ABOUT FIERCE LOVE
PRAISE
“A powerful antidote to the tribalism that is wrecking our country and poisoning our souls, Fierce Love is a welcome moral North Star for readers everywhere.”—Van Jones, New York Times bestselling author of Beyond the Messy Truth and CNN political contributor
“With this book, Jacqui Lewis made me see the world in a different way—as a place where we can live our lives fully, tell our stories honestly, and love one another fiercely.”—Paul Tough, New York Times bestselling author of How Children Succeed
“I have never felt at home in any church as I have in Middle Church—a vibrant, multiracial, multicultural community in the heart of New York City. Now Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis gives us her ingredients to building a beloved community with fierce love. Drawing from raw, vulnerable, and brave coming-of-age stories, she invites us into her ministry to ‘Love. Period.’ This book is radical, just, and joyous. Just like Middle Church. Just like Jacqui Lewis.” —Valarie Kaur, author of See No Stranger: A Memoir and Manifesto of Revolutionary Love
“Walks of faith need living words. Responsive, sanguine, breathing words. Fierce Love is that. Full of big, liberating, bold ideas, it is also a radiant work of testimony, revelation and guidance.”—Aunjanue Ellis, actress and producer
“Each story in the book is a message of resilience and hope. Jacqui is a human angel whose commitment to love reminds us that miracles are real.”—Gabrielle Bernstein, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Universe Has Your Back
“This book is an heirloom quilt. Within its immense practicality, all-season warmth, and supreme comfort lies a patchwork of trustworthy, embodied and timeless wisdom that can only come from a seasoned leader like Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis. As I wrapped myself in its wisdom, Fierce Lovereminded me that I am not alone as I seek personal and societal healing. Rather, a profound lineage of healers precedes, surrounds, and succeeds me. As I followed Lewis’s nine pragmatic steps, I was reminded of the liberating truth that, despite it all, loving fiercely is in my DNA, too.”—Christena Cleveland, PhD, author of God Is a Black Woman
“Rather than a recipe for self-help, the approach is autobiographical, emphasizing how lives intertwine and actions impact one another, and urging readers to bring in ubuntu as an attitude to accomplish sexual, racial, and economic justice. There’s not one single pathway here; rather it’s a dynamic missive about how one woman has made a difference.”—Publishers Weekly
Published by Harmony
Nov 09, 2021 | 224 Pages | 6-1/8 x 9-1/8| ISBN 9780593233863
About Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis
The Rev. Jacqui Lewis, Ph.D. uses her gifts as author, activist, preacher, public theologian toward creating an antiracist, just, fully welcoming society in which everyone has enough. After graduating with an M.Div. from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1992, Jacqui fell in love with urban ministry, leading two churches in Trenton, New Jersey. Fascinated with how faith heals the soul—so we can heal the world—she returned to graduate school, for a Ph.D. in Psychology and Religion from Drew University (2004). Jacqui came to study Middle Church, received a call, and joined the staff in January 2004. Middle is the church of her dreams and prayers, a multiethnic rainbow coalition of love, justice, and worship that rocks her soul.
In her activism, preaching, speaking, writing, and teaching, Dr. Lewis advocates for racial equality, gun control, economic justice, equal rights for all sexual orientations/genders, and marriage equality. Because of her dynamic leadership, Middle Church was featured in a national broadcast on CBS. A Bold New Love: Christmas Eve with Middle Collegiate Church aired on December 24, 2018, to more than 1,000,000 viewers. Dr. Lewis has been on The Today Show, All In with Chris Hayes, AM Joy, The Melissa Harris-Perry Show, NY1, ABC, NBC, PBS, CBS, and WPIX, where she recently covered the Brooklyn memorial for George Floyd. Dr. Lewis created two national television programs: Just Faith, an on-demand television program on MSNBC.com, and Chapter and Verse at PBS.
Jacqui is a womanist whose preaching, teaching, speaking, writing, and activism are aimed at racial equality, gun control, economic justice, and equal rights for all sexual orientations and genders. Jacqui has preached at the Festival of Homiletics, Wild Goose, The Children’s Defense Fund’s Haley Farm, and was a featured speaker on the Together national tour with best-selling author, Glennon Doyle.
Jacqui’s books include Ten Essential Strategies for Becoming a Multiracial Congregation, The Power of Stories, a Guide for Leaders in Multi-racial, Multi-cultural Congregations, the children’s book, You Are So Wonderful! a rhyming celebration of diversity, and a contributing chapter to Becoming Like Creoles: Living and Leading at the Intersections of Injustice, Culture, and Religion. Her newest book Fierce Love: A Bold Path to a Better Life and a Better World will be published in November and is available for pre-order wherever books are sold. And her podcast Love. Period. is available on all streaming platforms.