We’re delighted to have Khristi Lauren Adams as our November Book Club guest; she’ll be in conversation with Susan Wood to discuss her book, “Womanish Theology: Discovering God through the Lens of Black Girlhood.”
About the Book:
Khristi Lauren Adams’s faith was first shaped by her experiences as a Black girl-learning about Scripture from her grandmother, Mama Hattie; “playing church” with her seven cousins over summer vacation; and grieving the murder of her sixteen-year-old friend when she was just fifteen.
In Womanish Theology, Adams reflects on those experiences, inviting readers to learn from a new perspective and guiding them to a deeper understanding of their own spirituality.
This groundbreaking book introduces a new branch of theological thought Adams calls womanish, as a play on womanist (the theology of Black womanhood). “Womanish,” remembers Adams, is a term Black mothers used for young girls as they grew more interested in doing grown-up things. Adams draws on her own life story as well as the life stories of other Black girls to explore theological concepts such as Scripture, theodicy, salvation, prayer, neighborly love, and the image of God.
Through this journey, readers will learn that theology is for everyone and that the whole community of God can learn from the spiritual insights of Black girls.
About the Author:
Khristi Lauren Adams is a speaker, author, youth advocate and ordained Baptist minister. Khristi is the author of Parable of the Brown Girl which is published by Fortress Press. The book highlights the cultural and spiritual truths that emerge from the lives of young black girls. Parable of the Brown Girl has received awards for Best Young Adult Book from The African American Literary Awards and the New York Black Librarians Caucus.
Her second book, Unbossed: How Black Girls Are Leading the Way was released in the Spring of 2022 with Broadleaf Books. A middle grade version of the book titled Black Girls Unbossed: Young World Changers Leading the Way was also released with Beaming Books. Unbossed was a 2023 runner up for the Los Angeles Book Festival and Black Girls Unbossed is a 2023 finalist for a Foreword INDIES Book of the Year award in the Juvenile Nonfiction category.
Khristi is the Executive Director of Community and Belonging for the St. Paul’s School’s, a family of independent schools in Baltimore County, MD. She previously worked as Dean of Spiritual Life & Equity and instructor of Religious Studies at the Hill School. She is the former Founder & Director of “The Becoming Conference”, an annual conference and leadership cohort designed to empower, educate & inspire girls between the ages of 13-18.
Khristi is a graduate of Temple University with a degree in Advertising and a graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary where she obtained a Master of Divinity degree. She is a 2017 graduate of “Lead New Jersey”, a select group of thought-leaders from the public, social, and private sectors of NJ and the surrounding communities. She also currently serves as a mentor for The Garden Initiative for Black Women’s Religious Activism, a nine-month peer-to-peer and intergenerational mentorship program for black women leaders across religious traditions in the United States.
Khristi is also a 2024 Alumni Service Awardee for Princeton Seminary which highlights the outstanding efforts of alumni who have demonstrated exceptional commitment to advancing the seminary’s mission and values.