“Standing in a centuries old tradition of spiritual autobiography, Shoutin’ in the Fire is at once a coming of age story and a conversion narrative. The church is long overdue for a reckoning with white supremacy, and Stewart has written a brilliant blueprint.” -Deesha Philyaw, author of The Secret Lives of Church Ladies With unparalleled candor, vulnerability, and love, Stewart takes us along his personal journey to understanding what it is to be Black, Christian, and American. PRAISE “Some of us joke about Jesus needing better PR than what today’s evangelical church provides. Stewart reveals the profound faith he discovered even after experiencing the violence of the American church: a faith that loves Blackness speaks truth to pain and trauma and pursues a truer, realer kind of love than the kind we’re taught, a love that sets us free. This sharply observed journey is an intimate meditation on coming of age in a time of terror. Cone, James Baldwin, and Toni Morrison, and by heeding the paradoxical humility of Jesus himself. This set Stewart on a journey-first out of the white church and then into a liberating pursuit of faith-by looking to the wisdom of the saints that have come before, including James H. As this violence began to reveal itself en masse, Stewart quickly found himself isolated amid a people unraveled this community of faith became the place where he and his family now found themselves most alone. Stewart started overhearing talk in the pews-comments ranging from microaggressions to outright hostility toward Black Americans. But when Donald Trump began his campaign, so began the unearthing. Like many young church leaders, Stewart was thrilled at the prospect of growing his voice and influence within the community, and he was excited to break barriers as the church’s first Black preacher. In 2016, Stewart was a rising leader at the predominantly white evangelical church he and his family were attending in Augusta, Georgia.
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