Buried Seeds - by Alexia Salvatierra & Brandon Wrencher (Paperback)

About the Book

Shows how two overlooked ministry models--the base ecclesial communities of the Global South in the late twentieth century and the hush harbors of the US antebellum South--can provide wisdom and strategies for the twenty-first-century church and contemporary social movements.

Book Synopsis

Named One of Fifteen Important Theology Books of 2022, Englewood Review of Books

This book demonstrates how two overlooked ministry models--base ecclesial communities of the Global South in the late twentieth century and hush harbors of the US antebellum South--offer proven strategies for the twenty-first-century church and contemporary social movements. These ministry models provide insight into the creation and sustenance of vital Christian community, particularly for those seeking indigenous culturally-rooted models, and show how to integrate vibrant Christ-centered faith and mission with world-changing social justice and political action. The book includes on-the-ground stories from multiethnic communities, a foreword by Robert Chao Romero, and an afterword by Willie James Jennings.

From the Back Cover

"They tried to bury us. They didn't know we were seeds."

This popular saying in social justice movements also evokes John 12:24: "Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit."

Buried Seeds explores two grassroots faith movements whose witness has been buried within the histories of the institutional church and secular justice movements: the base ecclesial communities of the Global South in the late twentieth century and the hush harbors of the US antebellum South. The authors demonstrate how these two overlooked ministry models offer proven wisdom and strategies for the twenty-first-century church and contemporary social movements.

"This book mines the rich legacy of Black and Brown grassroot expressions of Christianity, and it builds on this firm foundation to offer us a new, faithful way forward where we can be ethnically proud and distinctively Christian."
--Dominique DuBois Gilliard, author of Subversive Witness: Scripture's Call to Leverage Privilege

"Buried Seeds pays homage to the critical course of liberationist growth and process. Salvatierra and Wrencher have gifted us all a book that feels like a garden!"
--Oluwatomisin Olayinka Oredein, Brite Divinity School

"Buried Seeds exemplifies the best of what the church can be and offers a much-needed antidote for an ailing church."
--Soong-Chan Rah, Fuller Theological Seminary

"Buried Seeds is the dose of hope we've needed in an age where it's hard to tell the difference between ecclesia and empire. This book is a manual for leaders who seek to provoke the Christian church into resurrected life."
--Rev. Naomi Washington-Leapheart, curator, Salt Yeast Light

"Buried Seeds is a sacred gift to a church in crisis. The authors take us on a journey and help us recover the radical and unsung roots of the Christian faith by introducing us to transformational ministry models."
--Karen González, author of The God Who Sees and Beyond Welcome

About the Author

Alexia Salvatierra (DMiss, Fuller Theological Seminary), a national leader in faith engagement in immigrant justice for over twenty years, is the academic dean of Centro Latino and associate professor of integral mission and global transformation at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California.

Brandon Wrencher (MDiv, North Park Theological Seminary) is a minister, community organizer, teacher, and facilitator. He works across faith, higher education, and nonprofit sectors at the intersections of decolonizing church, contemplative activism, and local presence to build beloved communities.