Religious and faith communities can take a leading role in the pursuit of racial reconciliation, the Reverend Dr Jacqui Lewis argues.

The author, speaker and antiracism advocate is on island this weekend to engage in a series of conversations on this topic in collaboration with Wesley Methodist Church, Curb and OutBermuda. The conversations are designed to equip the community in creating an “antiracist, just, and fully welcoming society”.

Her journey into racial reconciliation within faith-based communities began early in life.

“When I introduce myself, sometimes I just start with my age. I am 63 years old, and I start with that because it gives context in relation to American history,” Dr Lewis said.

“My parents were born in the [Great] Depression and raised in Mississippi in the 1930s – Jim Crow laws, segregation, having to walk past the White school to get to the coloured school. But inside my parents was a strong desire to create something different for their children.”

Her father joined the military and their family relocated to New Hampshire. Despite her parents’ best efforts, their family could not escape the reality of racist America.

“I was called the ‘n’ word at the age of five by a little White girl named Lisa. I went home crying and I distinctly remember my mother saying ‘Jacq it is so silly that someone won’t think you are as good as they are because you are a negro’. That night I prayed that no matter what colour someone is, they would know they are loved.

“My dad, who was different tempered from my mom, went to the air force base commander and demanded an apology from the girl and her father.”

The experience made an indelible impact on Dr Lewis’s mindset and view of the world. She did not realise it then, but it would be the foundation of her life’s work.

“Believe it or not, this was the beginning of my career as an antiracist activist. My parents’ response gave me the framework for my activism. Their responses, though distinctly different, shaped me and that is why I am here,” she said.

“They gave me a vision that racism is foolish; they gave me a spiritual foundation that faith means changing the world and an activist mentality of speaking the truth.”

A few years later, just before her ninth birthday, Martin Luther King was assassinated. It further fuelled a desire within her for racial justice.

“I was traumatised. But that sparked a greater awareness of what was going on in America. My eyes were open now and I had a conviction that I wanted to be a drum major for peace. I was convinced at the same time that I was traumatised, because the drip, drip, drip of White supremacy causes a wound in the soul of Black people.”

Despite this conviction, Dr Lewis initially looked at careers that were acceptable for young Black women at the time – engineering, business, law. None of them were a good fit for her. Her spirit continued to be drawn to community work.

“I was finding my way, but not fully stepping into it. When I was 30 I went to visit a church in Philadelphia and I said to the pastor, ‘I think I am supposed to be doing what you are doing’. Two weeks later I applied to seminary.

“I got into Princeton, graduated early with a Master of Divinity and jumped right into ministry. I never felt like I was late. I was right on time. My corporate experience, my failures, my wins – all those things were designed to get me into ministry.”

Eight years later she went back to school and pursued a doctorate in psychology and religion, with a focus on gender and racial/ethnic identity development.

Dr Lewis believes that understanding the role the church – specifically the Christian church – has played in perpetuating racism and unjust structures is also essential to the process of reconciliation.

“The church helped design racism. I have this tough topic that I speak about in my conversations with church leaders. It’s the myth of ‘chosen-ness’. The Christian church took on the chosen identity and used it for its own good. The ‘chosen’ decided to take the land from the ‘heathens’, to persecute Muslims, kill Jews and enslave Africans. The church did all of that.”

Through her ministry, Dr Lewis shares this perspective but also focuses on how the global church can contribute to racial reconciliation.

“The story of God and the world is a compelling story of healing and reconciliation. We fall out of relationship with God over and over again and God just keeps loving us, with a radical love. God wants us to practise this with each other. Reconciliation of us to God and to one another.

“I think the church’s job, the faith community’s job, is to remember that story and bear witness to God’s intention for a world that is whole.”

Dr Lewis shares this message from the pulpit but also in her books: Fierce Love,Ten Essential Strategies for Becoming a Multiracial Congregation and The Power of Stories, a Guide for Leaders in multiracial, multicultural Congregations.

She also cofounded The Middle Project and The Revolutionary Love Conference with her husband, Reverend John Janka. Through these avenues she equips faith leaders to tackle issues of racism, poverty and bigotry within their congregations and contribute to creating a more just society.

In her talks this weekend Dr Lewis hopes to inspire people of faith in Bermuda to take action through radical honesty and forgiveness.

“I took the invitation to come to Bermuda because this is my job. Truth and healing is my job and I’m not going to stop until the moral arc of the universe reaches justice.

“The challenge is always in the reluctance to speak truth. You cannot get to reconciliation without truth. Can we be ferociously courageous enough to be hurt on the way to healing?”

• Rev Dr Jacqui Lewis will be the guest speaker at Wesley Methodist Church tomorrow at 11am. There is no need to register, and all are welcome