Join us for a conversation with award-winning author Chris Rice on Sunday, November 19, from 7 - 8 p.m. at Blacknall (moved to the Fellowship Hall). Rice has been deeply involved in the church’s work of social healing in the US and across the world, and importantly, he is a longtime friend, former member, and elder at Blacknall. Rice will discuss with us his new book “From Pandemic to Renewal” (IVP). A book signing will follow.

For most of us, the pandemic is now a thing of the past — at least we hope it is. Drudging up old debates around mask mandates, stay-at-home orders, and vaccines is likely to elicit a collective groan in many quarters. Chris Rice, however, offers us a fresh and incisive take in his book “From Pandemic to Renewal: Practices for a World Shaken by Crisis.” Far from rehashing old disputes, Rice explores the challenges of our time as a historic opportunity for renewal. As Rice sees it, the global pandemic, along with the domestic crises of the murder of George Floyd and the polarized 2020 election, has ushered us, the country and the American church, to a turning point. Rice gives us hope that the Holy Spirit is at work in our world in new and profound ways. Bringing together Scripture with his own work across social divides domestically and around the world, Rice charts pathways for followers of Christ to join in God’s reconciling, transformative, and healing work in our lives and in our communities.

Please register. If you have questions, contact Karl Umble.

Chris Rice (DMin, Duke University) is the Director of the United Nations Office of the Mennonite Central Committee in New York City, and was co-founding Director of the Duke Divinity School Center for Reconciliation. His three award-winning books are “Reconciling All Things” (co-authored with Emmanuel Katongole), the memoir “Grace Matters,” and “More Than Equals: Racial Healing for the Sake of the Gospel” (co-authored with Spencer Perkins). From the U.S., to East Africa, to Northeast Asia, he has helped give birth to pioneering initiatives to heal social conflicts and renew Christian life and mission.