Psalms for Black Lives
& The Book of Tiny Prayer book talk

with Revs. Gabby Cudjoe-Wilkes, Andrew Wilkes, and Micah Bucey

Please join us as we celebrate two books by local faith leaders that emerged out of the struggles of 2020.

While composing a series of devotionals on the Psalms for their church, the Double Love Experience, authors Gabby Cudjoe-Wilkes and Andrew Wilkes recognized that these ancient words spoke truth and inspiration not only to their immediate community, but also to the growing number of people doing the holy, demanding work of pursuing justice, undoing structural racism, and building a society that truly values Black lives. Psalms for Black Lives includes thirty devotions, each containing a psalm, a reflection, and an invitation for the reader to develop a justice imagination through further engagement with the text.

Similarly Micah Bucey, minister at Judson Memorial Church, found the world and himself in desperate need of prayer. While social distancing created disconnect, Bucey began a daily practice of writing a “Tiny Prayer” each morning and posting it on social media, each offering a reflection on what was going on in his own heart and in the wider world. Over the course of a year filled with fear and faith, protest and possibility, Bucey composed prayers for frontline workers and activists, those lost to illness and wins for democracy, for civic leaders, celebrities, and everyday emotions. While overwhelm threatened to engulf us all, these short meditations invited a combination of attention and intention in bite-sized form that aided the reader in focusing on one issue at a time, from the rise of infections, hospitalizations, and deaths, to police violence, social justice uprisings, immigrant detentions, catastrophic climate events, mass shootings, and violent right-wing insurrections.

Rev. Dr. Gabby Cudjoe-Wilkes and Rev. Andrew Wilkes are the co-founding, co-lead pastors of The Double Love Experience Church in Brooklyn, New York. Rev. Gabby is a public theologian, strategist & innovation coach with over 15 years of experience working at the intersection of faith, culture, leadership & strategy. Rev. Andrew is a political scientist and the author of Freedom Notes: Reflections on Faith, Justice, and the Possibility of Democracy. With over 15 years of experience working at the intersection of public policy and faith, he is the former Executive Director of the Drum Major Institute, a social change organization founded by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.. Between them, their work has been featured in Forbes, Faith & Leadership Magazine, The Washington Post, Stanford Social Innovation Review, and more. Rev. Gabby is a graduate of Hampton University, New York University and Yale Divinity School. Rev. Andrew is a graduate of Hampton University & Princeton Theological Seminary. The couple has been featured together in outlets such as The New York Times & Essence Magazine.

Micah Bucey serves as Minister at Judson Memorial Church in Greenwich Village, a congregation committed to curiously seeking the intersections between expansive spirituality, radical social justice, and uncensored creative expression. Bucey has also served as Multifaith Coordinator for the New Sanctuary Coalition of New York City and is a regular contributor to Spirituality & Practice. In his time at Judson, Bucey developed and continues to oversee “Judson Arts,” which has commissioned, presented, produced, and promoted the creative output of hundreds of poets, actors, playwrights, composers, musicians, dancers, choreographers, painters, photographers, sculptors, and many others, upholding the belief that artists have the potential to serve as society’s modern-day prophets. Learn more at micahbucey.com.