This Global Read took place on Wednesday, September 14, at 9am Pacific Time
Watch a recording of the program here
Rev. Jennifer Bailey is preternaturally wise and tenderly prophetic—a visionary tending redemptive possibilities within our present of disarray. To My Beloveds is a wildly beautiful and nourishing introduction of her voice to a wider world. It is a stunning offering of public theology from and for a new generation, yet it could not be more vigorously, lovingly rooted in deep time and place and lineage. This book is a cause for rejoicing.
~ Krista Tippett, Founder & CEO of the On Being Project and Host, On Being + Curator, The Civil Conversations Project
How do we heal our grief and loss to become the leaders the world needs today?
In this unique collection love letters to her fellow activists and faith leaders, Jennifer Bailey offers comfort, wisdom, encouragement, support, and hope for young activists and emerging faith leaders aspiring to build a better world amidst its violence, trauma, and loss—and who may wonder if they’re up to the task or unsure if they’ll ever see the change they seek.
Considering three central questions - what is dying, what wants to emerge, and what is already blooming beautifully - Bailey’s poignant letters inspire us to imagine how our grief and despair can be composted into new life filled with courage, hope, and purpose for our shared future.
About the Author
Jennifer Bailey has been named one of 15 Faith Leaders to Watch by the Center for American Progress. Rev. Jen Bailey is an ordained minister, public theologian, and national leader in the multi-faith movement for justice. She is the Founder and Executive Director of the Faith Matters Network, a Womanist-led organization equipping community organizers, faith leaders, and activists with resources for connection, spiritual sustainability, and accompaniment. Jen comes to this work with nearly a decade of experience at nonprofits combating intergenerational poverty. Rev. Bailey is an ordained itinerant elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church and serves locally on the staff of Greater Bethel A.ME. Church in Nashville, Tennessee.
An Ashoka Fellow, Nathan Cummings Foundation Fellow, Aspen Ideas Scholar, On Being Fellow and Truman Scholar, Jennifer earned degrees from Tufts University and Vanderbilt University Divinity School where she was awarded the Wilbur F. Tillett Prize for accomplishments in the study of theology. Her work has been featured on OnBeing with Krista Tippett, CBS This Morning, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and dozens of other publications.
Her new book, To My Beloveds: Letters on Faith, Race, Loss and Radical Hope will be published by Chalice Press in October 2021.
About the Host
Felipe Zurita, Marketing Director for the Charter for Compassion, has been bringing awareness to the Golden Rule and empathy with his energetic Millennial, Latinx, Immigrant, Queer voice and experiences to the compassionate movement for 5 years, joining the Charter for Compassion in 2021 to amplify its reach via social media and projects with his social marketing and project coordination skills. His involvement and focus in the interfaith world, has allowed him to organize and work with many faiths and spiritual practices to bring more equality and equity to marginalized communities working towards social justice.
