The Midtown Scholar Bookstore is honored to welcome public theologian and Messiah University professor Drew G.I. Hart to Harrisburg for a conversation and signing on his new book, Making it Plain: Why We Need Anabaptism and the Black Church.

Registration is free but required to attend this event. Doors will open at 6:00pm; the event will begin at 7:00pm. Seating is general admission; first come, first served. Early arrival is encouraged. Books will be available for purchase at the event.

To enter the signing line, your copy of Making it Plain must be purchased from the Midtown Scholar Bookstore. Copies of the book will be available for purchase at the event, or you may preorder a copy of the book via EventBrite.

This event will be live-streamed. Every live-stream ticket includes one signed copy of Making it Plain and the live-stream link. The link will be sent at least 24 hours before the event begins. Please check your spam folder if you do not receive the link in time. The books will be shipped via USPS Priority. U.S. addresses only. Please include your shipping address at checkout.

About the Book:

There is an answer to white Christian supremacy that is centuries in the making.

For many oppressed and vulnerable people, Western Christianity has been a nightmare. Just centuries after the life of Jesus, the rise of Western Christendom contorted Christianity into an instrument of domination and violence. The church fused with the state, sanctioning empire-expanding crusades, colonization, and chattel slavery. Author Drew G. I. Hart challenges the church to wake up to how this past persists in the present, calling Christians to confront the living legacy of plundered people and lands in the name of Jesus.

Making It Plain offers a novel pathway for Christians to live out a decolonial and antiracist faith in the aftermath of Christendom: the convergence of the radical discipleship of the Anabaptist tradition and the prophetic witness of the Black church. In the witness of Black and Anabaptist Christian communities across time, we find a faith that takes the life and teachings of Jesus seriously. Despite oppression or persecution at the hands of mainstream Christianity, these traditions salvaged a liberating and peacemaking vision of Jesus right under the nose of empire and white supremacy.

Weaving together narrative history, theology, and practical guidance, Hart compells readers to engage the best of these faith streams to forge an Anablacktivist faith where everyone belongs, where everyone can thrive, and where everyone matters, especially the last and the least. The shared wisdom of these faith traditions offers signposts towards a Jesus-shaped, Spirit-filled, community-oriented movement capable of surviving and resisting new mutations of white Christian nationalism, antiblackness, and settler colonialism today.

About the Author:

Drew G. I. Hart is a public theologian and professor of theology at Messiah University. He has ten years of pastoral ministry experience and is the recipient of multiple awards for peacemaking. Hart attained his MDiv with an urban concentration from Missio Seminary and his PhD in theology and ethics from Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. He is a sought-after speaker at conferences, campuses, and churches across the United States and Canada. His first book, Trouble I’ve Seen: Changing the Way the Church Views Racism, utilizes personal and everyday stories, theological ethics, and anti-racism frameworks to transform the church’s understanding and witness. Hart lives with his wife, Renee, and their three sons in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Prices include applicable PA sales tax and Harrisburg City amusement tax.