It has been said that her 1,500-member congregation, Middle Collegiate Church in New York City, has diversity that looks like the subway, but its legendary love feels like home. Jews, Buddhists, atheists, and Christians pack its sanctuary to standing-room-only capacity. Millennials and boomers, trans and gay, singles and families all call Middle their own. Middle Church is celebrated in Robert P. Jones’ book The End of White Christian America as an example of what revolutionary love can do to combat racism and xenophobia. Middle Church and Lewis’s activism has been featured in media such as the TODAY Show, The Washington Post, the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Essence, and The Huffington Post.
Believing faith communities can lead the way to racial reconciliation, Dr. Lewis cofounded The Middle Project with her spouse, the Reverand John Janka, which trains leaders to create a more just society. Middle Church has partnered with the Middle Project to curate fifteen annual conferences that have convened and trained over 4,000 leaders across disciplines to forge multifaith, multiethnic, antiracist, many gendered, fully inclusive institutions. Thought leaders like Van Jones, Valarie Kaur, William J. Barber II, America Ferrara, Simone Campbell, Parker Palmer, Miguel De La Torre, Sharon Brous, Mark Charles, Zainab Salbi, Brian McLaren, Marianne Williamson, Ruby Sales, and Krista Tippet have been on faculty.
Ordained in the Presbyterian Church (USA), Dr. Lewis is the first African American and first woman to serve as senior minister in the Collegiate Church, which was founded in New York City in 1628. She earned her MDiv at Princeton Theological Seminary and her PhD in Psychology and Religion at Drew University, and has been adjunct faculty at Princeton Theological Seminary, Union Theological Seminary, The Graduate Theological Union, New Brunswick Theological Seminary, Wesley Theological Seminary, and at Drew Theology School, where she co-created a Doctor of Ministry Program in Public Theology. Dr. Lewis is an Auburn Senior Fellow and is currently at work on a book about a path to revolutionary love.
Dr. Lewis created and hosted two national on demand television programs “Just Faith” on MSNBC.com and “Faith and Justice” on PBS. A frequent media commentator, her books include The Power of Stories: A Guide for Leading Multiracial, Multicultural Congregations, Ten Strategies for Becoming a Multiracial Congregation, Fierce Love: A Bold Path to Ferocious Courage and Rule-Breaking Kindness That Can Heal the World, and the children’s book You Are So Wonderful!