Overwhelmed

with ressurection.

Greetings beloved, 

and welcome to United States of Grace. What a week. I have launched this new community, launched our new community here in Vancouver, you can read about that here, and about a 100 other things this week!

It’s a great story on a progressive Christian community in a mostly red county from a local paper. That sentence alone should tell you how far we have shifted in the last few weeks. 

But I also launched my new website where all my content will be. You can always just subscribe here but if you want to hear me preach, listen to my podcast, invite me to your community, or order my books in the most ethical way possible that fits your choices, well that’s all here now. 

https://unitedstatesofgrace.com

It’s a soft launch meaning there are edits, changes, and updates to come from the team I hired at Kap2ure Media to take care of it for me. You can learn more about this incredible polyamorous Christian family and their coming out journey, their struggles in life and ministry, and all the creative projects they do like website building, photography, and pop-up worship experiences.  

You can meet the TriadFam here

Or you can look at the some of the many creative  things they do here. 

In the next few days pre-orders are going up for my next book United States of Grace and I’m so pumped! Today I want to talk to you about Dear Church my first book and what most of you know me from. The first thing is because of the way sales are reported I haven’t hit any best seller lists. I am at a small faith-based house. It’s part of my charm.  But I am sold out almost everywhere in paperback with varying degrees of success finding copies reported by fans all over the country of Dear Church.  Also Broadleaf (my publisher) has had to do two printings to my knowledge in June alone, with more on the way.

First: thank you for supporting Black queer progressive Christian thought. I am a rare bird and I want to say thank you from a weary writer who has been pouring his blood, frustration, sweat, rage, love, and grace into every word I type for 5 years. Thank you. I am overwhelmed by the response to my work. 

And that’s just it y’all. With the delayed response to Dear Church and United States of Grace slowly starting to creep out into the world over the next year, not to mention my third top secret project, I am overwhelmed. 

Maybe you are too. Maybe its black bodies on the streets of america*?

Maybe it’s the lack of care for neighbor and the denigration of community in this stumbling republic. 

Maybe it’s that you are so tired of being alone your very bones cry out for touch, lust, love, and the incarnated warmth of another. 

Whatever it is I think I can say we are all overwhelmed lately. I am overwhelmed with requests because suddenly my life matters to your organization. I am overwhelmed with a book that was considered far left liberation theology 2 years ago that is suddenly just left of center this week. 

The spiritual shifts in america in the last few weeks have been so strong they have been almost tactile on my body and I suspect I am not alone.

Change is afoot and the hand of liberation seems to be reaching into human history again. To prepare my heart I am withdrawing, on vacation, for a few weeks. Don’t worry beloveds I am still going to write you. But I want to encourage you dear one to rest. 

I want to start exploring some topics over the next few weeks but with so much going on I wanted to check the pulse of your wonderful hearts. 

What do you want to talk about? Deep dives into Dear Church? Sneak peek into United States of Grace? Explicit planning sessions with faithful folks about our response to cries of black bodies in the next weeks? How queer theology will save the structure of the Church and redeem it, but only Black Liberation theology will save it’s soul? You tell me. I am all yours. 

Over the months ahead, as this community takes shape, we will talk about ways I can expand and if you are interested and how you can support my work. The more you support my writing the more autonomy and freedom I have to speak a word over God’s people. 

That’s just the reality for a Black queer leader in a white denomination. 

In the name of the Parent, The Rebel, and the Spirit 

The Rev. Lenny Duncan +

*Capitalization intentional