Welcoming Justice: God's Movement Toward Beloved Community

by Charles Marsh, John M. Perkins

It was not that long ago that African Americans and other minorities were excluded from many spheres of American public life. We have seen remarkable progress in recent decades toward Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream of beloved community. But this is not only because of the activism and sacrifice of a certain generation of civil rights leaders. It happened because God was on the move. Historian and theologian Charles Marsh partners with veteran activist John Perkins to chronicle God's vision for more equitable and just world. They show how the civil rights movement was one important episode in God's larger movement throughout human history of pursuing justice and beloved community. Perkins reflects on his long ministry and identifies key themes and lessons he has learned, and Marsh highlights the legacy of Perkins's work in American society. Together they show how abandoned places are being restored, divisions are being reconciled, and what individuals and communities are now doing to welcome peace and justice. The God Movement continues yet today. Come, discover your part in the beloved community. There is unfinished work still to do.

Genres: Theology, Justice, Christian, Faith, Nonfiction, Race, Christianity

140 pages, Paperback

First published September 25, 2009

About the author

Marsh is professor of religious studies at the University of Virginia and director of the research community "Project on Lived Theology." He is the author of eight books, including "God's Long Summer: Stories of Faith and Civil Rights," which won the 1998 Grawemeyer Award in Religion. He lives in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Librarian Note:
There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good stuff

Finally got around to reading this. This new edition has a new preface by Charles Marsh, reflecting on the events in Charlottesville, and a new afterward by John Perkins. I've read enough Perkins to know what he's going to say, but he's always inspiring. The essays, both personal and researched from Marsh make this book a treasure. Marsh is an expert on the Civil Rights era and he weaves profiles of people like Fanny Lou Hamer and MLK with his reflections on meeting Perkins in 1980 and the impact of his work on reconciliation on Marsh. Perkins tells his story and the story of others engaged in the work. Together both authors make the argument that Reconciliation is spiritual work and that faith should be on the ground, in a place, with people.

[Kaya Lynch · Rating 5 out of 5]

an astoundingly wise reflection on what it means to be a Christian, to be an active participant in social justice, and to create communities that flourish and thrive. john perkins is a treasure.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary: A renewed call for the church to pursue Martin Luther King, Jr.'s vision of a "beloved community" even in a day of increased white nationalism and polarization.

When this book was first published in 2009, the first African-American president had been elected. Nine years later, the vision of "beloved community" that appeared to be on the horizon, now feels like a distant memory. Charles Marsh, in his new preface acknowledges the current circumstances in the events in his home town of Charlottesville where Heather Heyer, simply standing in solidarity against the demonstrations of white nationalists, died when struck by a vehicle driven into the crowd by a white nationalist from Ohio.

Yet Marsh, and his co-author, John M. Perkins, a leader in Christian community development work, have not given up on the vision of Dr. King. Both believe that despite appearances, there is a movement of God afoot toward "beloved community. In alternating chapters, the two authors share why they are still hopeful, and what they believe needs to happen.

Marsh leads off with the contention that the Civil Rights movement lost its vision and cohesion as a movement when it lost its connection to a church-based and gospel based vision of "beloved community." At the same time, he sees movements, like that which Perkins has led at Voice of Calvary, continuing this gospel-based vision in its focus on relocation, redistribution, and reconciliation. Perkins, however, contends that the church, to realize such a vision, needs to give up its captivities to culture which has so divided it. He makes the fascinating observation that the neglect of outreach to a white underclass has made them open to the counterfeit community of the Klan. The challenge is to forsake the dividing lines of our captivities to reach out across those lines in the power of Christ.

Marsh then writes of the need for true conversion in our lives, a conversion that is always personal, even as it has social implications. He movingly recounts his first encounter with Perkins as a student staying with his segregationist grandmother. Perkins answer came not in an argument of what was wrong with segregation, but to send a gift of blueberries from his garden as his gift to her. Marsh in reflection writes:

"The existence of a compelling Christian witness in our time does not depend on our access to the White House, the size of our churches or the cultural relevance of our pastors. It depends, instead, on our ability to sing better songs in our lives. True conversion is always personal, but it is never sole about the individual who experiences God's love and knows the good news of salvation. True conversion is about learning to sing songs in which our life harmonizes with others'--even the lives of those least like us--and swells into a joyful and irresistible chorus" (p. 78).

Perkins responds with stories of the young men and women he has the joy of working with, and the hope this gives him for awakening. He doesn't speak of programs but of loving people, those of his own community, and those who come to learn, and then go and pursue a vision of community development across the country. Marsh in turn writes about the inner life of silent embrace of the gospel of the kingdom that sustains the practice of peace over the long haul. Perkins writes the final chapter calling for a re-building of our cities, interrupting the brokenness of our cities as churches re-assert their own love of the places and people to which they are called, forming the character of their young.

The question I had as I read this in the light of the present time is how Marsh and Perkins can be so hopeful. I think the difference between them and writers like Ta-Nehisi Coates (whose Between the World and Me I reviewed yesterday) comes down to the former's belief in the gospel of the kingdom. Perkins knows the violence against blacks as well, or perhaps even better than Coates, growing up in Mississippi. He was beaten and thrown in jail unjustly by police. Perkins has experienced the power of the love of God in his own life, and devoted a life to loving his place and pursuing reconciliation. What he and Marsh describe seems to be illustrative of the parable of the mustard seed, where small, seemingly insignificant efforts, like Perkin's work in Mendenhall, not only bring local healing and reconciliation, but spawn movements of people committed to King's vision of the beloved community. Perhaps the real question is not how Marsh and Perkins can be so hopeful, but will we forsake our cultural captivities and join them in their hope and embrace God's movement toward "beloved community?" 

_____________________________________

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice introduction to beloved community by Charles Marsh, with chapters by John Perkins. Perkins is a gift, and any material from him is good for chewing on for a while. His life is inspiring, and that is an understatement.

[Ledayne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Flipping back through this book and re-reading the sections I underlined, I realize that Marsh and Perkins are the kind of people who make me glad to be Christian -- who make me want to be part of the church that "does something to interrupt business as usual where we are."

Their words will be far more powerful than my own:

"Most of my students who have left the faith have not left because they read Kant's critique of the ontological and cosmological arguments for the existence of God, but because they have listened to Christians in hope of hearing beautiful songs and have instead heard something thin and shrill. But the church has beautiful songs to sing. Fannie Lou Hamer and John Perkins know our best songs and have sung them with their lives. And when we listen closely, we can hear the songs of men and women who work day in and day out in inauspicious places to bring healing to the broken and blistered world. They are carried and strengthened and nourished by deep spiritual waters." -- Charles Marsh

"Poor white folks are in such a sad condition. No one likes them. Black folks don't like them because they are racist. Immigrants don't like them because they compete for jobs. White folks don't like them because they're failures. Poor white folks have been rejected by everyone; they're on their own. . . I think the Ku Klux Klan has been so powerful among poor whites because it offered them a community where they felt accepted when everyone else rejected them." -- John Perkins

"[Jesus] wanted to love a handful of people well and trust God to use that. He evangelized by loving broken people like they had never been loved before." -- John Perkins

"To preach the gospel of Jesus Christ today, we've got to invite people into authentic relationships where they can be restored to a beloved community and work for the common good." -- John Perkins

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book, Charles Marsh and John Perkins reflect on what further steps can be taken to realize Martin Luther King, Jr's dream of the "beloved community." Perhaps the most wonderful passages in this book are Marsh's description of the beginnings of his friendship with John Perkins, evening-long conversations in a Shoney's, and the gift of blueberries from John's garden for Marsh's Christian but segregationist grandmother.

Although there is a gentleness to much of what John Perkins writes, his chapter on the cultural captivity of the church is a bracing wake-up call to those still indulging in "feel good" Christianity that doesn't require anything of one. Yet both the authors, in alternating chapters are hopeful as they see a new reconciliation generation of youth coming forward and moving into places like Jackson, Mississippi where Perkins works. They look forward to the rebuilding of broken lives and communities and the forging of the beloved community that was part of the vision of Dr. King. May it be so.

[Lily Bond · Rating 4 out of 5]

Favorite quote:

"Most of my students who have left the faith have left not because they read Kant's critique of the ontological and cosmological arguments for the existence of God, but because they have listened to Christians in hope of hearing beautiful songs and have instead heard something thin and shrill."

[Emily Holladay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am reading Charles Marsh’s book, “Beloved Community,” which is certainly a more thorough depiction of the church’s role in bringing forth justice, but I found “Welcoming Justice” to be easy to read and absorb. I am hoping the book will provide good conversation for my church. I think it will help us have much needed discussion on what our church should look like in the 21st Century.

[Michael Philliber · Rating 4 out of 5]

They always say chili tastes better the second time around, after it has sat in the refrigerator marinating in it's sauces and aged for a short spell. Maybe that's the case with the brand new, expanded edition of "Welcoming Justice: God's Movement Toward Beloved Community". This easy-to-read 144 page softback has soaked in it's juices for almost 10 years (first published in 2009). The authors, Charles Marsh, director of the Project on Lived Theology and professor of religious and theological studies at the University of Virginia, and John M. Perkins, a leader in the Civil Rights movement, and founder of Voice of Calvary Ministries in Mendenhall, Mississippi, Harambee Ministries in Pasadena, California, and the Christian Community Development Association (CCDA), have freshened up the manuscript, and added a few seasoned insights. Also, it is quite fitting that the expanded edition surfaces in 2018, the twentieth anniversary of the death of John's son, Spencer Perkins. I would imagine that the numerous reviews on the first edition still hold true, so I will leave the more detailed analysis to those appraisals. But I will address three items that stood out to me.

To begin with, I found the authors' recounting of the Civil Rights movement and where it went astray, very helpful. Marsh observes, "my research has shown me that only as long as the Civil Rights movement remained anchored in the church - in the energies, convictions and images of the biblical narrative and the worshiping community - did the movement have a vision...To the extent that the Civil Rights movement lost this vision, it lost its way" (30-1). Perkins agrees, and takes things a step further: "But the Civil Rights movement died on the brink of some real human development. We glimpsed the beloved community, but we also watched it slip away because the movement lost its foundation in God's greater movement" (94). There is a gentle, but serious warning in those words for any "movement" that seeks to redress wrongs, and push for equality.

Another plus came up as Marsh was unpacking Perkins' three "Rs" of community building: relocation, redistribution and reconciliation. Relocation is the thought that activists need to move into the neighborhood they're attempting to serve and speak for. Reconciliation is working toward pulling down the walls that divide. Redistribution is the "R" that may well receive the most guffaws and jeers. Nevertheless, even if a reader doesn't agree with every aspect, there are some simple, tangible thoughts. Redistribution, according to Marsh and Perkins, "means sharing talents and resources with the poor, but it also means observable changes in public policy and voting habits. Public policy would need to be accompanied by a Christ-shaped willingness to offer one's skills and knowledge as gifts to others" (37). I'm not sure I could go as far as the authors and embrace their notion that equality is expressed in terms of economics that breaks the cycle of wealth and poverty (Ibid.), but the idea that I can share talents, skills and knowledge as a way of "redistribution" sounds doable, sensible and hopeful.

One of the themes that returns at places in "Welcoming Justice" is that God is bringing about new movements and "a new Christianity" (58). I think I understand what the authors mean, but it deeply concerns me. For example, Perkins observes that revival movements "are always about connecting the gospel to a cause" (80). That seems to be the thrust of various portions of the book. The gospel needs help, and so it needs to be attached to some cause to give it a hand up? There are all kinds of insidious critters lurking in the dank shadows ready to jump on that thought to derail God's world rescue operation by co-opting Jesus for "our" party, that nouveau code civil, this immigration policy, those newly-found "wrongs" and "rights", and so forth.

The book has all sorts of perceptions that are useful: the recognition of how the homogeneous principle in church planting and church growth is harmful for racial reconciliation, the importance of place, the background for the baggy-pants in African-American culture, to name a few. In the end, I honestly and seriously think it is a book worth obtaining, reading and reasoning through.

[George P. · Rating 4 out of 5]

On December 3, 1956, Martin Luther King Jr. opened the first annual Institute on Nonviolence and Social Change in Montgomery, Alabama, with a message titled, “Facing the New Age.” The institute was sponsored by the Montgomery Improvement Association, which King led. Almost a year to the day earlier, Montgomery police had arrested Rosa Parks for refusing to give up her seat on a crowded bus to a white man. Her arrest began a yearlong bus boycott that ended with a Supreme Court decision ordering the desegregation of public transportation throughout Alabama.

King began his address by noting that both around the world and in the United States, people of color were throwing off the chains of imperialism and slavery. In place of that oppression, King proclaimed, “We have before us the glorious opportunity to inject a new dimension of love into the veins of our civilization.” He defined that love in a mashup of Matthew 5:44–45 and Luke 6:27–28: “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, pray for them that despitefully use you, that you may be the children of your Father which is in Heaven.” Love—not violence nor hate nor boycotts—was both the means and end of the movement King sought to lead.

"It is true that as we struggle for freedom in America we will have to boycott at times. But we must remember as we boycott that a boycott is not an end within itself; it is merely a means to awaken a sense of shame within the oppressor and challenge his false sense of superiority. But the end is reconciliation; the end is redemption; the end is the creation of the beloved community. It is this type of spirit and this type of love that can transform oppressors into friends…. It is this love which will bring about miracles in the hearts of men."

King’s speech plays an important role in Charles Marsh and John M. Perkins’ Welcoming Justice. On the one hand, it helps explain the fragmentation of the Civil Rights movement that began in late 1964 when the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee “moved away from Christian formulations of nonviolence and beloved community,” as Marsh puts it. He continues, “Removed from its home in the church, the work of building beloved community withered and died.”

On the other hand, King’s words provide the setting for Perkins’ life work in completing “the unfinished business of the Civil Rights movement.” In 1960, Perkins and his wife Vera Mae had returned to their home town of Mendenhall, Mississippi, to teach Bible stories to kids in public school. But the entrenched poverty and racial antagonism he experienced there led him to expand the vision of his ministry and to articulate the “three Rs” of community development, which Marsh defines this way:

Relocation: “incarnational evangelism, the lived expression of the great Christological theme that Jesus Christ ‘did not consider equality with God something to be grasped’ but took on ‘the very nature of a servant’ (Philippians 2).”
Redistribution: “sharing talents and resources with the poor,” as well as “observable changes in public policy and voting habits.” More than politics, Marsh explains, Perkins understood the Christian community itself as a “distinctive social order.”
Reconciliation: “embodying the message that ‘ye are all one in Christ Jesus’ and that Christ has ‘destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility’ in lived social experience.”

Perkins has spent the last six decades of his life in pursuit of this vision of the beloved community.

Welcoming Justice alternates chapters between Marsh and Perkins, who have been friends for nearly forty years. In his chapters, Marsh, who is director of the Project on Lived Theology and professor of religious and theological studies at the University of Virginia, provides historical background to the Civil Rights movement and Perkins’ life and ministry, as well as introducing other contemporary expressions of community development, such as the “new monastic” movement. Perkins, in his chapters, shares his thoughts about the cultural captivity of the church, what the next Great Awakening will look like, and what it will take to build the “beloved community” in America today.

I don’t agree with everything Marsh and Perkins write in Welcoming Justice. I’m awed by Perkins’ life story, cognizant of the deep strain of racism that runs through our nation’s history—including its churches, and committed to racial reconciliation. I agree that churches must do more than they do now, both to heal our racial wounds and to lift up the poorest in our community. I’m just not sure that Perkins’ brand of community development is the way to go economically. That said, Marsh and Perkins—especially Perkins—inspire and challenge me to do more than I have been doing. My guess is that the book will have the same effect on you.

Welcoming Justice was first published in 2009, a year after Barack Obama was elected president of the United States. The second edition, just published, comes out a year after white supremacists organized a rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, to protest the removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee from Emancipation Park. On the day of the rally, a white supremacist drove his car into a crowd of counter-protesters, injuring many and killing Heather Heyer.

The prefaces to the first and second editions of the book, by Philip Yancey and Marsh, respectively, capture the “two steps forward, one step back” character of American discussions about race. Our country has come a long way in the half-century since Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, but we still have a way to go before we realize the “beloved community” he dreamed of. Toward that end, to quote the sentence Perkins ends the book with: “Love is the final fight.”

Book Reviewed
Charles Marsh and John M. Perkins, Welcoiming Justice: God’s Movement Toward Beloved Community, 2nded. (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Books, 2018).

P.S. If you liked my review, please vote “Helpful” on my Amazon review page.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really thoughtful book. Charles' historical contextualization and Perkins' lived experiences blend so well to create a lovely commentary on how Christian justice work is has historically been intertwined with and sometimes distinct from other justice movements. I see a connection here between Perkins' approach to racial reconciliation and what I've read of bell hooks' approach to feminism. I don't mean to reduce either of them, but there seems to be a similar thread of recognizing that, even while granting power, the act of oppressing also damages the oppressor. Perkins does not reduce white perpetration of injustice nor privilege (same for hooks and men) but he does emphasize the need to give white people a place to be redeemed and in authentic community with those they have historically oppressed. Certainly a challenging work. But one I would say is rooted in deep love.

[Ireland Walton (Gibbs) · Rating 5 out of 5]

putting flesh and bones on often ephemeral concepts such as justice, reconciliation, and community development, Marsh and Perkins’s collaborative work calls attention to the role of western evangelical churches in our local communities today. each chapter is a woven tapestry of personal stories—heart-wrenching, hopeful, and steeped in grace—which beg the reader to consider their role in the broader context of the world around them and the religious institutions they affiliate with. if you are seeking “beloved community,” then this book is for you. if you have experienced “beloved community,” have witnessed first-hand the reconciliation which flows from it, and desire to see a world where all have the opportunity to experience such a blessing, then this book is also for you.

[Bryan Neuschwander · Rating 4 out of 5]

"In the end, dignity is a gift all of us receive from God. Sin has messed us up so badly that we sometimes don't recognize that dignity in ourselves or in other people. This may be the deepest wound that any of us carries: our desperate need to know that we are loved for who we are. But Jesus came down from heaven and gave his life to show us how much God loves each one of us. Even while we were his enemies, Christ died for us. That's the greatest love you'll ever know, and it has the power to transform both our lives and our society." (44) John M. Perkins

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A gentle book about building community as the way to reconciliation, justice and equality. I kept thinking how much my father, who spent his life working in the prisons and orphanages of Korea, would have loved John Perkins' vision of a beloved community. He too loved Zechariah's words--children will play in the streets, the old will sit in the shade, all will live together in harmony and joy. What hope that brings to us in these dark days.

[riley kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read through this after a Civil Rights Pilgrimage in Alabama- it's great. Jesus tells us people should know we are Christians by the way we love one another (John 13:35). Love is our witness! And what we can do is plant the seed and till the ground, knowing God will do the rest. Stay committed to a PLACE and be in service to that community, to your neighbor.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Welcoming Justice is life changing

Please read this new book by JP which continues his life long journey with impacting communities. It’s very humbling and convicting! Thanks to CCDA for helping Dr Perkins to write more!

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marsh and Perkins alternated chapters in this book, and they both had a lot of profound things to share about building authentic community across racial, cultural, and economic lines. Definitely worth reading.

[Tiffany · Rating 5 out of 5]

Community, community, community. This book succintly showcases the importance of community in restoration and reconciliation. It's a battle cry for the Church. Our society is starving for it and we need to respond.

[Chrys Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading Perkins... Not a huge fan of Marsh. Overall, though, the book is worth reading for the stuff written by Perkins. Marsh says some good stuff, but he is also very ecumenical in his thinking.

[Joel Sanabria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book. The combination of seeking to be involved in the community fighting for the needy while representing God's kingdom and teaching others the importance of reconciliation.

[Van Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great book,but disjointed with two authors.

[Scott Rushing · Rating 4 out of 5]

Our church is reading this book together. I found it to be an inspiring vision of what beloved community can be, a welcoming place for everyone.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed the way the book goes back and forth between Marsh and Perkins.

[Georgia Dahm · Rating 3 out of 5]

My expectations were low but this was good! Short and insightful.

[Timothy Hoiland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Last week I read one of John Perkins' more recent books, Welcoming Justice: God’s Movement Toward Beloved Community, which he co-wrote with Charles Marsh, a religion professor at the University of Virginia and director of the Project on Lived Theology. By way of introduction, Perkins is black, Marsh is white, and the book is about “beloved community” — the guiding vision for Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Civil Rights movement in the American South where both Marsh and Perkins grew up. I’m not sure I’m entirely qualified to do that vision justice, but I understand it to be more or less the vision King articulates in his timeless “I Have A Dream” speech.

Marsh is a scholar of the Civil Rights movement, Perkins is a veteran of it, and their thesis is that what kept the Civil Rights movement grounded and creative and redemptive was its roots in the Christian faith...

- See more at: http://tjhoiland.com/wordpress/2011/0...

[Eli · Rating 1 out of 5]

Funny that the Nietzsche quotes hit me more than the rest of the book. I guess I was just kind of asking myself the whole time: why don’t you just use mindfulness meditation instead? Then you don’t need the religion at all.

Both authors twist religion to say what they want it to say so much already, and the fact that religious people are also more often racists just reinforces this.

They claim that a proper view of the religion would fix racism and that their fight comes from the church as its source of power but that’s false. Church people just currently agree with anti racism. Just happens to be. Look at history and try to tell me otherwise.

So please go out and learn and try mindfulness meditation. Spread personal responsibility and deep connection with all living beings and the universe. Racism will be one of the first things to go. Don’t try to shove church in through the door of kind living.

[Adam Shields · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short review: This is a very good introduction to the concept of community as a movement of God. Perkins is well known to me. I have read almost everything written by him or about him and seen him speak on a number of occasions over the last 20 years. This is a much stronger focus on the role and need for community that much of Perkin's other writing. Also the co-author, Charles Marsh, does a good job to give theological and cultural context to Perkin's chapters.

The Full review (along with some suggestions of what to read if you are interested in Perkins) is at http://bookwi.se/perkins-marsh/

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was assigned a chapter from this book for my seminary class and then just kept right on going! Charles Marsh, a historian and theologian, and the incredibly influential activist John Perkins write alternating chapters in this book about what it means to put “boots to the ground” in building beloved community. The tone is intimate as we get to sit at the feet of these sages and learn from their stories and experiences. They share powerful stories of reconciliation in relationships and communities, never allowing the reader to drift too far into high ideals that lack practical application. This book is rich with wisdom based on real-life experiences. What a treasure!

[David Mullen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picking up where Dr King left off, this is the vision of the "beloved community" that the Civil Rights movement aspired to, but never acheived. Perkins and Marsh believe we now have a second bite at the apple.

[Mjensen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good - Practical - Challenging
Provoking good thought - we will be using this as a group-read for a pastor's luncheon I help facilitate every month!