me a preacher.”

There is a danger in a white man writing a book on racism. Willimon acknowledges this early on writing “copious annotation of sources, mostly from African American writers, is my attempt to make this book more than ‘the white gaze’ –in which a white scholar presumes to speak of African Americans without listening to African Americans speak” (Xiii). There is also a danger in a white man not talking about racism. One of the biggest race problems in America is our (white) refusal to believe that there is a race problem. This is becoming harder to ignore though. Willimon writes that “our racial history is like toxic waste: we attempt to cover it up, deny it, but then it bubbles up or gives off its stench and we are forced to admit its toxicity” (Xiii).”

In the first chapter Willimon gives both the proud admission of the lynching by Jessie Lee Sammons and the painful testimony of Willies’ mother, Tessie Earle. In the second chapter we are introduced to the author of the sermon, Hawley Lynn, Pastor of Grace Methodist Church, and are given the details of what led up to the sermon. Chapter three is the bold sermon itself. Interestingly, Willimon praises Lynn’s sermon, but not without critique. He writes that “while Hawley boldly named outright legislated Southern racism, his sermon might (unintentionally) have given fuel to genteel, educated whites who wanted to depict the whole affair as precipitated by the eternal victim, a deed done exclusively by uncouth, uneducated ‘them (52).’” And yet he writes “still, in the context of the time, his sermon was heroic homiletics (48-49).” He speaks of sermons given in our own time too, but is also unafraid to critique those, including one given by John Piper which he ends up describing as the type of “‘reconciliation’ white folks love to hear [about]” (109).

I am astounded by, and grateful for, the boldness of this book. I’m sure that many won’t make it past a few pages and will give it a one star review given that Willimon makes statements like this: “South Carolinian Dylan Roof, who committed the massacre at Mother Emmanuel, was neither insane nor original in his murderous racism. He was a product of a culture and a history unwilling to shake off some deadly ideas” (56, 57). But these things need to be said. Willimon further confronts the idea that racism doesn’t exist if we don’t feel like it’s there. He talks here both about the blind nature of white privilege, but also about racism as much more (though not less) than a person problem; it is a systemic and institutional problem in which we live and are trained. His statistics are mighty hard to ignore. He therefore presents the challenge as a “move from being non racist to being actively antiracist” (95).

In the midst of all of this Willimon calls for strong biblical preaching. He reminds us that when a bombing or church burning took place, “Martin Luther King Jr. would show up with his entourage, dressed in a black suit and white shirt, clutching his KJV Bible to give, not a press conference, but rather a sermon” (92). We pastors must follow King with the sermon, as Willimon frequently says, as our “weapon of choice.” He reminds us that must also pastor the people to whom we preach (117), and finally that we must join with our African American brothers and sisters in relationship and ministry. But there is a warning here too: “when we whites join with African Americans on some project, we must be sure that we serve as participants, not as leaders” (119).

This is such an important book and should, in my ‘humble but accurate opinion,�� be mandatory reading for anyone wanting to enter ministry in the United States. There is too much at stake to ignore people like Willimon and the plethora of authors he references throughout the book. I am grateful for this prophetic book and will be widely recommending it.

[Mona · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a tragic story that occurred right here in upstate South Carolina in 1947, the lynching of Willie Earle. I’m glad that Will Willimon has told this story because despite its evil ugliness, our nation and state will not heal until we understand and confront this terrible history. Willimon, a Methodist minister and now Duke University professor, does an excellent job explaining why our white Christian churches must confront racism. Silence is consent. Read this book if you are expanding your knowledge of the history of racism and the church’s complicity with racism.

[Jeanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book through the United Methodist Women Reading Program. I learned quite a bit from the author of the book. The main thing I learned is that racism is strong in American churches and should be confronted by the pastor and preached about. Several wonderful sermons written by Methodist pastors are in the book. I highly recommend reading this book.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read. Good for clergy and laypersons alike. I feel it could have had more specific examples of how to respond to overtly and covertly racist remarks from fellow believers. I'm still looking for guidance in articulating my responses.

[Barry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is amazing, difficult, exciting, and prophetic. Thank you, Will Willimon!

[Kelly Willingham · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I could give this book 10 ⭐️ or even 100 ⭐️, I would!

[Nicholas McDonald · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Who Lynched Willie Earle" is designed to equip preachers to address racism from the pulpit. Written by Duke University's William Willimon, the book is compassionate, well-written and insightful. Here, I've distilled a few key insights I took from the book (I would love to hear from my minority readers on these...the book was written by a white professor, and sometimes it's difficult for me to discern the helpfulness of the suggestions):

1. Racial reconciliation won't come about through condemnation. I have been guilty of this in the past. I've blasted folks with what I saw as blatant racism, only to feel their heels dig in. Willimon points out that Jesus takes a sideways approach to racism. He exemplifies the Good Samaritan. He asks challenging questions. We, too, need to expend our energy exemplifying hospitality to minorities rather than merely condemning those who don't. We need to know the frankly much-more-inspiring accounts of history's black Christians, and use them in our sermons. We need to be genuinely excited about the promised future diversity of God's church, and preach toward that vision. We need to be patient.

2. Racial reconciliation is founded on God's character toward us. Willimon blasts his own Methodist denomination for failing to appeal to the gospel in addressing racism. He points out that appealing to "American values" or any other appeal will fall flat, and demonstrates the way in which Paul uses the gospel - especially in Galatians - to break down the dividing wall of hostility. Reconciliation of cultures begins with our reconciliation to God. If we don't make this connection for our congregants, we have ultimately failed to transform them.

3. Repentance can't be impersonal, ESPECIALLY for white preachers. Again, I am guilty of this. Rather than saying, "Here's how I've failed," or "Here's when I changed my mind on this issue," I've treated others with judgment for failing to "get it" like I did. This is utterly inappropriate for white preachers, and ultimately ineffective. Repentance needs to be public and personal. This also means, as Willimon notes, repentance from the top-down isn't going to change things (as in, the denomination declares repentance - a good start, but not transformational). This was especially relevant to me as a member of the PCA.

4. Everything begins with listening. We need to stop thinking, "What do the black folks think?" and start asking individual minorities what THEY think and experience. A pastoral mentor of mine once shared that after listening to a black pastor recount his experiences in America, he said: "I've never heard any of this before." The black pastor replied: "Well, you never asked." Ouch. This means reading the literature, but it also means having a conversation over lunch or dinner. If we haven't truly listened, any preaching on the topic of racism is racist - presuming to know and understand the problem without first entering into it.

5. We need to give people clear actions to take. This is where I felt the largest question mark looming for me: if non-minorities hear all charges of systemic racism as "political", how can we possibly incite anyone to action without sounding political? Willimon doesn't give answers. He does say we need to give specific actions to folks, and especially highlights #4 above.

Overall, the book helped me to repent and reconsider some of the ways I've broached this topic in the past. I will say the book feels unorganized - well, actually I'll say the book's organization is just plain bizarre. It took quite a bit of work for me to arrange it into the principles above. On top of that, so much of the book felt like politically correct box-checking, sometimes contradicting itself in the name of saying everything one should say. For that reason, I'm not going to give the book a stellar rating. But that doesn't mean it shouldn't be digested and discussed.

[Hannah Bergstrom de Leon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a white preacher. I preach to a white context. Willimon's book reminded me that it is right there, right where I am that preaching on racism which names it unequivocally as sin has to happen.

Willimon isn't the first to make this argument and unfortunately this argument will have to made again and again. Great thinkers and writers have already challenged the white church this way, Alice Walker, James Cone, Austin Channing Brown, Lenny Duncan, and in his own way Ta-Nehisi Coates have all made this clear to the white church, we do not get a pass. Our ability to be silent on the subject of race is our privilege showing.

So for this preacher who was assigned to read Willimon's book, it was a good reminder and a call to action once again. I continually need to be challenged so I am glad Willimon took the opportunity to use his privilege and name recognition to speak to something the white church so profoundly needs to hear and be reminded of time and time again.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very short book (130ish pages) that discusses a single sermon and uses that as a jumping off point to discuss how to preach about race. Overall, I think the book does its job, but I wish there was more. About everything. More about Willie Earle and the sermon that was preached. More about how Willimon views preaching at its best, especially concerning sin and racism. Most of all, a greater discussion on the critique of the sermon in question, specifically around how the sermon doesn’t speak much about God, and a better idea of how we as preachers today could do better. Willimon even raps up the book by calling the sermon “the greatest sermon ever preached to white South Carolina Methodists,” but he critiques the sermon for using American civil religion instead of true Biblical Christianity. The book is fully deserving of 4 stars, but could be so much more if more time and space was taken to push everything further.

[Nithin Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really well written and thoughtful book about confronting racism through preaching. The biggest take away is that Christians have a peculiar language and voice to speak against racism. We can call it what it is. Racism is sin and systemic racism is evil. Therefore, our only true cure is the reconciling of work of Jesus. It is a demonic hydra where we cut off one head only to have another on its place. Willimon looks to the black church for direction and their tradition of resistance. His main focus was on United Methodist Preaching which was hard to translate to my tradition. And I wish there was more examples of sermons on racism or even how we can prepare or help our congregations in this area. But helpful book none the less.

[Fred · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book by a white man, to other majority culture Americans about the problem of racism in America. More specifically it is about preaching, and about bringing Christ to bear on the issue of white privilege and systemic, sinful prejudice in American culture. Willimon uses an account of mass violence, a lynching, in Greenville SC in 1947 and the sermon that one man preached after it, to highlight the courage it takes to preach about race and injustice. This book will be read differently depending on whether you grew up in America or not and if you did, whether you are white or not. I found it challenging and a good place to start discussion on race, preaching, faithfulness and healing.

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this book as part of a Christian women's group. The title got my attention, with much curiosity. As a regular church attendee, my 99.5% white church or the pastor has never directly discussed this topic. William H. Willimon discusses Pastor Hawley Lynn's 1947 sermon after a black man was hanged in the South. Such a sensitive topic! The author quotes many others involved in religious writings about racism and scriptures relationship. While some things have changed through the years, there is still much inequality. If you believe in God, this is a powerful, in depth read that is so valuable during the current times. My take away, GOD loves us all!

[E. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I heard Willimon speak on this issue at the Festival of Homiletics in May. He was angry and sassy and is so in the book. This is a vital text for preachers. A clarion call to preaching as God's weapon to defeat white supremacy.

Willimon tells the story of a lynching in his home county when he was one and how one local pastor preached about it. He uses this to explore the ongoing issues of white supremacy and its corruption of the church and gives encouragement and advice for how preachers must respond.

I'll post some quotes and details later.

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Willimon's look at the unique role of the preacher in the conversation around race in America is very helpful to me. I am in a group of preachers who met weekly to discuss this book. Willimon's account sparked good conversation among us.

[Marilyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

There should be no Christian community where there is silence about injustice of any kind. Will Willimon asserts that the local church is where this battle should be waged and won, because there is just no good substitute for the church. We are all ministers of the Gospel. We have work to do.

[Erik Bonkovsky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tells a story I didn't know and gives practical and balanced advice to pastors eager to learn who better to confront racism through pulpit ministry.

[Drew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Particularly helpful to pastors and teachers trying to address issues of race.

[Brandon Charlton II · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really great read. Just didn't like the term "white racism." He didn't explain it but it shows his bias.

[Cyndi Beane-Henry · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a licensed non-denominational minister, I really wanted to read this text. And I was not disappointed. I read it once straight through. Then I re-read it, making sure I fully understood the writer's intent and purpose.

Willie Earle was a black man, who in 1947 sat locked in a jail cell in Pickens, South Carolina. He had been accused of knifing a Greenville cab driver.

A mob of righteous, Christian, white men confronted the jailer, who literally turned the keys over to them. Willie Earle was dragged from his cell. He was beaten so badly that he was not recognizable. He was dragged behind a car. And he was hung. The mob choose to be the judge, jury and prosecutor all rolled into one.

Willie Earle was dead. His family so torn apart and mad with grief and rage, yet, feeling that they could not express themselves in the southern, white-ruled town, kept silent.

In steps a minister. So emotionally charged by the lynching, and the fact that so-called Christian men could do such a thing to any man, no matter the color, decided he had to do something. He tried a town meeting. Which got him nowhere.

Two weeks after the event, and many hours spent in prayer for the right words to use, and how to deliver them, Hawley Lynn delivered a sermon to his congregation that is as needed today as it was back in 1947. It has become such a sermon that ministers still study it today.  But as most will recognize, it is the kind of sermon that is rarely delivered.

Was it Christ-like (the word Christian literally means "Christ-like") to lynch Willie Earle? And although racism is deeply rooted in the south, is it not nearly as prevalent in the north as it is the south? If you answer no, you would be wrong. It is there. Lurking behind the eyes of the man who states "I have black friends!", and is insistent he is not racist. It is there behind the eyes of the woman who tells her daughter "It's okay to have black friends, but you're not going to date one". It is there in the individual who says "Black Americans are lazy", or "They get all the free government hand outs, why don't they just get a job!" Or, "They are all gangsters". I know you can come up with more.

So, are all white Americans guilty of racism? I can't answer that. But Hawley pointed out the need for Christians to be "Christ-like". He pointed out that God has no color preference. In His eyes, we are all simply people.

Bishop Willimon brings out the point that we have now graduated into calling black individuals "African-Americans" just to be politically correct. As an example, I come from English, French, Irish and Scot ancestry. So would I be called an "Anglo-American"? Or some variety of "English-French-Irish-Scot-American"? Of course not. We don't ever hear someone say something like that. Why do we not simply say an American? Or a person? Or a man? Or a woman? Instead of qualifying that they are in some way black?

I give this book five stars, (I would give it 10 if I could!)



I give a BIG thumbs up,



and I HIGHLY recommend it for reading and study.


You can find this book on Amazon.com here. It is available in paperback for $11.96 or in Kindle version for $9.99, plus shipping and handling for the paperback.



****DISCLAIMER: This book was provided by Amazon Vine in exchange for a fair and impartial review.

[Rick Lee Lee James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing Work On Preaching As Anti-Racism

From the book;
Preaching that confronts racism: • Speaks up and speaks out. • Sees American racism as an opportunity for Christians honestly to name our sin and to engage in acts of detoxification, renovation, and reparation. • Is convinced that the deepest, most revolutionary response to the evil of racism is Jesus Christ, the one who demonstrates God for us and enables us to be for God. • Reclaims the church as a place of truth-telling, truth-embodiment, and truth enactment. • Allows the preacher to confess personal complicity in and to model continuing repentance for racism. • Brings the good news that Jesus Christ loves sinners, only sinners. • Enjoys the transformative power of God’s grace. • Listens to and learns from the best sociological, psychological, economic, artistic, and political insights on race in America, especially those generated by African Americans. • Celebrates the work in us and in our culture of a relentlessly salvific, redemptive Savior. • Uses the peculiar speech of scripture in judging and defeating the idea of white supremacy. • Is careful in its usage of color-oriented language and metaphors that may disparage blackness (like “washed my sins white as snow,” or “in him there is no darkness at all”). • Narrates contemporary Christians into the drama of salvation in Jesus Christ and thereby rescues them from the sinful narratives of American white supremacy. • Is not silenced because talk about race makes white Christians uncomfortable. • Refuses despair because of an abiding faith that God is able and that God will get the people and the world that God wants.

[Bo Cogbill · Rating 4 out of 5]

It seems like so many of the books/discussions on racism, mainly by white people, are tinged with self-righteous condescension, and when I read/listen to them, I want to vomit on behalf of my black and Mexican friends.

So, when I found out this was written by an older, white Methodist guy, I must admit, I had my defenses up, but I was more than pleasantly surprised.

Willimon does a great job laying the groundwork and not degenerating into mere sentimentality. Rather, he thoroughly calls everyone to the hard work of self-examination, confession, repentance, reconciliation, and reparation. He uses (painful) examples from history and experience.

"The conspicuous absence of the lynching tree in American...preaching is profoundly revealing, especially since the crucifixion was clearly a first-century lynching."

He quotes Scripture, the living and the dead, pastors and thinkers, abused and abuser, and continually calls the church, and us, to metanoia (repentance).

Toward the end he quotes a sermon that is a good taste of what to expect:

"God has no blessing that isn't cross-shaped. The way God works is this: first a crucifixion. Then a resurrection. No shortcuts."

That's what acknowledging and repenting of racism looks like, but as God's people, we should desire nothing less.

[CJ Bowen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who Lynched Willie Earle tells the tragic story of the great sin of lynching Willie Earle, and the great evil of a community and nation where such an act was both plausible and went unpunished. It also tells of a courageous and bold response, as Hawley Lynn’s sermon made this act of lynching and the underlying racism an unavoidable issue for his congregation and community.

Though his sermon could be improved upon, the fact that he gave it at all sets a high bar for pastors today as they respond to the sins of racism and racial violence. For me, the primary challenge of this book is the call to directly address conspicuous sins as they happen, to draw that address from the Scriptures, and to direct it to the Christian community with careful precision.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Racism plagues our institutions in America, including and perhaps most especially, our churches. Through the example of a preacher who prophetically address’s racism head on in the past, Willimon calls pastors to be courageous in their preaching in the present