Nebraska Synod ELCA
Event
“God is a Black Woman” by Christena Cleveland
In this timely, much-needed book, theologian, social psychologist, and activist Christena Cleveland recounts her personal journey to dismantle the cultural “whitemalegod” and uncover the Sacred Black Feminine, introducing a Black Female God who imbues us with hope, healing, and liberating presence.
For years, Christena Cleveland spoke about racial reconciliation to congregations, justice organizations, and colleges. But she increasingly felt she could no longer trust in the God she’d been implicitly taught to worship—a white male God who preferentially empowered white men despite his claim to love all people. A God who clearly did not relate to, advocate for, or affirm a Black woman like Christena.
Her crisis of faith sent her on an intellectual and spiritual journey through history and across France, on a 400-mile walking pilgrimage to the ancient shrines of Black Madonnas to find healing in the Sacred Black Feminine. God Is a Black Woman is the chronicle of her liberating transformation and a critique of a society shaped by white patriarchal Christianity and culture. Christena reveals how America’s collective idea of God as a white man has perpetuated hurt, hopelessness, and racial and gender oppression. Integrating her powerful personal story, womanist ideology, as well as theological, historical, and social science research, she invites us to take seriously the truth that God is not white nor male and gives us a new and hopeful path for connecting with the divine and honoring the sacredness of all Black people.
Author Bio
Christena Cleveland, PhD, is a social psychologist, public theologian, author, and activist. She is the founder and director of the Center for Justice + Renewal as well as it’s sister organization, Sacred Folk, which creates resources to stimulate people’s spiritual imagination and support their journeys toward liberation.
Reading Schedule
Jan 16: (52 pages)
Chapter 1: She Who is Worth Seeking at All Cost
Chapter 2: in god we can’t trust: the problem with whitemalegod
Jan 23: (46 pages)
Chapter 3: She Who Guides Us along the Freedom Path
Chapter 4: god of the gag reflex: whitemalegod’s disgust for human need
Jan 30: (45 pages)
Chapter 5: She Who Cherishes Our Hot Mess
Chapter 6: god of bulimia; whitemalegod’s war on our bodies
Feb 6: (39 pages)
Chapter 7: She Whose Thick Thighs Save Lives
Chapter 8: Machiavellian monster: whitemalegod’s liturgy of fear
Feb 13 (38 pages)
Chapter 9: She Who Loves by Letting Go
Chapter 10: god of white women
Feb 20: (30 pages)
Chapter 11: She Who is Unapologetically Black
Chapter 12: She Who Has the Final Word.
Claire Meyer serves as Pastor to Trinity Lutheran Church in Newman Grove. She is newly ordained this fall as a minister of Word and Sacrament but has been rostered as a deacon since 2013. She has served in small multiple point rural congregations and large suburban congregations. No matter the context Claire is committee to loving conversations that help illuminate the work of the church and the power of God to accomplish this work.
Date: Thursdays January 16 through February 20, 2025
Time: 9:00 -10:00 am Central/ 8:00-9:00am Mountain
Format: This online book discussion will be on Zoom. Pastor Claire will email the link to participants January 13, 2025
Target Audience: This discussion will be of special interest to individuals and book clubs we are ready to wander into new territory and see with different lenses. This is a book for those who are thinking outside the book and with open minds about faith, privilege and theology The book discussion is not limited to women – all are welcome to join the conversation.
Cost: $25/person. Individuals will need to secure a copy of the book for the course.
Registration Deadline: Registration deadline is January 10, 2025. No refunds will be issued after January 10.
Continuing Education: 6 hours of class time provides 6 hours of continuing education credit. (PMAs will need to follow PMA guidelines to receive credit.)