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Black Liturgies: Prayers, Poems, and Meditations for Staying Human
A collection of prayer, poetry, and spiritual practice centering the Black interior world, from the New York Times bestselling author of This Here Flesh and creator of Black Liturgies
For years, Cole Arthur Riley was desperate for a spirituality she could trust. Amid ongoing national racial violence, the isolation of the pandemic, and a surge of anti-Black rhetoric in many Christian spaces, she began dreaming of a more human, more liberating expression of faith. She went on to create Black Liturgies, a digital project that connects spiritual practice with Black emotion, Black memory, and the Black body.
In this book, she brings together new prayers, letters, poems, meditation questions, breath practices, scriptures, and the writings of Black literary ancestors to offer forty-three liturgies that can be practiced individually or as a community. Inviting readers to reflect on their shared experiences of wonder, rest, rage, and repair, and creating rituals for holidays like Lent and Juneteenth, Arthur Riley writes with a poet’s touch and a sensitivity that has made her one of the most important spiritual voices at work today.
For anyone healing from communities that were more violent than loving; for anyone who has escaped the trauma of white Christian nationalism, religious homophobia, or transphobia; for anyone asking what it means to be human in a world of both beauty and terror, Black Liturgies is a work of healing and empowerment, and a vision for what might be.
For years, Cole Arthur Riley was desperate for a spirituality she could trust. Amid ongoing national racial violence, the isolation of the pandemic, and a surge of anti-Black rhetoric in many Christian spaces, she began dreaming of a more human, more liberating expression of faith. She went on to create Black Liturgies, a digital project that connects spiritual practice with Black emotion, Black memory, and the Black body.
In this book, she brings together new prayers, letters, poems, meditation questions, breath practices, scriptures, and the writings of Black literary ancestors to offer forty-three liturgies that can be practiced individually or as a community. Inviting readers to reflect on their shared experiences of wonder, rest, rage, and repair, and creating rituals for holidays like Lent and Juneteenth, Arthur Riley writes with a poet’s touch and a sensitivity that has made her one of the most important spiritual voices at work today.
For anyone healing from communities that were more violent than loving; for anyone who has escaped the trauma of white Christian nationalism, religious homophobia, or transphobia; for anyone asking what it means to be human in a world of both beauty and terror, Black Liturgies is a work of healing and empowerment, and a vision for what might be.
337 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 16, 2024
719 people are currently reading
8069 people want to read
About the author
Cole Arthur Riley
4 books492 followersCole Arthur Riley is a writer and poet. She is the author of the NYT bestseller, THIS HERE FLESH. Her writing has been featured in The Atlantic, Guernica, and The Washington Post. Cole is also the creator and writer of Black Liturgies, a project that integrates spiritual practice with Black emotion, Black literature, and the Black body.
IG: @colearthurriley
Twitter: @blackliturgist
IG: @colearthurriley
Twitter: @blackliturgist
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 129 reviews
August 17, 2023
There's no question that Cole Arthur Riley's "Black Liturgies: Prayers, Poems, and Meditations for Staying Human" is designed as a literary safe space that connects spiritual practice with Black emotion, Black memory, and the Black body. It's an extension of a digital project of the same name created by Riley, an extraordinary weaving together of prayers, letters, poems, meditation questions, breath practices, scriptures, and the writings of Black literary ancestors to offer forty-three liturgies that can be practiced individually or as a community.
With "Black Liturgies," Riley holds space for readers to reflect on their shared experiences of wonder, rest, rage, and repair. She creates rituals for holidays like Lent and Juneteenth and invites deep and honest reflections about one's own personal experiences impacting life, love, and the spiritual experience.
As a white disabled male, I resonated deeply with Riley's explorations throughout "Black Liturgies." I found deep meaning in the prayers, the letters, the poems, and especially the meditation questions found throughout the book and I found myself connecting with experiences though I suppose that would be through a different cultural lens.
As someone who was kicked out of two faith communities relatively early in life, I found healing in "Black Liturgies." As someone with a disability who has frequently felt out of place and othered in life, social circles, church, and the world in general because of my physical being, I found healing in "Black Liturgies." As a survivor of significant traumas, I found safety in the words of Cole Arthur Riley.
And, as someone within 24 hours of a major cancer surgery and yet another body change, I found hope within Cole Arthur Riley's words.
Cole Arthur Riley draws us into a spiritual landscape that is more loving, more inclusive, more hopeful, more nurturing, more tender, and ultimately more safe than many of us have experienced. It's an invitation to become the human beings we have always been meant to be and a call to love ourselves and one another and a vision for what that might actually look like.
With "Black Liturgies," Riley holds space for readers to reflect on their shared experiences of wonder, rest, rage, and repair. She creates rituals for holidays like Lent and Juneteenth and invites deep and honest reflections about one's own personal experiences impacting life, love, and the spiritual experience.
As a white disabled male, I resonated deeply with Riley's explorations throughout "Black Liturgies." I found deep meaning in the prayers, the letters, the poems, and especially the meditation questions found throughout the book and I found myself connecting with experiences though I suppose that would be through a different cultural lens.
As someone who was kicked out of two faith communities relatively early in life, I found healing in "Black Liturgies." As someone with a disability who has frequently felt out of place and othered in life, social circles, church, and the world in general because of my physical being, I found healing in "Black Liturgies." As a survivor of significant traumas, I found safety in the words of Cole Arthur Riley.
And, as someone within 24 hours of a major cancer surgery and yet another body change, I found hope within Cole Arthur Riley's words.
Cole Arthur Riley draws us into a spiritual landscape that is more loving, more inclusive, more hopeful, more nurturing, more tender, and ultimately more safe than many of us have experienced. It's an invitation to become the human beings we have always been meant to be and a call to love ourselves and one another and a vision for what that might actually look like.
June 10, 2024
I started reading Cole Arthur Riley's book right after finishing her first book This Here Flesh: Spirituality, Liberation, and the Stories That Make Us. I read Black Liturgies over three months as a part of my nighttime reading before going to bed. It was a good way to reflect on Riley's prayers and meditations. I was drawn more to the prayers that she wrote, especially those that began with the phrase "Remind us...". Overall I resonated with Part One: By Story, more so than Part Two: By Time, possibly because the chapters in Part 1 matched the chapters in This Here Flesh.
January 29, 2024
This Here Flesh is one of my favorite nonfiction books, so as soon as I heard Cole Arthur Riley had a new one, I immediately jumped on it. There is something about Riley's writing that is just so beautiful and healing. While this book is written to a Black audience, there is so much to gain for anyone who has ever been Othered in religious spaces and is looking for a safe space to heal. This book is a slightly different format, as it is comprised of letters from Riley to the reader, and then followed by poems, prayers, breath exercises, and questions to contemplate on the subject talked about. There is also a section at the end for liturgies based on seasons and holidays/special days. Rather than reading this straight through, this is one to come and get what you need from it when you need it. It's absolutely one I will be coming back to constantly.
Thanks to Convergent Books for the digital arc
Thanks to Convergent Books for the digital arc
June 24, 2024
A profound collection of contemplative and liberating prayers spanning a vast range of topics, themes, and occasions. I highly recommend this to anyone wanting to explore Black Theology and spirituality.
November 26, 2023
Thanks to Convergent Books and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this title prior to publication. Cole Arthur Riley's This Here Flesh was one of my top books of the year when I read it pre-release, so I was excited to see this new title in her canon. Black Liturgies: Prayers, Poems, and Meditations for Staying Human is a beautiful devotional written from and for the black experience. Section topics are similar to those in This Here Flesh, and the format between liturgies remains the same, and the final section includes shorter devotions for specific days of the year. I really appreciated the meditation questions she includes, and the extensive format is designed to really draw the reader into a safe space. She even includes a template at the end for readers to write their own liturgies. While this book was not written for me, I really appreciated her thoughtfulness in putting this collection together.
October 13, 2023
Prayer and confession is very important to the human spirit. It is impossible to live fully without ways to remember we are necessary to the human planet. After all, there are those who would steal our dignity. Cole Arthur Riley writes different literary works by others to help us have a joy on our journey through life. There is no need to fear. All you need do is welcome Black Liturgies into your home and rest in their words. It truly is inspired beauty inside this tome gathered by Cole Arthur Riley. You will want to read and reread it again and again.
May 7, 2025
I hope I will always be currently reading this book, but I went to a book signing event for this book a few weeks ago and decided it's time to move it off my current book list (exactly a year after I added it!)
Cole is truly such a gift. I have been encouraged and challenged by her words for years and I was so honored to be able to listen to her speak in person. Recently I have been especially grateful for her ability to curate a collection of other voices that layer between and around her own voice to create narrative journeys of self that are not separated from all who come before.
"Apprehending self dignity is not a solitary journey." - spoken by the author (and written in a million different ways throughout all her work)
Cole is truly such a gift. I have been encouraged and challenged by her words for years and I was so honored to be able to listen to her speak in person. Recently I have been especially grateful for her ability to curate a collection of other voices that layer between and around her own voice to create narrative journeys of self that are not separated from all who come before.
"Apprehending self dignity is not a solitary journey." - spoken by the author (and written in a million different ways throughout all her work)
December 17, 2024
Some of these prayers and writings feel like a hug.
February 9, 2024
Truly one of a kind.
Felt like a devotional that I actually wanted to be reading.
Will definitely be revisiting.
Felt like a devotional that I actually wanted to be reading.
Will definitely be revisiting.
November 11, 2023
Like so many others, it felt like someone had thrown me a life-preserver when I stumbled across Black Liturgies on Instagram during the pandemic. Cole Arthur Riley's words were equal parts balm and challenge. Last year's This Here Flesh was one of my favorite books and I raved about it to everyone. And yet, somehow, neither of those experiences prepared me for the brutal beauty of this book. The deep wisdom builds me up. The tender compassion holds me. The unflinchingly honest look at the world as it is challenges me. And the jaw-dropping vulnerability of the author, honestly, scares me a little. This book is so raw and so polished, it defies definition. What it is, in addition to being deeply spiritual, is useful. Practical. Riley encourages us to use the book, in community. I had organized a weekly study group of We Do This 'Til We Free Us by Mariame Kaba. It was as if Riley's words were written to accompany Kaba's. Every week, I would open Black Liturgies and find the right words to start our discussion or the perfect benediction to close our evening. I have already used this particular book of liturgies as much as any other in my (not small) collection. Thank you to the author, Convergent Books, and NetGalley for the eARC.
I don't know that any review can cover all the gifts this book contains. Riley's generosity comes across in the introduction:
"I cannot promise you that this form of liturgy is your path, that it will feel like a homecoming for you, that it will restore your faith. The truth is that it is not for everyone. Still, receive this invitation. I do not need you to have the same experience with the sacred as I have, but I'm quite interested to see if you'll rise and come on the journey. It is not lost on me that I am asking you to trust me as an adequate guide, and I should tell you that most days I feel like I'm wandering. I am working on my sense of direction. But my promise to you is that every word in this book has been written, interrogated, and preserved with an imagination for collective healing, rest, and liberation. And any mystery within these pages certainly cannot be contained to them. These are only fragments of divine encounter, and I am proud of that. Turn them over in your hand. Take a deep breath."
Black Liturgies is divided into two parts, one based on ideas and the other on events. You'll find words for times of lament or rest. And also words for Ash Wednesday and Mother's Day. There are endless ways to use the book and I continue to turn to it when I need words to send to a friend. So please read this book. And do it collectively. Together we heal. Together we get free.
I don't know that any review can cover all the gifts this book contains. Riley's generosity comes across in the introduction:
"I cannot promise you that this form of liturgy is your path, that it will feel like a homecoming for you, that it will restore your faith. The truth is that it is not for everyone. Still, receive this invitation. I do not need you to have the same experience with the sacred as I have, but I'm quite interested to see if you'll rise and come on the journey. It is not lost on me that I am asking you to trust me as an adequate guide, and I should tell you that most days I feel like I'm wandering. I am working on my sense of direction. But my promise to you is that every word in this book has been written, interrogated, and preserved with an imagination for collective healing, rest, and liberation. And any mystery within these pages certainly cannot be contained to them. These are only fragments of divine encounter, and I am proud of that. Turn them over in your hand. Take a deep breath."
Black Liturgies is divided into two parts, one based on ideas and the other on events. You'll find words for times of lament or rest. And also words for Ash Wednesday and Mother's Day. There are endless ways to use the book and I continue to turn to it when I need words to send to a friend. So please read this book. And do it collectively. Together we heal. Together we get free.
never-finished
April 20, 2024I really wanted to read this book.
But I can't.
The publisher printed it in light brown type, impossible to read.
But I can't.
The publisher printed it in light brown type, impossible to read.
October 21, 2024
Required. By your soul.
“Could it be that Pentecost is paradise remembered on earth? What does it mean that in the story we are not told precisely what they communicated about the miracle or the divine? We know only that it was understood–that no tribe or tongue was excluded nor made a singular spectacle, but that a collective was born.”
“Two thousand years after the Tower of Babel falls and fifty days after Christ rises from the dead, we find the story of Pentecost. The Spirit descends upon a sacred diverse gathering, and language is made portal to the divine. A path to God, to one another and to shared imagination. Pentecost reminds us that the Spirit of God rejects assimilation under the guise of ‘unity.’ This tale is not just about diversity; it’s not mere tokenism; it’s language as liberation. It’s the sound of excluded voices making something whole again.”
I’ve been reading and writing on glossolalia for over 4 years, and no reading of Pentecost has moved me more than these brief liturgical lines.
“For the multitude
God of every tongue,
We are grateful that in the presence of the Spirit, we are not asked to forget ourselves but to remember. To remember where we came from, to recall the sound of our own cultures under the guise of unity. To belong, we are told we must exalt commonality over particularity. Teach us the kind of belonging that is not threatened by those things that make us different but come alive at the site of inclusion. Protect us from communities who only welcome our cultures as a theatrical symbol of their own benevolence. Lead us into spaces where our presence is longed for not as a mark of achievement but out of the deep recognition that hope cannot survive on one tongue alone. Amen.”
To quote Wiman:
“good Lord the light
cutting across the lake
so long gone
to ice—“
The vitality of a trauma birthright and post-secular faith—that’s the cutting light of CAR’s work here. So sharp and beautiful; so dangerous, as only the best language is.
“Could it be that Pentecost is paradise remembered on earth? What does it mean that in the story we are not told precisely what they communicated about the miracle or the divine? We know only that it was understood–that no tribe or tongue was excluded nor made a singular spectacle, but that a collective was born.”
“Two thousand years after the Tower of Babel falls and fifty days after Christ rises from the dead, we find the story of Pentecost. The Spirit descends upon a sacred diverse gathering, and language is made portal to the divine. A path to God, to one another and to shared imagination. Pentecost reminds us that the Spirit of God rejects assimilation under the guise of ‘unity.’ This tale is not just about diversity; it’s not mere tokenism; it’s language as liberation. It’s the sound of excluded voices making something whole again.”
I’ve been reading and writing on glossolalia for over 4 years, and no reading of Pentecost has moved me more than these brief liturgical lines.
“For the multitude
God of every tongue,
We are grateful that in the presence of the Spirit, we are not asked to forget ourselves but to remember. To remember where we came from, to recall the sound of our own cultures under the guise of unity. To belong, we are told we must exalt commonality over particularity. Teach us the kind of belonging that is not threatened by those things that make us different but come alive at the site of inclusion. Protect us from communities who only welcome our cultures as a theatrical symbol of their own benevolence. Lead us into spaces where our presence is longed for not as a mark of achievement but out of the deep recognition that hope cannot survive on one tongue alone. Amen.”
To quote Wiman:
“good Lord the light
cutting across the lake
so long gone
to ice—“
The vitality of a trauma birthright and post-secular faith—that’s the cutting light of CAR’s work here. So sharp and beautiful; so dangerous, as only the best language is.
January 16, 2024
Black Liturgies is such a beautifully written book of spiritual meditations from a Christian perspective. It has been a soothing and affirming read that I've found myself visiting and revisiting several times already! A series of prayers, poems, and meditations, Black Liturgies offers reflection on the human experience in ways many of us can relate to.
In the first part of the book, author Cole Arthur Riley shares anecdotes "by story," in chapters such as love, belonging, doubt, fear, power, joy, and rest. In each of these chapters, she offers quotes, personal experiences, poems, prayers, confessions, and questions for readers to meditate on. I find this format extremely helpful and the anecdotes quite comforting. The author shares a vulnerability in her writing that makes the reader feel seen, heard, and validated in ways I did not expect. The section on Belonging, for example, spoke to me immediately and I found such solace in that chapter.
The second part of the book is separated "by time," in which Riley provides prayer guides for several occasions. While some are as constant as mornings and evenings, others are celebrations such Christmas, Easter, Juneteenth, and The New Year. Again, I love how this section is formatted and how beneficial it is to the reader searching for a particular prayer or meditation for the occasion.
Overall, I enjoyed reading Black Liturgies and I have no doubt that I will be revisiting highlighted and bookmarked passages quite often. Many thanks to Convergent Books and Netgalley for the ARC of Black Liturgies in exchange for an honest review.
4.5
In the first part of the book, author Cole Arthur Riley shares anecdotes "by story," in chapters such as love, belonging, doubt, fear, power, joy, and rest. In each of these chapters, she offers quotes, personal experiences, poems, prayers, confessions, and questions for readers to meditate on. I find this format extremely helpful and the anecdotes quite comforting. The author shares a vulnerability in her writing that makes the reader feel seen, heard, and validated in ways I did not expect. The section on Belonging, for example, spoke to me immediately and I found such solace in that chapter.
The second part of the book is separated "by time," in which Riley provides prayer guides for several occasions. While some are as constant as mornings and evenings, others are celebrations such Christmas, Easter, Juneteenth, and The New Year. Again, I love how this section is formatted and how beneficial it is to the reader searching for a particular prayer or meditation for the occasion.
Overall, I enjoyed reading Black Liturgies and I have no doubt that I will be revisiting highlighted and bookmarked passages quite often. Many thanks to Convergent Books and Netgalley for the ARC of Black Liturgies in exchange for an honest review.
4.5
April 9, 2024
Cole Arthur Riley writes with such deepness and heart, cutting away chaff to leave genuinely impactful lessons.
The first half of BLACK LITURGIES offers liturgies grouped by story (touching on place, wonder, lament, doubt, rage, secrets, and more), and the second half offers blessings grouped around time (both time of day -- such as dawn and dusk -- and time of liturgical year -- such as Pentecost, Lent, and Kwanzaa). To close, the book contains longer liturgies which can be adapted for communal use, plus a framework for drafting your own liturgies.
Riley follows a formula for each chapter: she opens with quotes from black artists and authors, pens a letter, then a poem and specific prayers for the chapter's theme follow, for it to close with breath prayers, a confession, forgiveness, a benediction, and questions for contemplation.
This book helps illustrate intersectionality; this book is not meant specifically for me, but it still connects. As a woman, a people pleaser, a perfectionist, time and again this book offered a release from those pressures. Riley's vulnerability helps model what it is to be genuine in our faith and our community. This is a book I would welcome on my shelves, to flip through to locate just the blessing needed for specific instances.
(I received a digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.)
The first half of BLACK LITURGIES offers liturgies grouped by story (touching on place, wonder, lament, doubt, rage, secrets, and more), and the second half offers blessings grouped around time (both time of day -- such as dawn and dusk -- and time of liturgical year -- such as Pentecost, Lent, and Kwanzaa). To close, the book contains longer liturgies which can be adapted for communal use, plus a framework for drafting your own liturgies.
Riley follows a formula for each chapter: she opens with quotes from black artists and authors, pens a letter, then a poem and specific prayers for the chapter's theme follow, for it to close with breath prayers, a confession, forgiveness, a benediction, and questions for contemplation.
This book helps illustrate intersectionality; this book is not meant specifically for me, but it still connects. As a woman, a people pleaser, a perfectionist, time and again this book offered a release from those pressures. Riley's vulnerability helps model what it is to be genuine in our faith and our community. This is a book I would welcome on my shelves, to flip through to locate just the blessing needed for specific instances.
(I received a digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.)
February 7, 2024
(4.25/5 stars) I have enjoyed following Cole Arthur Riley on Instagram (@blackliturgies) for years now and loved her first book (This Here Flesh: Spirituality, Liberation, and the Stories That Make Us), and when I saw that she was releasing another book I was immediately (immediately!!) requesting it on NetGalley. This book is a collection of chapters that are both focused on shared experiences (part 1) and holidays (part 2) that can be read as an individual or a community. Each of the 43 chapters includes Riley's own letters, poems, prayers, breath practices, confessions, and meditation questions. I honestly think you can take as little or as much as you want from these liturgies, and Riley invites you to do just that - to take what you need, what is timely, what resonates in your soul when you read it. The thoughtfulness and soul work that Riley has put into this is clear, and it is a gift to those who read it.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This book is out now!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This book is out now!
May 9, 2024
A beautiful book on humanity.
I love the devotional and liturgy side that aligns with her storytelling ability. I have never met a more fascinating writer who professes so eloquently to the soul in a way that stops and makes me think. I have also cried reading/annotating this book- for there are moments to read and listen to what our bodies and hearts need.
I 1000% recommend this book- and also their Instagram page (this is a great place to start for how their writing and compilation of poems/liturgies breathes). This book helped me realize a lot of things about myself, but also I think will speak to a lot of marginalized people as well.
*I will say that this does have heavy religious tones but in a decolonized way- so while I felt at home with these sentiments, the denseness of religion/spirituality some might not want to indulge in. I believe her work can be geared towards any spirituality (part 2 does have more aligned Christianity verses with it but they can be replaced)- but it is a very spiritual book (hence liturgies) that it's important to highlight for those who may not feel as inclined to wrap their hearts around.
I can't wait to revisit this book when I need moments of affirmation or just peace around the sufferings of this world. This book is truly a gift.
I love the devotional and liturgy side that aligns with her storytelling ability. I have never met a more fascinating writer who professes so eloquently to the soul in a way that stops and makes me think. I have also cried reading/annotating this book- for there are moments to read and listen to what our bodies and hearts need.
I 1000% recommend this book- and also their Instagram page (this is a great place to start for how their writing and compilation of poems/liturgies breathes). This book helped me realize a lot of things about myself, but also I think will speak to a lot of marginalized people as well.
*I will say that this does have heavy religious tones but in a decolonized way- so while I felt at home with these sentiments, the denseness of religion/spirituality some might not want to indulge in. I believe her work can be geared towards any spirituality (part 2 does have more aligned Christianity verses with it but they can be replaced)- but it is a very spiritual book (hence liturgies) that it's important to highlight for those who may not feel as inclined to wrap their hearts around.
I can't wait to revisit this book when I need moments of affirmation or just peace around the sufferings of this world. This book is truly a gift.
November 22, 2024
Cole Arthur Riley's Black Liturgies is a remarkable work of generosity. It invites us to bring to this generosity to ourselves while we engage in self-examination, not to find fault, but to find the sources of our strengths and weaknesses. This book offers multiple genres: reflections, meditations, poems, question for discussion—with like-minded companions or with one's self.
If you're looking for an affirmative path to come to a loving understanding of yourself, this is a book you will want to spend time with.
I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NatGalley; the opinions are my own.
If you're looking for an affirmative path to come to a loving understanding of yourself, this is a book you will want to spend time with.
I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NatGalley; the opinions are my own.
January 8, 2024
If you haven’t preordered this yet, it probably means you haven’t read This Here Flesh. And if you haven’t read This Here Flesh then you definitely need to bring that gift into your life ASAP. And then preorder this book. It comes out next week. It is so so good. What a gift Cole is to this world. #amreading #currentlyreading
December 24, 2024
This is a must-have for Christians. I savored this book over the whole year. It's a resource, a devotional, a companion, a liturgical inspiration. Some of the prayers and liturgy are not for me as the intended audience, but I can sit with them and pray along. It is a gorgeous book, one I will come back to again and again, both to share and for personal prayer and devotion.
November 5, 2023
A great collection of spiritual writing that covers a variety of circumstances, so it makes this book an amazing resource for those who are searching for the right words, or any words to address life situations
January 17, 2025
When this book was selected as a book club pick, I did not think that I would like it, as much as, I do. The truths within these pages in the form of prayers, poems, quotations and recollections are enlightening bits of information that are definitely a must read.
April 23, 2025
tried to read this daily through lent which didnt totally work out but still loved loved loved it. all the realness and groundedness and grace i have been searching for in my own spiritual journey. hoping to buy my own copy since this was a library book and return to it soon!
February 15, 2024
Gorgeous, deeply empathetic, and profoundly hopeful and healing.
March 17, 2024
Cole Arthur Riley brought me to church everyday I read this book. Hers is a voice that I will weave into my pastoring as long as God gives me breath. She is wise beyond her years and filled with the Spirit of justice and tenderness. I am grateful for her words now and always.
Want to read
June 14, 2024I wonder why this has so few reviews when the instagram page has nearly 500k followers 😭
December 31, 2024
Followed the calendar with this one, and it was always a dose of beauty and contemplation
October 1, 2024
A beautiful alternative orthodoxy for those interested in exploring Christian practices from outside of the mainstream. Cole is a gifted writer and poet.
January 7, 2024
A long time follower of Black Liturgies on Instagram, I have also read Riley's other powerful book This Here Flesh. This installment of Black Liturgies as a book is much more than an adaptation of what we have seen written and shared on Instagram. As a fellow Episcopalian, this is written in the long-loved format of the Book of Common Prayer. Riley discusses in the introduction how she was inspired to write this text for Black people-- the first, as far as I am aware, of its kind.
In other words, it is set up with different patterns and times of the human life: love, loss, Lent... and everything in-between. This is a text that is meant to be picked up and put down according to the phase of life you are in, entering, or leaving.
Yes, this is a text written for Black people in mind. However, I recommend this highly for anyone who needs powerful reminders of the marriage between the human and the divine. This is a truly magnificent book, an instant classic, new canon.
Thank you Cole Arthur Riley!
PS: I read this book as a digital Advanced Reader Copy as a bookseller. I will definitely be following up with a second review of the hardcover book, which I am looking forward to marking, annotating, and loving.
In other words, it is set up with different patterns and times of the human life: love, loss, Lent... and everything in-between. This is a text that is meant to be picked up and put down according to the phase of life you are in, entering, or leaving.
Yes, this is a text written for Black people in mind. However, I recommend this highly for anyone who needs powerful reminders of the marriage between the human and the divine. This is a truly magnificent book, an instant classic, new canon.
Thank you Cole Arthur Riley!
PS: I read this book as a digital Advanced Reader Copy as a bookseller. I will definitely be following up with a second review of the hardcover book, which I am looking forward to marking, annotating, and loving.
May 9, 2024
i don't think i've ever read something that has made me feel nostalgic for the god of my childhood until now. i bought this book to reread again (and again) in future
April 21, 2025
Black Liturgies is Cole Arthur Riley’s voice through poetry, prayer, and meditation. Each chapter focused on experiences-rage, rest, and repair were my favorites. Coles’s approach and interaction with spirituality is so comforting, accepting, and beautiful. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Displaying 1 - 30 of 129 reviews