Letters to a Birmingham Jail: A Response to the Words and Dreams of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

About the Author BRYAN LORITTS previously ministered in a large black church in Los Angeles followed by two predominantly white churches and is now the Lead Pastor of Fellowship Memphis- a multiethnic church ministering in urban Memphis, Tennessee. He speaks to thousands annually across the U.S. at churches, conferences, and retreats. Bryan and his wife, Korie, have three sons and serve as a couple on the Family Life speaker team.Soong-Chan Rah is Milton B. Engebretson Associate Professor of Church Growth and Evangelism at North Park Theological Seminary in Chicago, IL. He is the author of The Next Evangelicalism (IVP Books, 2009). Prior to coming to North Park, Soong-Chan was the founding and senior pastor of Cambridge Community Fellowship Church, a multi-ethnic, urban church in Cambridge, MA. Soong-Chan has a B.A. from Columbia University, a M.Div. from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, a Th.M. from Harvard University, and a D.Min. from Gordon-Conwell. Soong-Chan serves on the boards of Sojourners, the Christian Community Development Association, World Vision, and the Catalyst Leadership Center. He lives in Chicago with his wife Sue, a special educator and his two children, Annah and Elijah. More than fifty years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote his Letter from a Birmingham Jail. Much has transpired in the half-century since, and progress has been made in the issues that were close to Dr. King?s heart. Thankfully, the burning crosses, biting police dogs, and angry mobs of that day are long gone. But in their place, passivity has emerged. A passivity that must be addressed. That?s the aim of Letters to a Birmingham Jail. A collection of essays written by men of various ethnicities and ages, this book encourages us to pursue Christ exalting diversity. Each contribution recognizes that only the cross and empty tomb of Christ can bring true unity, and each notes that the gospel demands justice in all its forms. This was a truth that Dr. King fought and gave his life for, and this is a truth that these modern day "drum majors for justice" continue to beat. Review This important book addresses an issue many assume resides outside of evangelical concerns: racial reconciliation in America.  Reigniting Martin Luther King?s challenge to do the hard work of racial justice now, the articles in this volume boldly consider what might be done to effectively respond to a still ?racialized? country.  An overriding theme of fellowship is woven within this timely volume, encouraging the eager reader, evangelical or not, to imagine anew a beloved community of racial inclusion at the looming sunset of the Obama era. In a most brilliant move, this book calls for evangelicals to carry on the spirit of the Civil Rights Movement while expanding its limitations. It acknowledges that changing legislation is but one step toward racial reconciliation for a people with, as W.E.B. DuBois once eloquently put it, ?unreconciled strivings? and ?warring ideals.? This volume offers the Bible as a potent tonic to change and cure the depraved heart regarding racial equality. Derek S. Hicks, Assistant Professor, School of Divinity, Wake Forest UniversityThis collection of personal narratives by gifted Christian leaders-black and white-strikes a blow against indifference to racism and advances the cause of Christ-exalting diversity in the church. Letters to a Birmingham Jail looks forward as well as back, addressing the ethnic conflicts of a new generation. It does not seek answers from culture but from the gospel, which transforms both our vertical relationship (with God) and our horizontal relationships (with one another).Dr. Philip G. Ryken, President, Wheaton CollegeIf it were within my means, I'd buy 100,000 copies of Letters to a Birmingham Jail and give them away to pastors and Christians all across America.  This book is just that important to the future of Christianity in America. Be warned though:the b