Renounce, Resist, Rejoice: Being Church in the Age of Trump

by Michael Coffey, Mark Washington (Foreword)

The election of Donald Trump as the forty-fifth president of the United States was a watershed moment in American history. In this book, Michael Coffey reflects on major social and religious issues leading up to and following the election. Coffey addresses the political issues of the day, not from a partisan position but from the question of what it means to be faithful as church now. Rather than pit left against right or Republican against Democrat, Pastor Coffey seeks to explore fundamental issues of Christian commitments centered in love of God and neighbor. Coffey shares his personal responses to the events surrounding the election while exploring central biblical and theological themes that have shaped and challenged the church in every age. This book confronts conservative and liberal Christian assumptions and creates space for dialogue about what it means to prioritize the Gospel message of compassion and mercy over partisan politics, nationalism, and ideology. Church leaders will find resources for leading conversation. Church members will find a rich and challenging resource for dialogue. Those outside of religious communities who are politically engaged will find insight for understanding how people of faith live out their commitments in the public realm.

"It is much more difficult and much more important to respond to the Trump phenomenon in a way that is theologically informed, pastorally sensitive, and politically pertinent. Michael Coffey has made just such a response that moves beyond emotive satisfaction to truthful evangelical witness. He makes that witness with courage and finesse, with good humor and compelling honesty. I heartily commend this faithful read of the tradition that now requires much of us."
--Walter Brueggemann, Columbia Theological Seminary

"Renounce, Resist, Rejoice: Being Church in the Age of Trump is not only timely and insightful, but above all, it is urgent. Michael Coffey speaks truth with love and preaches love with truth through his writing in a moment in history where both virtues are being pushed aside by those in power . . . Pastor Coffey is a voice, hopefully not alone in the desert, to help us renounce and also resist the temptation to normalize and accept what is unacceptable and contrary to the gospel."
--Antonio Ramirez, Director at Breathe-Respira

"In Renounce, Resist, Rejoice: Being Church in the Age of Trump, Michael Coffey presents a series of sermons in the spirit of the theology of the cross made famous by the church reformer, Martin Luther. In poignant reflections, Coffey names the evils of racial and cultural divisions that are tearing at the fabric of our common life. . . . For Coffey, being church in the age of Trump is a call to renounce and resist those elements of the culture that are antithetical to the culture of life and neighbor love. The call to rejoice is an act of hopeful living in an age of cynicism. Coffey offers a fresh alternative to the rhetoric of the current political landscape."
--Javier Alanis, Executive Director of the Lutheran Seminary Program in the Southwest, Austin, Texas

Michael Coffey is pastor of First English Lutheran Church in Austin, Texas, a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. He is the author of Mystery without Rhyme or Reason: Poetic Reflections on the Revised Common Lectionary (2015). He is a contributing writer to Sundays and Seasons and Sundays and Seasons: Preaching (Augsburg Fortress). His blog can be found at www.ocotillopub.org.

128 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 27, 2017

About the author

Michael Coffey received his B.A. in English at the University of Notre Dame and an M.A. from Leeds University in Anglo-Irish Literature. Former co-editorial director at Publishers Weekly, he has published three books of poems, a collection of short stories, a book about baseball’s perfect games, and co-edited a book about Irish immigration to America.

Reviews

[Pat Rolston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pastor Coffey has written a thoughtful, wise, and cathartic book putting the Trump 2016 victory in a biblical perspective. While many would now look at Revelations as the proper starting point this author approached the subject as an opportunity to heal versus lament. He sets the tone in suggesting the desire to provide a bipartisan series of essays that appeal to Democrats or Republicans. He also makes clear that while the church isn’t partisan it is political.

Social justice and activism are very much part of the parish Pastor Coffey ministers with his willingness to embrace the subject from the pulpit and street. He very ably defines the problem of white male privilege historically and contemporaneously in the church and American society. He advocates for the emergence of an egalitarian power structure that gives a voice to those left behind economically and disenfranchised due to race, gender, and economics. All of this is a result of deeply held beliefs in the need for turning the walls of all churches inside out. The insular self serving Christian community is taken to task as the fuel that energized Trump’s victory. This in turn motivated Pastor Coffey to write this book in response to the 2106 election.

I highly recommend reading and reflecting on that event in light of this book and considering how far we have fallen in four years under Trump as a nation. There is healing and a plan for action in this book that can and will offer the opportunity to exorcise the events of the the last four years.

[Julie Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

"As our government talks of building higher and higher walls, the church needs to start building longer and longer tables where immigrants (who likely harvest the food we eat) and refugees, foreigners and native-born celebrate that at the table, sharing food and life, we are one."

Michael Coffey's courageous collection of essays offer a non-partisan voice and an important call for Christians to actively discuss and participate in an uncertain and changing country. Coffey summons the reader to recall the words of the Gospel to aid in building a better framework, where all people are welcome and cared for with compassion and grace. This honest offering provides an opening and suggestions for conversation and action. One can only hope it will provide a deeper etching where more leaders of the church, as well as all society, will step up and call for a world that honors all people. Each and every day.

[Janis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pastor Michael Coffey presents a thoughtful series of essays and sermons in his book, Renounce, Resist, Rejoice. Drawing from the Lutheran faith and its teachings, he presents concrete ways that the Christian church can remain true to its calling to "act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." (Micah 6:8)

[T. Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Early on the author states that his book "may become irrelevant" due to the tenuous nature of the Trump presidency. Almost two years into the reign of Trump, this book's relevancy has only increased. It raises a strong voice of hope in the midst of Trump's continued excesses and bloviations. That said, this book cannot be simply categorized as anti-Trump or one-sided. This book calls and reminds people of faith to their cherished commitments in contrast to alternative cop-outs: the practice of honesty over that of blaming others; listening to other voices, especially those traditionally marginalized, over shouting down opponents; Christian identity in baptism and the cross more so than in chosen political party.

This book is written for church folks. If you're not a Trump supporter, reading this book will give you a shot of hope in these days of confusion and consternation. If you're a Trump supporter, this book will give you a fair assessment of what your brothers and sisters on the "other side of the aisle" are thinking.