Embodying Antiracist Christianity: Trauma, Transformation, and Liberation in the Church

The prophetic word of Jesus has been captured by white supremacy, imperial power, and nationalism. As progressive Christians, how do we think, move, and organize our way to liberation?

A pastor and activist's guide for progressive people of faith to challenge power structures, build trustworthy community, and nurture an embodied, compassionate faith

In a time of rising white supremacy, political fascism, and deepening divisions, this book offers a radical vision of mutual liberation rooted in embodiment, collective healing, and transformative practice. It begins with a provocative claim: Jesus's message of love and liberation has been captured by white supremacy and co-opted by Empire. And to get out from under these distortions, we can't just think our way free: we need to embody liberation in body, mind, soul, and action.

Drawing on her experience transforming Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church, author Rev. Dr. Marcia Mount Shoop, MDiv, PhD, invites readers into a deeply embodied practice that connects back to the liberatory roots of Christianity--a faith that is visceral, relational, alive, and grounded in love and compassion, not just "progressive niceness." Dr. Shoop's approach goes beyond performative justice and feel-good "window dressing" reform, exploring:

• How trauma, interdependence, and ambiguity shape our capacity for change
  
• What it means to become trauma-wise versus trauma-informed (and why that matters for people of faith)
  
• What happens when communities build cultures grounded in shared power, truth-telling, love, and repair
  
• How social change actually lives and breathes in the body
  
• True stories of mutual aid, dismantling racist church infrastructure, and radical redesigns of sacred spaces
  
• What liberation can truly look like in practice
  
• How to understand the potential costs of this work, from what it takes to step up to when it's time to step back
  
• Practical how-tos for decolonizing sacred and liturgical spaces
  

Theological and practical, inspiring and embodied, this book is an invitation to decolonize Christianity while reclaiming our bodies and recovering more courageous, faith-rooted ways of being in community. The work of liberation is difficult and long, but it is also a pathway back to our deepest expression of shared humanity and holy imagination.