Trespasses of the Holy

Articles

Ancient Resistance Stories

1 month ago | gregjarrell.substack.com | Greg Jarrell |Richard Hester

In an age of rising Christo-fascism, I’m as committed now as ever to reading the Bible well. The bad guys shouldn’t get the good material. This discussion above, recorded several weeks back but no less important now than it was then, is with two friends and colleagues. I first knew Dick Hester as a consultant during a difficult moment in our neighborhood work about 12 years ago. After some time had passed, we kept bumping into one another and became friends. He’s a wise mentor and a careful thinker.
The Complete Collection of Biblical Curses, Abridged

2 months ago | gregjarrell.substack.com | Greg Jarrell

As a Christian minister, I want you to have a rich and creative prayer life. God hears the prayers of the faithful, and we don’t want to bore God by praying the same uninteresting prayers over and over. We can try to be at least as interesting as the Psalmists. They knew trouble of both the personal and the political type. Faced with attacks on their well-being and on the common good, they used strong language, especially for oppressors and evildoers.
Advent Amid the Wreckage

Jan 28, 2025 | gregjarrell.substack.com | Greg Jarrell

This essay was published by the Journal for Preachers in their Advent 2024 issue. Thanks to my colleague Rev. Dr. Jessica Patchett of Madison, WI for soliciting and publishing the essay. If you’ve read my book or been on my walks, the first half of this essay will be familiar and you may want to skip down to the second half. On a bright Sunday morning in November 1960, Vernon Sawyer walked up the steps into Friendship Baptist Church.
Was It Really that Bad?

Jan 28, 2025 | gregjarrell.substack.com | Greg Jarrell

I’ve given a dozen or so talks about Our Trespassesover the past six weeks since its release. I’ve been thrilled to see people engaging with the stories and the theology in the book. I’ve gotten lots of questions and comments, some of them quite insightful. But one comment has been the most frequent–some variation on it comes up at almost every presentation I’ve made, either during Q&A or afterwards in my email.
The story I am telling you is a haunted story

Jan 28, 2025 | gregjarrell.substack.com | Greg Jarrell

In advance of the February 20 release of Our Trespasses, we are serializing the first chapter of the book. Find part one here. This excerpt is from Our Trespasses: White Churches and the Taking of American Neighborhoods by Greg Jarrell, ©2024 Fortress Press. You are welcome to share this post, but it should not be reprinted, excerpted, or reproduced without the written consent of Fortress Press.
Driving a Bulldozer, Wearing a Suit

Jan 28, 2025 | gregjarrell.substack.com | Greg Jarrell

Upcoming Charlotte Talks appearance: Charlotte-area readers likely know the local radio program “Charlotte Talks.” I’ll be the guest on the program this Thursday, February 15, from 9-10AM, talking about Our Trespasses. You can hear the program anywhere—locally on 90.7FM, online at the WFAE Facebook page, by telling your smart speaker to play WFAE, or on the NPR app on your device.
Launch Party Recap

Jan 28, 2025 | gregjarrell.substack.com | Greg Jarrell

On Tuesday night, more than 100 people gathered at the former Grace AME Zion Church, in the former Brooklyn neighborhood, to celebrate the release of Our Trespasses: White Churches and the Taking of American Neighborhoods. Joseph “Piko” Ewoodzie hosted and facilitated. Piko is a dear friend and a highly regarded sociologist. We’ve taught together at Davidson College, where is on the faculty, and schemed up a few projects.
Book Release Day!!

Jan 28, 2025 | gregjarrell.substack.com | Greg Jarrell

Our Trespasses: White Churches and the Taking of American Neighborhoods is now available wherever books are sold. Many people think of a book as the product of one person spending innumerable hours in silence. I think that a book is more a chorus of voices, though it is also the product of one person glued to a chair trying to bring order to the chaos of the blank page. Today I think of all the members of the chorus that made this book come to life.
Chapter 1: They

Jan 28, 2025 | gregjarrell.substack.com | Greg Jarrell

Reynard Wright and I are standing in the back parking lot of First Baptist Church of Charlotte, or, as he used to call it, home. His street was Watkins Lane, an alley packed tight with residences from Alexander Street to McDowell. From our resting point, we must imagine everything: houses, streets, yards, churches, people. All of it vanished. The neighborhood is gone. Rey’s old yard is now part of a reflecting pool.
Our Trespasses at 6 Months

Jan 28, 2025 | gregjarrell.substack.com | Greg Jarrell

Today marks six months since the release of Our Trespasses, and, for what it’s worth, my 45th birthday. Over the last six months, I’ve presented the work more than two dozen times in person and on Zoom, been on 10 podcasts, and preached half a dozen sermons. Fine, I’ve preached one sermon six times, but it’s a good one. We’ve sold out two printings of the book. It’s all been pretty incredible, and there’s still much more to come. My fall calendar is full to the point I’m not sure I can manage it.