A Church Anew Book Series: Interview with Rev. Kelly Chatman, Author of “To Be Seen and Heard”
Photo by Lampos Aritonang on Unsplash
Church Anew is delighted to continue a series that celebrates the books and contributions of leaders in our community. While we can’t share every book or article or milestone, feel free to nominate someone or some piece that you know by emailing support@churchanew.org. Pastor Eric Shafer has led a storied career across the church and is interviewing authors in this recurring feature. This week, we are happy to present Eric’s interview with Kelly Chatman about his new book, To Be Seen and Heard.
From the editor:
The Rev. Kelly Chatman's new book, To Be Seen and Heard: The Power of Welcome, Safety, & Belonging in the Church centers on fostering reflection about difference, specifically encouraging white individuals and institutions to reconsider their perceptions. Inspired by the murders of George Floyd and others, the book emphasizes creating spaces of welcome, safety, and belonging for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) individuals who have historically faced pressure to assimilate. Through personal experiences and reflective questions, Chatman's work aims to initiate open conversations that move beyond blame and cultivate authentic connections across racial and cultural lines, particularly within church settings, which have often mirrored societal exclusions. Ultimately, the book invites white readers to actively work towards establishing equitable and inclusive environments.
Please share a brief summary of your book:
To Be Seen and Heard centers on the reflective practice of welcome, safety, and belonging and fosters dialogue about difference. The book encourages introspection on the initial recognition of difference, the subsequent judgments made, and the transformation that can occur where difference is valued. To Be Seen and Heard draws my experiences as a BIPOC leader in predominantly white environments; the text highlights the pressure to assimilate and the systemic disadvantages faced by those deemed "different." The book is intended to encourage white individuals to reconsider their perceptions of difference, understand its historical devaluation rooted in oppression, and recognize its inherent neutrality. Ultimately, the book aims to initiate open conversations among individuals, groups, churches, and organizations about how their understanding of difference impacts their relationships and the opportunity to cultivate authentic connections across racial, cultural, and social lines. The goal is not to assign blame but to promote reflection and pave the way toward a beloved community.
Why did you write this book?
I wrote the book after the murder and killings of George Floyd, Jamar Clark, and Philando Castille, and COVID-19 isolation. Central to the book is the promise of welcome, safety, and belonging, where people experience the embrace of the beloved community. I was inspired to write the book after the murders of Jamar Clark, Philando Castille, and George Floyd, and COVID-19. Sadly, it was such deaths for Black lives began to be seen ever so shortly. I was a visible pastor and leader in the community.
Why should people read this book?
The book is an easy read. It is a compilation of stories followed by questions to facilitate reflection and group conversation. I am a Black pastor and leader in the church. The church has much caught up to offer space where nonwhite people feel welcome, safe, and belonging. The church was established by God, who loved the world and sent his son, Jesus, as a statement of God's love for the world. The witness of Jesus is a relationship with all humanity, extending to the furthest margins. The witness of God is a relationship extending welcome, safety, and belonging to the extending to all. God's welcome is the church's mission, offering welcome, safety, and belonging. Offering welcome, safety, and belonging is a co-creative partnership with God. While I believe and hope everyone will read the book, the book will appeal primarily to white readers. I am afraid Black, Brown, and people who have been marginalized are fatigued and less willing to invest hope in the possibility of equitable relationships with white people, churches, and white institutions. The book encourages white people, churches, and institutions to do the work to become safe places of welcome, safety, and belonging. Belonging in the church and white-centered spaces has for too long been at the expense of non-white people.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
At its best, the church provides sanctuary established with the mission that God welcomes you no matter who you are, your race, class, or background. God sees you. Jesus enters the world and embraces humanity with welcome, safety, and belonging for all. No other institution makes this promise. The church is not about membership based on numbers,
Relationships, welcome, and safety have a social impact. There was a time when the church-shaped worldview was known as a time and known as a time of "Christendom." The church served as a primary anchor of traditions, rules, and practices for belonging. More recently, newer generations began to exit. The culture shifted, and people sought new venues and settings to pursue relationships and community as fitness centers, virtual spaces, and sporting and outdoor activities grew. Church was no longer the primary influence for people to be seen and heard. Sadly, the church often aligned itself with a culture where many had felt neither seen nor heard.
I want the church to be known as a powerful witness of God’s welcome, safety, and belonging. To Be Seen and Heard is a call to action of authentic dialogue and a vision of the church in and outside of the church building. Research states that, on average, six out of ten people who enter the doors of a church are not church members. Churches extend welcome, safety, and belonging through food pantries, clothing closets, scouting, cookouts, socials, advocacy, and various weekly activities. How might those encounters be viewed as partnership and co-creative expressions of relationship?
To Be Seen and Heard can be ordered on Amazon.
Rev. Eric Shafer
The Rev. Eric C. Shafer is a regular contributor to Church Anew and serves as “Pastor in Residence” for Global Refuge - www.globalrefuge.org - which is now in its 85th year serving immigrants and refugees. He has served ELCA congregations in Pennsylvania and California and was the ELCA’s Communication Director, a synod bishop’s assistant, and an interfaith communication executive. He and his wife, Kris, live at Pilgrim Place in Claremont, California.
