Travelling Light

The history of racial and ethnic oppresion in America - and in North American churches - is traced here by a distinguished educator who then calls readers to a radical acceptance of God's unifying love. The weight of history, the "baggage" of division and discrimination, prevents genuine worship, explains Dr. McClain. He offers a powerful argument for pluralism and for a theology which reflects the needs, strengths and cultures of all Americans. "A new interpretation of history is the beginning of a change in perspective," writes Dr. McClain. Thus he asks readers to examine church practice and their own lives with an openness to change. Christians, he says, are pilgrims, not settlers, following God's leading on a journey to find community. This pilgrimage toward salvation can only be made if all travel together - and all "travel light." Exercises follow each chapter of this provacative book and a reading list provides guidance for those who wish to pursue the study of theology's relation to pluralism. All those who are concerned with changing the concrete manifestations of racism and exclusion in society will be aided by Dr. McClain's discussion of the means of change. Traveling Light is a timely exhortation to a fuller Christianity. For many, history has been bitter, but the future has yet to be made. -- from books cover.