Note: I recently read that some of the folks objecting to library collections just wanted to have their point-of-view represented. I am quite wary of this argument as it applies to book challenges and bans—there is much evidence that books are being removed for racist, misogynistic or political reasons (see my Substack “Be a Cactus” for examples and discussions). However, I’m sure there are people (including parents) who would just like to know the library is considering its religion section (particularly on Christianity) and updating it so their teens can find current works there. That’s my reason for posting several books on Christian religion recently. It’s unlikely that these books will please the book banners, but they are titles that will appeal to Christian students looking for guidance on putting their spirituality into practice. 

If you read my earlier post about the book Circle of Hope, you know that I was wondering if a church that engages in work to bridge racial divides—one that openly discusses racism and the question of how the church can make racial equity part of their mission—can survive. The Circle of Hope did not survive. Though leaders came apart over their differences, they continued to do good work elsewhere.

For Undivided: The Quest for Racial Solidarity in an American Church by Hahrie Han, I was intrigued by the publisher’s blurb that suggested the megachurch Crossroads had succeeded in combating racial injustice and managed to hold together. 

Crossroads is a racial mixed but majority white evangelical megachurch in Cincinnati. In 2016, it was a critical force in helping to pass a ballot initiative for universal preschool, providing early childhood education for the poorest, mostly Black, constituents. Author and political scientist Hahrie Han investigates how this happened in an area that voted for Donald Trump in 2016. 

Han finds that Crossroads Pastor Chuck Mingo begins the work of combating racial injustice through the church after he feels called by God to do so and gives an honest sermon about his own experience with racism (he’s Black)—experience that most of the white parishioners don’t comprehend. Congregants then participate in a faith-based program designed to foster antiracism and systemic change called Undivided. They look at their own prejudices, but also—importantly, vitally—beyond them to understand systems of oppression. 

Just as in Circle of Hope, Undivided focuses on four participants—two men, one Black and one white, and two women, one Black and one white. They are all changed at the core through the program. While they don’t all stay in the church itself, the church is huge and survives. What they learn is very powerful. It made me think: Crossroads’ success with their anti-racism program is due not only to the goodwill of the Undivided participants—Circle of Hope had people of goodwill in their anti-racism efforts—but to their curriculum. I know this makes me sound like the teacher that I am, but as you read the book, you’ll find that it’s true. 

High school housekeeping

Undivided is a very hopeful book about people with very different life experiences working to understand each other. Teens can always use that message, and Christian teens will particularly find this book enlightening.