Overview

When Lutheran Church officials sent a young, white West Virginian to Montgomery, Alabama to serve as the pastor to an all-Black congregation in the summer of 1955, they could not have foreseen that he and his family would be thrust into a second American Revolution six months later. But Robert Graetz wasn’t unfamiliar with the relationship between race, religion, and racial discrimination in America, and when he and his young wife, Jeannie, and their two children moved into the Deep South, they were comfortable, happy, and soon welcomed into Montgomery’s Black community. Among the friends they made were Raymond and Rosa Parks, and when Rosa Parks’s arrest triggered the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Bob and Jeannie were some of the few white people who supported the first broad-based civil rights protest of the twentieth century. Although white domestic terrorists bombed the Graetz home twice and threatened Bob and Jeannie’s lives often, the Graetzes never wavered. Recounted in rich detail here, Bob’s time in Montgomery, including these harrowing experiences, shaped a long ministerial career that never failed to emphasize equality and justice issues. In addition to Graetz's boycott memoirs, A White Preacher’s Message on Race and Reconciliation also discusses the human and civil rights challenges we still face today.

Full Product Details

9781588385765

Table of Contents

Reviews

""People of courage, conscience, and commitment are still willing to spend their lives dedicated to the brotherhood of mankind. The Beloved Community is the Christian concept of God on earth, and believers in the Beloved Community insist that it is the moral responsibility of people of goodwill to respond to and to struggle nonviolently against the forces that stand between a society and the harmony it naturally seeks. This book shows that Rev. Robert Graetz has done that with his life.--Congressman John Lewis A powerful message by an amazing preacher and his equally courageous wife who risked their lives to stand with Martin Luther King, Jr., in the African American struggle for civil rights and dared to stand with equal courage for the civil rights of the LGBTQIA+ community.--Mel White ""founder of Soulforce"" Graetz's memoir does more than give a rich account of a pivotal moment in U.S. history; it also shows how committed people were called to their roles in the civil rights movement. Graetz does a great service by looking beyond Montgomery to the larger issues of equality and justice for all Americans.--Ben Beard ""coauthor of This Day in Civil Rights History"" One of the best participant-observer accounts of the events surrounding the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Robert Graetz writes about the many courageous people who made the boycott possible. The memories he shares are sometimes disturbing and painful, but they are important if we are to retain what he calls 'our sense of history' and our awareness of who we are and why we are here.--Lewis V. Baldwin ""Vanderbilt University"" Graetz is an extraordinary advocate for human rights for everyone, including LGBT people, whom he sees as part of the beloved community. This book recounts Graetz's experience as a Lutheran pastor during the Montgomery, Ala., boycotts and how it shaped a long ministerial career emphasizing equality and justice issues. In addition to Graetz's boycott memoirs, this book discusses white privilege, black forgiveness, and the challenges for LGBT people.-- ""Human Rights Campaign's Religion and Faith Newsletter""

Graetz is an extraordinary advocate for human rights for everyone, including LGBT people, whom he sees as part of the beloved community. This book recounts Graetz's experience as a Lutheran pastor during the Montgomery, Ala., boycotts and how it shaped a long ministerial career emphasizing equality and justice issues. In addition to Graetz's boycott memoirs, this book discusses white privilege, black forgiveness, and the challenges for LGBT people.-- ""Human Rights Campaign's Religion and Faith Newsletter""

Graetz is an extraordinary advocate for human rights for everyone, including LGBT people, whom he sees as part of the beloved community. This book recounts Graetz’s experience as a Lutheran pastor during the Montgomery, Ala., boycotts and how it shaped a long ministerial career emphasizing equality and justice issues. In addition to Graetz’s boycott memoirs, this book discusses white privilege, black forgiveness, and the challenges for LGBT people. * Human Rights Campaign's Religion and Faith Newsletter * One of the best participant-observer accounts of the events surrounding the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Robert Graetz writes about the many courageous people who made the boycott possible. The memories he shares are sometimes disturbing and painful, but they are important if we are to retain what he calls ‘our sense of history’ and our awareness of who we are and why we are here. -- Lewis V. Baldwin * Vanderbilt University * “People of courage, conscience, and commitment are still willing to spend their lives dedicated to the brotherhood of mankind. The Beloved Community is the Christian concept of God on earth, and believers in the Beloved Community insist that it is the moral responsibility of people of goodwill to respond to and to struggle nonviolently against the forces that stand between a society and the harmony it naturally seeks. This book shows that Rev. Robert Graetz has done that with his life. -- Congressman John Lewis Graetz's memoir does more than give a rich account of a pivotal moment in U.S. history; it also shows how committed people were called to their roles in the civil rights movement. Graetz does a great service by looking beyond Montgomery to the larger issues of equality and justice for all Americans. -- Ben Beard * coauthor of This Day in Civil Rights History * A powerful message by an amazing preacher and his equally courageous wife who risked their lives to stand with Martin Luther King, Jr., in the African American struggle for civil rights and dared to stand with equal courage for the civil rights of the LGBTQIA+ community. -- Mel White * founder of Soulforce *

Author Information

ROBERT S. GRAETZ, JR. (1928-2020) served Lutheran churches in four states, always with a ministry dedicated to what his friend Martin Luther King, Jr., termed the “beloved community.” In retirement, he remained active with numerous progressive organizations and in civil rights causes. With his wife, Jeannie Ellis Graetz, he led study tours of Deep South civil rights sites for U.S. and international students and visitors. The Graetzes lived permanently near McArthur, Ohio, but, coinciding with the fiftieth anniversary of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, they accepted a 2005-7 appointment as ambassadors-in-residence for the National Center for the Study of Civil Rights and African American Culture at Alabama State University, Montgomery, Alabama.

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