Jesus, He’s My Brother

This chapter analyses the theological tenets present in the historical black church tradition undergirding freedom movements. It discusses the role of the church, black religious intellectuals of the 1920s-1930s and certain theologies—the creative authority of God, the idolatry of segregation, the exodus, the person of Jesus, and redemptive love. The chapter reveals how these animated early civil rights actions and activities in Americus.

Marching to Eternity

This chapter examines the theological origins of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee as well as its activities in Southwest Georgia. It examines the movement beginning with Charles Sherrod’s work in Albany Georgia in 1961 and continuing into Americus in the summer of 1965, emphasizing the theological commitments of grassroots participants. The chapter tells the story of the Americus and Sumter County Movement, including the integration of the Martin Theater, the persecution of the Americus Four, the Leesburg Stockade, the Kwik Check boycott, the jailing of women attempting to vote, and numerous other marches and demonstrations.

Kneeling-In

This chapter describes the rise of the kneel-in movement and the moral confrontation it provoked. Envisioned by the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, kneel-ins protested segregation in sacred spaces and highlighted the theological foundations of the freedom struggle. The chapter tells the story of the kneel-in movement in Atlanta and, in the summer of 1965, in Americus. The kneel-ins at First Baptist Church and First Methodist Church in Americus were covered by the national press, provoking a firestorm of criticism and praise, as recorded in letters sent to the church. Kneel-ins also sparked a crisis within white Protestantism, particularly for the Georgia Methodist Conference and Bishop John O. Smith.

Lee Street Theology

This chapter describes the white Protestant churches in Americus. It also examines the theological tenets undergirding the church’s racial politics and their development over time. In examining notions of biblical literalism, fundamentalism, congregational autonomy, spiritualism and evangelism, this chapter uncovers theological arguments for segregation and racial difference.

Demonstration Plot for the Kingdom

This chapter examines the history of Koinonia Farm, an interracial Christian farming community and its founders, Clarence and Florence Jordan. It examines Jordan’s theological commitments and upbringing, the founding of Koinonia Farm, its mission and work, and its persecution in the 1950s. The chapter concludes with an examination of Jordan’s Cottonpatch Gospels, which offer insight into Koinonia Farm’s radical orthodoxy in terms of race relations in the South.

Conclusion

This chapter analyzes the years from 1965-1976 in Americus and Southwest Georgia. It discusses school integration and shifting race relations, the Student Interracial Ministry (SIM), the transition of Koinonia Farm to Koinonia Partners, and the political rise of Jimmy Carter. Even in a changing region, the role of theology remained central, as race and religion continued to influence American politics and American life.

Introduction

This chapter lays out a historiography of the role of religion in the civil rights struggle and introduces the concept of lived theology. It describes the book’s setting in Americus, Georgia and the special role that town played in the conflict over racial justice in the American South. The Introduction argues that to truly understand the theological conflict inherent in the racial struggle, scholars must engage ideas, arguments and tactics as they existed in community.

The Devil Won, Hands Down

This chapter details the response of segregationists and conservatives to the civil rights movement. It describes the depiction of the movement as violent following the death of Andy Whately, the ostracization of white Southerners who sympathized with demands for justice, like Warren Fortson, and the establishment of private Christian schools in response to integration. In these actions, white conservatives reframed their resistance to racial justice in theological terms that would come to define the Religious Right.