hen people say that "Black Lives Matter!" just whose lives do they mean? Are Black LGBTQ+ lives part of that, and Black LGBTQ+ Christian lives in particular? Few books reflect the experiences of Black, Gay, British, Christian, Queer people. This book is written at the intersections of religion, race, and sexuality - particularly looking at how grace, as Christians understand it, relates to Black LGBTQ+ lives. In an evening of conversation and engagement the author, Jarel Robinson-Brown will be in conversation with Sekai Makoni. This event will include a talk from Jarel Robinson-Brown as well as the opportunity for Questions and Answers and a Book Signing following the dialogue. Do join us, and share with anyone interetested!
Sekai Makoni has appeared on BBC Woman's Hour, as a speaker at Greenbelt, and as a facilitator. Her expertise lie within race and gender studies. With an BA (Birmingham) in African Studies, MSc (LSE) in Race, Ethnicity and Postcolonial Studies and an MA (Sanberg Instituut) in Critical Studies, she currently lives in Amsterdam where she is undertaking research into Black women’s identities in the Netherlands and the links to colonial histories. Her work uses audio techniques to literally capture and preserve the voices of Black women.
Jarel Robinson-Brown is a writer, scholar and currently Assistant Curate at St Botolph-without-Aldgate in the City of London. Prior to that he served as Associate Chaplain at King's College London (2019 -2021) and as a Methodist Minster in South Wales and South East London (2013 - 2019). He trained for ordination at Wesley House, Cambridge (2010-2013) and is the Vice-Chair of the global LGBT+ Christian Charity OneBodyOneFaith. Jarel has contributed to the Book of Queer Prophets (HarperCollins) and his most recent book is Black, Gay, British, Christian, Queer: The Church and the Famine of Grace' published by SCM Press in 2021.
**BOOKS WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE ON THE NIGHT**
Endorsements:
"A liberation theology for the twenty-first century. Jarel's black queer Christian voice challenges the straight white church with a call to overturn its long history of racism and homophobia - and to embrace love, diversity, inclusion and equality for all. Bravo!" -- Peter Tatchell
"A beautiful, deeply personal and theological book...a powerful rendering of God with us in this life, just as we are' - Winnie Varghese
"Jarel Robinson-Brown's book is a deceptively simple text. Either grace is free and unmerited for all people or else it isn't grace. This is not new, and yet, as my friend's wonderful book demonstrates, for LGBTQI people, the church has too often offered a polluted and debased model of Christianity that has corrupted the very notion of grace. Partial or conditional grace is an oxymoron. Jarel Robinson-Brown's book is a bold restatement for the rich traditions of an inclusive and generous faith that mirrors the joyous grace of Jesus Christ, in whose name Christianity proclaims her truth." -- Anthony Reddie
"'Black, Gay, British, Christian, Queer' excels in offering a vision of what love and radical inclusion could accomplish. In a deeply personal and pastoral voice, it challenges the Church to invite and embrace the wholeness of LGBTQ+ persons." -- Nyasha Junior
"Jarel’s is an enormously courageous and necessary voice. To all who are starving in the famine of grace that he rightly identifies, or responsible for it, he provides here a vision 'of repentance and reparation, of truth-telling and truth-hearing'. I have been challenged and awakened and, I hope, inspired to action by the hard story he has told and the hard thinking he has done." -- The Rt Revd Paul Bayes
"Books like this don't come around very often. In this tour de force, Jarel Robinson-Brown's prophetic voice cries out not from the wilderness but a place of profound richness and life. It is both heartbreaking and breathtaking. At times deeply challenging and at times so beautifully-written that it made me want to weep. With deep theological insight that shines a light on much of the exclusivity we have seen - and some of us have been part of - in the Church, it is a rallying call to a faith that invites every single one of us in, without exception." -- Chine McDonald
