DEAR CHURCH: A LOVE LETTER from a BLACK PREACHER to the WHITEST DENOMINATION in the U.S. by Lenny Duncan

Published in 2019 by Fortress Press

Lenny Duncan, as noted in the title, is a black pastor in a very white church body - the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). I belong to a different Lutheran denomination, but I recognize the congregations and the issues he is talking about. I found out about Dear Church from an interview on the morning news on NPR.

Duncan took a unique route to becoming a pastor. He was a homeless teen, he was a prostitute, he served time in jail and he was seeking something spiritual when he attended an ELCA church and heard the Lutheran teachings on God's grace and his life was changed.

Now, he is a pastor telling this church that he loves that it must do better. To be fair to the ELCA, this letter is not just applicable to that denomination, it is applicable to most of the mostly white mainline protestant denominations. But, comments like this one are more than fair for all Lutheran churches: "People are deciding not to come to our churches because we have allowed them to become country clubs where we pantomime discipleship or to be German/Swedish cultural centers, not because we finally got the courage to love God’s own children."

I was struck by several quotes that I will list off:

"Now is the time to rise up with the oppressed. Our churches are emptying because we have become navel-gazing social clubs that are more concerned with the fund to keep the organ alive than funds for refugees."

"Dear Church, it’s time to stop prioritizing tradition and civility over the lives of the marginalized."

"Jesus wants us to love everyone. I’m constantly surprised and disappointed by how radical that statement seems to be."

"Dear Church, we are the ones we have been waiting for. No one else is coming. You are the generation that has been chosen for this time, this place, this moment in human history. Stop waiting for some sort of transformative leader to arise from the body politic or the body of Christ. It is you. You with all your flaws, fears, doubts, brokenness, and downright utter humanness—you are called for more."

Duncan looks at his role as pastor as being the advocate for the marginalized in society because Jesus reached out to people just like them - because Pastor Duncan was one of those marginalized people himself. He wants the church to mobilize to reach out - really reach out. Open up its doors. Feed the poor and more.

I don't agree with every point he makes, but Duncan makes enough good points that I have to give it a strong recommendation. 

I rate this book 4 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: DEAR CHURCH: A LOVE LETTER from a BLACK PREACHER to the WHITEST DENOMINATION in the U.S. by Lenny Duncan.