Sacred Resistance

• Sacred Resistance: A Practical Guide to Christian Witness and Dissent by Ginger Gaines-Cirelli on Amazon

Sacred Resistance the book is a biblically-grounded resource for engaging political, social, economic, and corporate powers that be while keeping yourself sourced in prayer, scripture, and community. Sacred Resistance touches upon possibilities for future transformation while remembering God's mighty actions and ongoing presence in the life of the people of God and in all creation. Short, practical, and easy to read without high-falutin' theological terminology that might require a second layer of interpretation, the book won't overwhelm your church's session, vestry, council, or consistory; it also won't underwhelm pastors or others with more extensive theological backgrounds.

Author Ginger Gaines-Cirelli pastors Foundry United Methodist Church in Washington, D.C.; the large congregation is involved in a wide range of ministries. Small or medium-sized churches simply cannot do it all and need to choose their specialties. Sacred Resistance could be a conversational starting point for discerning options that best enlist members' gifts, passions—and limited time.

I appreciate Pastor Ginger's desire to avoid masculine Kingdom (of God, of heaven) language, but kinships isn't an adequate stand-in. God does create close kinship with all creation, particularly with those baptized into Jesus' death and resurrection, but we need to retain a sense of the sovereignty, of the unique authority, of the reign of heaven on earth in Christ Jesus.

End notes for each chapter offer an additional rich resource individuals or committees might explore after studying the book. All in all, I highly recommend Sacred Resistance for the real-life ideas it suggests.

• My Amazon Review: engaging and resisting powers and principalities