The AND Campaign to energize Black civic engagement is holding an event on April 13 to promote young Black church leaders who bridge the divide between conservative and progressive voices. Two IVP authors are among the headliners for the “Heirs of Action" evening, held online and in person in Decatur, Ga., and hosted by Black church elders to bless and establish the millennial-led AND Campaign as a credible representative of their social and political perspective.

The goal is to show the media and the public that "those of us who support both social justice and moral order in the public square are not getting our voices heard although we are the primary stream in Black Christian thought," said Justin Giboney. He is a cofounder of the AND Campaig, as well as an Atlanta lawyer, political activist, an ordained minister and co-author of Compassion (&) Conviction: The AND Campaign's Guide to Faithful Civic Engagement (IVP 2020).

Giboney's upcoming book from IVP is set for 2024. Tentatively titled A Profound Public Witness, the book will apply the principles of the civil rights movement and our "moral imagination" to the issues of today and "refuse to reciprocate the hate we see in society. It is time for the Black church to lead again," said Giboney.

Theologian and pastor Bishop Claude Alexander Jr., who is among the elders hosting the event, described the divisions some see in the Black Church. The author of Becoming the Church and Necessary Christianity (both IVP), told PW, "There are those on the piety side who say matters of public witness such as calls for social justice are peripheral or antithetical to the Scripture and those on the justice side who would say the same about the piety side. We need to affirm that piety and prophetic witness are not opposed to each other. They are both valid, important, and necessary."

While the AND Campaign was launched by millennials, Alexander said that elders will be offering support and counsel. "Having been around the block a few times, you see some things that are coming or could come and you want to give them a word."