I am excited to be working with content for OtherWise Christian 3: What Shall Prevent Me? from Monica Joy Cross, Debra Hopkins, Peterson Toscano, Enzi Tanner, Mycroft Masada, Mir Plemmons, and Renae Taylor already. Plus, I have been in conversation with many more beloved folk who are working on contributions. I am starting to be able to envision the shape of the final volume. However, it is still early and much is in flux!

I set an initial deadline for submission at August 1, 2020. However, that timeline was envisioned weeks before George Floyd was murdered. I heard it said recently that we are experiencing change at a molecular level, like a chemical reaction. It takes time and energy to reorient ourselves to this level of change. Both I and other contributors have articulated a variety of impacts both personally and in ways which may shape our contributions.

I am still hopeful to complete the initial push for contributions before I begin seminary orientation on August 21. In other words, my opening deadline is now extended until August 20, 2020.

During the fall semester, I expect that my work on OtherWise Engaged projects will slow down, while I both attend to classwork and assess the whole of what we have accumulated. This will involve identifying gaps and doing more targeted outreach. Among other goals, I am determined to include perspectives from beyond the U.S. in this volume and I am already very conscious that such outreach requires more time and attention than I have been able to give during these past few months.

That said, it is exciting and wonderful to witness this text being opened up, layer by layer, through the prism of these varied contributions!

Frequently Asked Questions

When will OtherWise Christian 3: What Shall Prevent Me? be available to purchase?

I anticipate an early 2021 launch date.

I’ve already been in conversation with you about something I am working on. What’s my deadline?

Please provide at least a draft of something that we can discuss by August 20, 2020. I will be working to settle the shape of the volume during fall semester and want to be able to thoughtfully make space for your contribution!

I am just learning about this project. What is the final deadline for contributions?

Please try to be in touch by August 20, 2020. I will not be going into final production until at least December 2020. So you should definitely plan to have your contribution completed on or before November 30, 2020. That said, I will likely be more selective after August 20, 2020, with more focus on contributions from outside of the United States as well as reflections that incorporate #BlackLivesMatter dynamics as they continue to unfold.

Do I have to be Black and transgender and Christian to contribute?

While we are centering OtherWise-gendered experience and prioritizing the African diaspora, I am confident that this volume will be diverse in identity, including cisgender, transgender, non-binary, endosex, intersex, Black, African, Native American, Latinx, and white contributors. We also hope to include some Middle-Eastern-North-African (MENA) and Asian-Pacific-Islander perspectives, if possible. There will also be religious diversity. No, you do not have to be Christian.

• OtherWise-gendered people of Africa or the African diaspora are invited to contribute from their lived experience (e.g. What Shall Prevent Me?) even if it does not tie closely with the Acts 8 text. There will be content to establish the “Ethiopian eunuch” in Acts 8 as a gender non-conforming person of the African diaspora, so you do not have to work with the biblical text any more than you want to.
• Folk with other identities are expected to connect with the Acts 8 text, while demonstrating cultural competence and cultural humility around both OtherWise-gendered experience and dynamics of the African diaspora.
• You can — but do not have to — come from a Christian perspective. Encounters with Christian and European colonization will be an important part of this offering.

Is there more?

The original call for OtherWise Christian 3 articles is a good place to start. If you are thinking about eunuch scholarship, please read “Nonprocreative males, eunuch scholarship and the OtherWise Christian series.” Here is a summary of the OtherWise Christian series.

Don’t be a tease. Tell us more!

Many themes will weave and spiral through the collection, unpacking new layers of meaning as we go. However, the tentative outline goes like this:

• Section 1: Stories We Tell. Opening with Rev Monica Cross on Revolutionary Rejoicing. This section will provide several different ways to read the text, including: theologically, historically, theatrically, poetically, and as a movement moment. Anticipating contributions from: Monica Joy Cross, Sue Peiffer, Peterson Toscano, Mir Plemmons, and KimiFloyd.

• Section 2: Religion and Culture. Opening with Enzi Tanner on Assumptions. This section will engage deeply around the religious and cultural dynamics we experience both in the text and in the world.

• Section 3: Race and Gender. Opening with Rev Debra Hopkins on Authenticity. This section will dive deeper into what it means to be Black, African, OtherWise, and/or gender-transcendent. Anticipating contributions from Debra Hopkins, Vicki Kolakowski, and others. At this point my outline becomes fuzzy because I am unsure of the shape of many promised contributions.

• Section 4 and beyond: Geographies. This is the fuzziest of all! These sections will depend on the shape of contributions as they come in. I can actually imagine several sections titled with things like “Crossroads,” “In the Wilderness,” “To Africa,” and/or “What Shall Prevent Me/You?”. Anticipating content looking at Philip’s role as an ally, contexts outside the United States, various #BLM dynamics, and other border crossings.

I reserve the right to adjust and rearrange in response to the wisdom and brilliance that joins in! But that’s how the contributions I have now are working on my imagination!

Please be in touch if you have questions, concerns, ideas, or insights! Compiled on August 2, 2020 by Mx Chris Paige.