Liturgies for Resisting Empire: Seeking Community, Belonging, and Peace in a Dehumanizing World

Summary

Everyone wants to belong.

But what does belonging—to God, ourselves, and each other—look like in the context of living within an empire and its ideologies?

In Liturgies for Resisting Empire, Cuban American writer Kat Armas explores this question both for the New Testament church and for us today.

Armas starts by introducing the idea of empire and how deeply it affects everyone, every day. She then explores what it means to belong to God, not empire, by looking at the ways the early church wrestled with this. Through de- and post-colonial interpretations of Scripture, she examines empires throughout history, offering listeners a path toward liberation from systems of exploitation and guidance for building communities that value people over power.

Armas gives listeners a sense of hope and belonging in their daily lives—belonging to ourselves, God, each other, and the earth—in ways that resist the lies of empire. Each chapter begins with a brief liturgy.