The Church Cracked Open: Disruption, Decline, and New Hope for Beloved Community, Paperback

This book will make a profound difference for the church in this moment in history.
-- The Most Reverend Michael B. Curry

Sometimes it takes disruption and loss to break us open and call us home to God. It's not surprising that a global pandemic and once-in-a-generation reckoning with white supremacy--on top of decades of systemic decline--have spurred Christians everywhere to ask who we are, why God placed us here and what difference that makes to the world.

In this critical yet loving book, the author explores the American story and the Episcopal story in order to find out how communities steeped in racism, establishment, and privilege can at last fall in love with Jesus, walk humbly with the most vulnerable and embody beloved community in our own broken but beautiful way.

The Church Cracked Open invites us to surrender privilege and redefine church, not just for the sake of others, but for our own salvation and liberation.

About author(s):

Stephanie Spellers serves as Presiding Bishop Michael Curry's Canon for Evangelism, Reconciliation, and Creation, helping Episcopalians to share good news and cross boundaries as part of the Jesus Movement. A former church planter and seminary faculty member, she is the author of Radical Welcome: Embracing God, The Other and the Spirit of Transformation. She lives in New York City.