Ferguson and Faith ~ book signing this evening

Ferguson and Faith ~ by Leah Gunning Francis, 2015

The shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, re-ignited a long-smoldering movement for justice, with many St. Louis area clergy stepping up to support the emerging young leaders of today's Civil Rights Movement.  Seminary professor Leah Gunning Francis was among the activists, and her interviews with more than two dozen faith leaders and with the movement's new organizers take us behind the scenes of the continuing protests.  Ferguson and Faith demonstrates that being called to lead a faithful life can take us to places we never expected to go, with people who never expected us to join hands with them.

Author speaking tonight at Left Bank Books.  She drew murmurs and a bit of laughter when she said, "I have skin in this game."  Bonnie and Donna are four rows in front of the photographer, on the left (I'm directly behind the woman wearing the salmon colored blouse).  Posted on her Facebook page for this book, published today, was this quote from the author:  "The questions posed in my book are:  Where do we go from here?  How do we live together in a future of hope?"  This evening, she kept saying, "There is a Ferguson near you."  She also said we don't have to visit Ferguson (a few miles from the bookstore and from where I live), but we need to "get busy dismantling white supremacy right where you are."

About the author
Author's web site and Author's Curriculum Vitae (CV)

Leah Gunning Francis is Assistant Professor of Christian Education and Associate Dean of Contextual Education at Eden Theological Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri, where she has taught since 2008.  She earned her Ph.D from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in 2009 and her M.Div. from Candler School of Theology at Emory University in 2001.