Congregational leaders are charged with caring for those inside and outside of faith communities. The care required is not only personal but involves dealing with deeply rooted fractures within the community. Fractures like racism, education inequality and poverty, to name a few, plague those inside and outside of the church. Given our fractured landscape and the diversity of contexts where congregations exist, ‘How can congregational leaders be both healers and agitators at the same time?’ The danger of simply being a healer ignores the underlying causes of the fracture(s) in a community. The danger of simply being an agitator is others ignore you because your voice is monotone. Being a leader who lives in this tension inside a faith community and the public square requires nimbleness. A nimbleness that allows for being an ointment and an irritant when needed. Each chapter of Healing Fractured Communities is written by a pastoral leader engaged in the work of renewal, resilience, and resistance in congregations, on college campuses, and in communities. Each chapter paints a picture of the work of healing, includes takeaways, and questions for reflection.
About the author
Jessica L. Anschutz serves as the assistant director of the Lewis Center for Church Leadership. She is passionate about working with and empowering church leaders to do the challenging, yet rewarding and faithful work of healing fractured communities. Andreá Cummings serves as the lead pastor of Zion United Methodist Church in Lexington Park, Maryland. She is passionate about helping churches experience and participate in God’s transformational grace that leads to healing in their communities. Laura Heikes serves the Lead Pastor at Mc Allen FUMC. She is passionate about helping people of faith realize that ministry doesn’t only happen inside their building and teaching them the joy of ministry beyond those walls. Tyler Jackson serves as the lead pastor at Mc Ever Road United Methodist Church. His passion for healing sacred communities comes from the desire to see the fullness of the Kingdom of God unfold here and now. Joel P. Kidwell serves as the lead pastor of First United Methodist Church of Rolla, Missouri. His passion for healing fractured communities arises from God’s own yearning for restoration of individuals and communities so that they become integrated witnesses-to and agents-of the emergence of God’s realm in our hurting world. F. Douglas Powe, Jr., serves as the director of the Lewis Center for Church Leadership and the James C. Logan Professor of Evangelism (in an E. Stanley Jones chair). He is passionate about using his gifts to help communities experience a third way forward instead of polarizing extremes. Iraida Ruiz de Porras serves as a pastor in The United Methodist Church. She believes nothing heals, restores, renews, and liberates mind, body, and soul than being seen and being heard.
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