On April 13 and 25, people from across the Diocese of Chicago will gather on Zoom to discuss Resurrection Hope: A Future Where Black Lives Matter by the Very Rev. Dr. Kelly Brown Douglas, dean of Episcopal Divinity School at Union Theological Seminary and canon theologian at the Washington National Cathedral.

Douglas will speak about her book via Zoom during the session on April 25 from 7 to 9 p.m. Central. Register to attend.

“I’m delighted to welcome my friend and colleague Kelly Brown Douglas back to our diocese, even if only via Zoom,” Bishop Paula Clark said. “Kelly’s visionary theological work continues to guide us from despair to hope as we continue the journey toward the Beloved Community that God intends for us.”

The programs, presented by the diocesan Peace and Justice Committee and the Anti-Racism Commission, are the first in a “One Book, One Diocese” initiative that Ellen Lindeen, chair of the Peace and Justice Committee, modeled on the Chicago Public Library’s popular “One Book, One Chicago” program.

“As an educator, I’m conscious of the books I’ve read that have changed my life. How could we share that sort of impact with the diocese?” Lindeen recalls asking.

Resurrection Hope is a response to the questions that Douglas’s son asked her after George Floyd’s murder by Minneapolis police officers in 2020: How do we really know that God cares when Black people are still getting killed? How long do we have to wait for the justice of God? In the book, she examines the persistence of white supremacy in the United States and how a “white way of knowing” has come to dominate American identity and shape the consciousness of Christians.

Resurrection Hope is the first title in what Lindeen and the Peace and Justice Committee anticipate to be a multi-year One Book, One Diocese program. Spurred by the suggestion of Newland Smith, a longtime committee member who has worked with the National Poor People’s Campaign, the group intends to select titles that address the interlocking injustices of racism, poverty, militarism and the war economy, and environmental devastation named by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The committee will also host a discussion of the book on Zoom on April 13 at 7 p.m. Central: register online. Lindeen hopes that the discussion will attract both people who have discussed the book with their congregations and individuals who “may want an outlet for conversation on what the book stirred for them.

“This is a book that lends itself to a wide range of conversations: in local churches, secular book groups, among friends and in online discussion as this evening will provide,” she said.

To support discussions of the book, on March 27 from 7 to 9 p.m. the Peace and Justice Committee will offer a presentation titled “Navigating Difficult Discussions” by Michelle Day, minister, founder and CEO of Nehemiah Trinity Rising. Register online.

The Peace and Justice Committee is offering scholarship assistance to help congregations buy copies of Resurrection Hope. Email Ellen Lindeen at peacellen123@gmail.com for more information.