2003 Christianity Today Book Award winner & Publishers Weekly Best Adult Religion Book
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 transcendental.
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.
Chris Rice is an award-winning writer, social entrepreneur, and global networker dedicated to social healing and spiritual renewal. Over four decades—from grassroots community development and racial healing work in Mississippi, to peacebuilding from East Africa to Northeast Asia, to global advocacy at the United Nations—Chris has dedicated his life to creating alternatives of hope hope with leaders and organizations across the world. He co-founded the influential Duke Divinity School Center for Reconciliation, the African Great Lakes Initiative, and the Northeast Asia Reconciliation Initiative. His books have won three Christianity Today book awards. He writes The Kairos Report on Substack. Chris’s deep belief is that the difficult challenges of our time can become ground for social renewal and spiritual transformation.
Chris Rice 