Mistakes and Miracles: Congregations on the Road to Multiculturalism

What calls Unitarian Universalists to create multicultural, antiracist Beloved Community? What do congregations need when they embark on this journey? What common threads run through their stories?

Nancy Palmer Jones and Karin Lin—a white minister and a lay person of color—share how five diverse congregations encounter frustrations and disappointments, as well as hope and wonder, once they commit to the journey. Mistakes abound. Miracles of transformation and joy emerge too. Extensively researched and thoughtfully written—with reflection questions at the end of each chapter—Mistakes and Miracles: Congregations on the Road to Multiculturalism will guide readers to apply these stories to their own communities, develop next steps, and renew their commitment to this hard but meaningful work.

Nancy Palmer Jones has served as senior minister at the First Unitarian Church of San José, California since 2005. She was a founding member of the Unitarian Universalist Association’s JUUST Change Anti-Oppression Consultancy, and with the late Marjorie Bowens-Wheatley, she co-edited Soul Work: Antiracist Theologies in Dialogue. Before becoming a minister, she was a professional actor and freelance book editor.

Karin Lin is a member of First Parish in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she has played a number of leadership roles related to multiculturalism, antiracism, and social justice. She is an engineer in the field of natural language processing.