Michael-Ray Mathews

Trouble the Water Michael-Ray Mathews

Trouble the Water is a resource for individuals and congregations endeavoring to take seriously the ever-increasing necessity of work toward racial justice while attending to the intersections of our identities and the intersecting nature of oppression, injustice, and violence. At a time in our country and in our world when expressions of interpersonal prejudice and structural racism are validated and even valorized, this is a resource addressing the pressing concerns of our current era. Deeply rooted in the Christian tradition and evidencing the flavors of peace-and-justice Baptists in particular, this book calls all of us to greater awareness and action in the ministry of racial justice.


Trouble the Water is shaped by a multitude of voices that make it unique among resources for individuals and congregations working toward racial justice. The authors address theory and theology that is foundational to the work of racial justice, provide praxis-oriented chapters helping readers conceive of ways to engage in the work of racial justice as individuals and as congregations, and render inspiring narratives from churches that have been doing the work of racial justice for many years. Whether read by individuals or book study groups, Trouble the Water issues a call to readers: Put your faith into action toward the cultivation of a new way of being in the world--a way of being that honors human difference through embodied action to bring about a more just and less violent world.