In God's Holy Darkness, Sharei Green and Beckah Selnick deconstruct anti-Blackness in Christian theology by celebrating instances in the story of God's people when darkness, blackness, and night are beautiful, good, and holy. From the darkness at the beginning of creation to the blackness of the sky on the day when Christ's birth was announced to the shepherds, children learn that blackness is something to celebrate as an important element of the life of faith. Lush and vibrant illustrations by artist Nikki Faison underscore the mystery and beauty of these wondrous acts of God's holy darkness.
Perfect for reading and anti-racist reflection in worship, as an affirmation and celebration with children, and at home with caregivers, God's Holy Darkness is a gift to cherish.
God's Holy Darkness is a Junior Library Guild Selection. Junior Library Guild is a curated subscription service for libraries featuring books recommended by expert librarians for building an excellent collection.
Sharei Green (she/her) is a Womanist theologian currently pursuing her MDiv at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. Sitting at the intersection of fat, Black, femme and queer, Sharei has committed herself to creating spaces of community healing and sabbath, especially for Black women/ femmes and all their intersections. You can find her writings online at Living Lutheran, Gather magazine, and Café magazine.
Beckah Selnick (she/her) is a writer and author. As a perpetual student of comedy, storytelling, and religion, she has studied at Harvard University (HES), the Second City (Chicago), and John Carroll University. Her curiosity with the world and what it believes has seen Beckah serving a homelessness initiative and giving tower tours at an ancient abbey in the United Kingdom, teaching English and pressing cabbage in a rural village in the Slovak Republic, and serving coffee in Seattle. Beckah lives with her family, Michael, Jonah, and Declan in the Pacific Northwest.
Nikki Faison (she/her) is a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America serving as the program director for African Descent Ministries. Nikki is the creator of MONadvocacy, a racial justice resource grounded in play. She is passionate about queer Black liberation, cultivating diverse leadership in faith spaces, and the art of creation. In her free time, Nikki is studying for her Doctorate in Ministry degree at United Lutheran Seminary. She resides in the Chicagoland area with her spouse, daughters, and two cats, Penne Pablo and Rigatoni Braxton. You can find more of her work featured in A Sanctified Art LLC's 2023-2024 Advent series and 2024 Lenten series.
"This book states very clearly what it is and what it hopes to be used for; it enlarges an existing discussion and turns tropes around to include everyone and everything." --School Library Journal