Change Agents: The Lay Movement that Challenged the System and Turned Adventism Toward Racial Justice

by Douglas Morgan

How and when did racial discrimination become embedded in Adventist institutions? Is it possible to change patterns of injustice when they become deeply ingrained in the corporate life of the church? Is it appropriate to organize in opposition to the voted policies of duly elected church leaders? May Christians use protest and pressure to bring about change in the church? Were Black conferences a step forward or backward?In Change Agents, Douglas Morgan sheds light on such questions by telling the story of a movement of Black Adventist lay members who, with women at the forefront, brought the denomination to a racial reckoning in the 1940s. Their story, told in the context of the church’s racial history in America as it unfolded during the first half of the 20th century, illumines the often difficult but necessary conversations about race that challenge the church today. And, it offers inspiration and insight to Adventists today whose love for their church drives a dedication to changing it.

316 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2020

Reviews

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a lovely honoring of the women and men who pushed and protested and made the Adventist church change up its approaches to racism in the United States. Morgan is especially interested in highlighting the Black women who led out and formed the majority of the groups working to push administrations in the Adventist church to honor their commitments to justice. They weren’t clergy or in positions of power but they made their voices known.