Inspired by the tenets of ubuntu—the Zulu philosophy that we are each impacted by the circumstances that impact those around us, and that the world won’t get better until we all get better—Fierce Love lays out the nine daily practices for breaking through tribalism and engineering the change we seek. From downsizing our emotional baggage to speaking truth to power to fueling our activism with joy, it demonstrates the power of small, morally courageous steps to heal our own lives, our posse, and our larger communities. Sharing stories that trace her personal reckoning with racism as well as the arc of her journey to an inclusive and service-driven faith, Dr. Lewis shows that kindness, compassion, and inclusive thinking are muscles that can be exercised and strengthened. With the goal of mending our inextricable human connection, Fierce Love is a manifesto for all generations: a bighearted, healing antidote to our rancorous culture.
Author Visit – Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis – Fierce Love: A Bold Path to Ferocious Courage and Rule-Breaking Kindness That Can Heal the World
May 1 @ 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Author, activist, preacher, and Senior Minister of Middle Collegiate Church in New York City, Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis, has a full day lined up in Lincoln. If you can’t catch her at Francie & Finch Bookshop, you can join any of the events below.
Purchase Fierce Love HERE
MAY 1ST EVENTS:
Mayor’s Interfaith Prayer Breakfast – “Just Love” – 7:30 a.m. – The Cornhusker Marriott Hotel, featuring greetings from Mayor Leirion Gaylor-Baird, readings and prayers by representatives of many of the faiths represented in Lincoln, a keynote from Dr. Lewis along with special music. Reservations include a full vegetarian breakfast and can be made through Eventbrite (or by sending $30 per person to “Mayor’s Interfaith Prayer Breakfast” c/o First Christian Church, 430 S. 16th Street, Lincoln 68508 by April 21st. Dr. Lewis will be available to sign copies of her book after the breakfast.
“Just Love’ in Our City – 11:30 a.m. – First Christian Church, 430 S. 16th Street – special 30 minute presentation by Dr. Lewis followed by a sack luncheon and conversation. Box lunches (options: Maple Pecan Chicken Salad on Seeded Bread, Roast Beef and Blue on Croissant, or Vegetarian Cobb Salad, all accompanied by fruit salad and cookie) may be ordered by April 24 – $15.00 per person – contact D’Arcy Blosser – 402-429-6902 to place your order. Box lunches catered by Relish. Or you may bring your own sack lunch to enjoy. A free will offering will be taken at this event.
Special Book Talk and Signing at Francie & Finch Bookshop – 2 p.m. – 130 S. 13th Street – Fierce Love: A Bold Path to Ferocious Courage and Rule-Breaking Kindness That Can Heal the World can be reserved by calling the shop – 402 781 0459 – or purchased by following the link above.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
“Fierce Love” – A healing antidote to our divisive culture, full of evocative storytelling, spiritual wisdom, and nine essential daily practices—by the first female, Black senior minister at the historic Collegiate Churches of New York.
We are living in a world divided. Race and ethnicity, caste and color, gender and sexuality, class and education, religion and political party have all become demographic labels that reduce our differences to simplistic categories in which “we” are vehemently against “them.” But Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis’s own experience—of being the first female and first Black minister in her church’s history, of being in an interracial marriage, and of making peace with childhood abuse—illustrates that our human capacity for empathy and forgiveness is the key to reversing these ugly trends.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
The Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis uses her gifts as author, activist, preacher, and public theologian toward creating an antiracist, just, gun violence free, fully welcoming, gender affirming society in which everyone has enough. Jacqui is the Senior Minister and Public Theologian at Middle Collegiate Church. She earned her M.Div. from Princeton Theological Seminary and a M.Phil. and Ph.D. from Drew University in Psychology and Religion. A womanist theologian, Jacqui has preached at the Festival of Homiletics, the Wild Goose Festival, The Children’s Defense Fund’s Haley Farm, The American Church in Paris and was a featured speaker on the Together national tour with best-selling author, Glennon Doyle. Dr. Lewis’ work has also been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Washington Times, the front page of The New York Times, New York Times Video, The
New York Post, CNN i-report, Essence, Ebony.com, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, The Associated Press, The San Francisco Chronicle, U.S. News, The Public’s Radio, The Houston Chronicle, The Seattle Times, The San Diego Union Tribune, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and The Yakima Herald. She has blogged for The Huffington Post, GLAAD, Patheos, and Believe Out Loud. Her books include The Power of Stories; Ten Essential Strategies (with John Janka); Becoming Like Creoles (with Curtiss de Young, et al), and the children’s book, You Are So Wonderful! Harmony/Penguin Random House published her book, Fierce Love: A Bold Path to Ferocious Courage and Rule-Breaking Kindness That Can Heal the World in 2021. Her next book is the Just Love Story Bible for Children (Beaming Books, 2025). Jacqui’s done television on CBS, ABC, PBS Jacqui shares her life with her best friend and spouse, John Janka. Together, they founded the Middle Church annual national justice conference, currently called Freedom Rising; now in its 19th year. Together they also spoil their two grandchildren, just a little bit.