News & Stories

May 7, 2021 Impact story

The Church Cracked Open

The President and Board of Directors of the Episcopal Church Foundation invite you to an evening of learning and conversation with The Rev. Stephanie Spellers, Canon to the Presiding Bishop for Evangelism, Reconciliation and Stewardship of Creation. Canon Spellers is an ECF Fellow (2008) and longtime contributor to ECF Vital Practices. In this conversation, we celebrate and discuss Canon Spellers’ latest book – The Church Cracked Open: Disruption, Decline, and New Hope for Beloved Community. Church Publishing Incorporated describes, “in this critical yet loving book, the author explores the American story and the Episcopal story in order to find out how communities steeped in racism, establishment, and privilege can at last fall in love with Jesus, walk humbly with the most vulnerable and embody beloved community in our own broken but beautiful way. The Church Cracked Open invites us to surrender privilege and redefine church, not just for the sake of others, but for our own salvation and liberation.


Stephanie Spellers serves as Presiding Bishop Michael Curry’s Canon for Evangelism and Reconciliation. The author of The Church Cracked Open, and The Episcopal Way (with Eric Law), she has directed mission and evangelism work at General Theological Seminary and in the Diocese of Long Island. A native of Kentucky and a graduate of both Episcopal Divinity School and Harvard Divinity School, she lives in Harlem, New York.

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