Grace Matters

Book excerpt: In Grace Matters, we follow the remarkable journey of Chris Rice, a naive white college student from Vermont, who was transformed into an insightful man of faith who helped form a thriving interracial community in Jackson, Mississippi. Chris Rice's compelling story uncovers the wounds that divide the races and reveals what it takes to bring blacks and whites together, honestly, compassionately, and transcendently. As a young man in 1981, Chris Rice thought he would take a few months off from his college to join the Voice of Calvary ministry. There he met Spencer Perkins-- the eldest son of John Perkins, legendary African American evangelist and civil rights movement activist-and was forever changed. Together, Chris and Spencer and an extraordinary group of ordinary people entered into a bold experiment, creating an interracial faith community called Antioch, after the Mediterranean city where the followers of Jesus first became known as "Christians." Pooling their resources, this dedicated group of black and white Christians joined forces to realize the vision of the Sermon on the Mount. In so doing they not only enriched their own lives but also those of their inner-city neighbors.