Calling, Faith Equity
“Start a new church.”
My heart was opening to the voice rising within. I processed this calling for months, alone and with my wife. I’d been a pastor for two decades, but that didn’t mean I could start something from scratch.
Gradually, the vision grew clear: crossing boundaries of race, class, sexual orientation, gender, and age. After several site visits, the Bronx felt like the place to start. It took a year to convince my bishop. Once we got the green light, we moved our family to the Bronx. We were all in!
I assembled a multi-racial leadership team, but I preached the sermon almost every Sunday. This contradicted our vision. To monopolize this primary leadership role as a white pastor in the Bronx reflected the church’s legacy of white supremacy. Despite our intent, my conditioning through decades of traditional church leadership had not equipped me to disrupt deeply embedded patterns of racism.
Eventually, Black and Brown members of our congregation helped establish an intergenerational Community of the Word, where gifted members developed impactful sermons. It had a profound impact on the lay preachers and the congregation — so much so that years later, I’ve begun consulting with other congregations about using the Community of the Word and other faith groups we developed as models for their ministries.
I narrate these stories and more in my memoir, Beyond the White Church.
The process of calling intrigues me. It draws us deep into the soul’s yearnings, despite forces that pull us in other directions.
What is your calling? How can we cultivate our calling in ways that bear abundant fruit? If you’re interested, let’s connect.
Cultivating Your Calling
How has calling transformed your life?
What life circumstances and people have supported you in the transformation?
Cultivation is a critical component of the process. Obstacles arise.
How do we persist toward the vision?
Jesus tells a parable in Mark 4. The seed is the Word of life, which we are invited to embody according to our particular gifts and passions. The seed is designed to bear fruit.
The parable focuses on the challenges that arise. Rocks block the roots needed to resist persecution. Thorns evoke the materialism and greed that choke their growth.
Cultivating the garden is key to allowing the seed to produce 30, 60 and 100-fold!
Together with a few collaborators, I am designing a retreat called Cultivating Your Calling. We will spend two days reflecting and developing the practices that will lead to your abundant harvest.
Cultivating Your Calling
A Transformation Process
Group Retreat
October 20-21, 2026
Stony Point Center
Individual Coaching
One session before the retreat
Two sessions after the retreat
REGISTER HERE
Growing in Faith
“I first met Rev. Doug at an anti-racism course in Baltimore. He shared a vision of building a multiracial ministry at St. Luke’s. I started attending and loved it: transforming Bible Study, anti-racism study circles, community organizing training… When he began New Day Church in the Bronx, a carload of us went up for the first service. We were so inspired by the multiracial energy there that we made the trip several times.”
Cynthia Taylor,
Laity Co-Chairperson of the 2024 General Conference Delegation, Baltimore-Washington Conference, The United Methodist Church
When we started New Day Church in the Bronx, our Growing in Faith courses built the foundation of a strong congregation and helped dozens of our members name and live into passions as diverse as starting a ministry of money, organizing a church outing to the National Museum of African American History and Culture in D.C., applying to be the head of a private school, and starting an after-school program for girls.
Coaching
I have completed the training to be certified by the International Coaching Federation. (ICF) A basic principle of ICF-certified coaching is that the one being coached has the wisdom and solutions inside them. The work is a collaborative partnership between the coach and coachee — not advice-giving, not therapy, but a focused conversation that helps you access your own insights and chart your own course. Whether you're navigating a career transition, working through a difficult decision, strengthening your leadership presence, or simply trying to close the gap between your goals and your daily reality, my job as a coach is to offer observations and ask the right questions. The coach does not have a stake in the outcome, only that it addresses the coachee's stated priorities, pace, and vision.
The first session focuses on building an agreement on what the coachee wants to focus on and accomplish. The coach facilitates a process directed by the one being coached according to their felt need. All sessions are confidential.
Consulting
In 2026, I worked with the United Methodist Church of the Village to develop a Community of the Word.
What new group would you like to develop in your ministry?
“On the Fourth of July, 1981, my church burned to the ground.”
With that searing image, Rev. Doug Cunningham begins a gripping memoir of faith, loss, and the lifelong work of confronting white supremacy within the U.S. church.
Beyond the White Church is both a personal journey and a prophetic challenge, inviting Christians, churches, and spiritual seekers to dismantle the racism embedded in
U.S. Christianity and to rebuild faith communities rooted in anti-racism, social justice, and boundary-breaking belonging.
Raised in white suburban Christianity, Cunningham’s worldview was transformed through activism, involvement with multiracial congregations, Black liberation theology, and Filipino resistance movements. Across four decades of ministry, Cunningham articulates a truth many churches resist:
“Ignoring the call to dismantle white supremacy as an essential element of giving oneself to Christ keeps us complicit with the executioner.
White supremacy crucifies Jesus continually to maximize profit and power.”
Drawing readers into compelling stories of protests, romance, church planting, and pastoral leadership, Cunningham explores how the liberating gospel of Jesus compels white Christians toward the fight for racial equity.
What You’ll Find in This Book
A firsthand account of confronting white supremacy in the church. From seminary to church meetings to denominational structures, Cunningham exposes how racism operates in everyday church life and how it can be
disrupted.
A powerful blend of memoir, theology, and social analysis. Rooted in global movements for justice and liberation theology, this book connects personal transformation to systemic change.
A clear-eyed critique of the white church’s complicity
Cunningham reveals how patriotism, capitalism, and Christian institutions merge to uphold white dominance, even in progressive spaces.
A vision for multiracial, justice-centered communities
Through his decades of ministry experience, Cunningham offers a blueprint for congregations seeking authentic, anti-racist transformation.
Who This Book is For
Pastors, faith leaders, and church boards confronting racism in their congregations and institutions
Christians seeking an honest, theologically grounded path beyond white-dominant norms
Seminarians, educators, and students of theology, race, and religion
Readers drawn to memoir of spiritual awakening, racial equity organizing, and cross-cultural ministry
Anyone who believes the gospel calls us to dismantle systems of oppression
A Prophetic Call to Rebuild the Church
Cunningham argues that a church centered on the gospel cannot coexist with the structures of white supremacy.
This is a book for those who know the church must change.
This is a book for those ready to move spiritually, politically, and collectively beyond the white church.
If you are ready to reclaim a faith that liberates rather than oppresses, add Beyond the White Church to your cart and begin the journey today.
What People Are Saying
“This book offers an insightful trove of antiracist and anti-hierarchical church ministry practices that radically challenge the repressive politics in our local and national community life. Rev. Cunningham’s inspiring storytelling displays wisdom and humility desperately needed right now from other white social justice faith leaders.”
Rev. Dr. Traci C. West, author of
Disruptive Christian Ethics:
When Racism and Women’s Lives Matter“The personal, profound, and sometimes painful details of this compelling memoir shed light on the many contradictions of the White church. Longtime pastor Doug Cunningham’s narrative feels like meeting a dear friend willing to share the intimacies of this struggle with honesty and the courage of self-interrogation–a model of cross-racial and collaborative ministry where the gospel of liberation comes alive.”
Professor Jeannine Hill Fletcher,
Author, The Sin of White Supremacy: Christianity, Racism and Religious Diversity in America“I laughed and cried while reading these deeply moving stories. Listening, becoming vulnerable, pushing beyond the privilege of white skin, unlearning and learning anew – this is a baptism into the work of confronting past centuries of colonialism within a growing community of solidarity. Thank you for this witness!”
Norma P. Dollaga
General Secretary, Ecumenical Center for Development, Philippines
2024 Recipient of the World Methodist Peace Award“Doug Cunningham has written an extraordinary memoir about his journey from being a person of privilege to becoming a minister called to build a Beloved Community that transcends boundaries of race, sex, and class. Join him on his pilgrimage and see the possibilities, challenges, and blessings in these troubled times.”
Donald H. Matthews, PhD.
Author, Can This Church Live? & Honoring the Ancestors“Doug Cunningham joined our experiment–foreign missionaries living and working like our local church workers, and challenging the colonial Christianity imposed by the U.S. church. When Doug worked with us, he wrote about his experiences with our mass movements and rallies against U.S. intervention. Now, he offers this powerful testimonial—essential reading!”
Bishop Erme R. Camba
former General Secretary (1986-1994)
United Church of Christ in the Philippines
Speaking Engagements
Rev. Cunningham brings four decades of experience in anti-racism work, community organizing, and church leadership to speaking engagements.
Primary Speaking Topics:
Beyond the White Church: Disrupting Racism in Faith Communities
Building Multiracial, Anti-Racist Churches
Lessons from the Philippines: International Solidarity and Resistance
Mentorship and Accountability in Anti-Racism Work