Living into God's Dream

Catherine Meeks, PhD, is Executive Director of the Absalom Jones Center for Racial Healing. She is the retired Clara Carter Acree Distinguished Professor of Socio-Cultural Studies from Wesleyan College and Founding Executive Director of the Lane Center for Community Engagement and Service. She is frequently asked to present commentaries on Georgia Public Radio and other radio and television programs. She is the author of six books and one inspirational CD and is the editor of Living Into God’s Dream: Dismantling Racism in America and co-author of Passionate for Justice: Ida B Wells as Prophet for Our Times. She is the winner of The President Joseph R. Biden Lifetime Achievement Award and holds a Master’s Degree in Social Work from Clark Atlanta University and PhD from Emory University. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia.Jim Wallis is an esteemed preacher, teacher, and writer. He is the author of American’s Original Sin, God’s Politics, The Great Awakening, and The Call to Conversion, and the podcast host of The Soul of the Nation with Jim Wallis. Wallis has also served on the White House Advisory Council on Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships and taught at Harvard and Georgetown universities.

"There will be no racial reconciliation in America without justice. There will be no justice without racial healing.’ Catherine Meeks writes these words in one of the chapters in this book, and it is the theme woven through the whole work. The authors are animated by a fierce and tender love for humankind wounded by the sin of racism and a profound conviction that God offers us a way through these wounds to new life together. This book is a companion for that journey.”—The Rt. Rev. Jeffrey Lee, Bishop of Chicago “Living into God’s Dream presents compelling perspectives on racial healing and justice-making through the voices of a diverse group of authors. The book addresses the complexities of structural and cultural racism, and offers hopeful responses that will resonate with readers, whether they are experienced racial justice advocates or just beginning to explore antiracism ministries. This book is a wonderful resource for Christian communities seeking to deepen their engagement with racial reconciliation.”—Heidi J. Kim, Missioner for Racial Reconciliation, The Episcopal Church “Living into God’s Dream is a gift to the church, to be sure, but it is also a gift to the American people. With insights that penetrate and probe the biases that lurk in the most unexamined chambers of our hearts, these essays will help even the most reluctant readers to grapple with the truth about white privilege, white supremacy, and what it means to be Black in America. Better still, these essays provide us with the tools we need—including the motivation—to take up the hard work of dismantling racism in our time.”—Richard T. Hughes, Lipscomb University and author, Myths America Lives By