Library & Online Resources
Rev. Dr. Teri McDowell Ott has been an ordained Presbyterian (PCUSA) minister for over twenty years. After receiving her Master of Divinity degree from Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary she served the church in a variety of pastoral positions. In 2008 she completed her Doctor of Ministry degree from McCormick Theological Seminary. She began serving Monmouth College as Chaplain in January of 2011 and was promoted to Dean of the Chapel in 2019. On June 1st, 2021, Teri accepted a new call as Editor and Publisher of The Presbyterian Outlook, the only independent publisher of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Teri is married to the Rev. Dr. Daniel J. Ott who serves as the dean of Eastern Mennonite University’s School of Theology, Humanities and Performing Arts. Dan and Teri live in Harrisonburg, Virginia with their two teenagers, Isaac and Ella, and a mischievous mutt named Max. Teri’s first book, Necessary Risks: Challenges Privileged People Need to Face, is inspired by her work with college students and her experience volunteer teaching in a men’s prison.
Necessary Risks (Fortress Press, 2022) is a book for people of privilege who are
increasingly aware of racial injustice but unsure of what to do about it and afraid to venture into challenging dialogues and spaces. Ott encourages readers to value risk-taking as the path toward a more equitable and just world. She builds on memoir-like stories to explore ten risks with which she has wrestled in her work with diverse populations as the chaplain of a liberal arts college and as a volunteer in a men's state prison. These necessary risks are also informed by Ott's study of authors, theologians, and scholars of color, such as Martin Luther King Jr., James Baldwin, bell hooks, Audre Lorde, Gloria Anzaldúa, Ada María Isasi-Díaz, and Eddie Glaude Jr. Demonstrating that in the face of injustice, white silence and inaction are not neutral, Necessary Risks leads readers to feel less fearful and more capable in diverse settings and ultimately to contribute to personal and communal learning and growth, change and transformation.
Learn more about Teri Ott at https://terimcdowellott.com
Preview Necessary Risks at Google Books
Purchase a copy of Necessary Risks at Bookshop.org or Amazon.com
Select Bibliography
Most of the following books are not currently in the Barbour Library collection. The links below will take you to either Bookshop.org (which supports local bookstores), the author's online store, or Amazon.com, where you can purchase the book.
Edmondson, Christina and Chad Brennan. 2022. Faithful Anti-Racism: Moving Past Talk to Systemic Change. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
Goodson Jacob L., Elliott Brad Stone and Philip Rudolph Kuehnert. 2022. Building Beloved Community in a Wounded World. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books.
Lewis, William T. 2022. Sweet Potato or Pumpkin Pie : Conversations with My White Friends About Race. Charlotte, NC: SPARK Publications.
Moore, Osheta. 2021. Dear White Peacemakers : Dismantling Racism with Grit and Grace. Harrisonburg, VA: Herald Press.
Books and Media in Barbour Library
Print books below may be checked out by PTS students, faculty, and staff, as well as local area patrons who have library accounts (requires an annual fee). Media items are indicated in parentheses. Ebooks are indicated by asterisks, and are available to current PTS students, faculty, and staff only.
Enter the River : healing steps from white privilege toward racial reconciliation by
Available as a print on demand title shipping within two to three days. The Bible tells of Naaman the Syrian, who entered the Jordan River to be cleansed. Comparing the affliction of racism to Naaman's illness, Enter the River invites readers into their own healing. After asking, "Why be concerned about racism?" Shearer explores definitions of prejudice and racism, the different effects of racism on white persons and people of color, affirmative action, and many other issues. The accessible presentation provides a strong foundation for study and action. An online study guide from Mennonite Central Committee is available for this book.
Call Number: HT1521 .S435 1994ISBN: 9780836136609Publication Date: 1994-03-01
I'm Still Here : black dignity in a world made for whiteness by
From a powerful new voice on racial justice, an eye-opening account of growing up Black, Christian, and female in middle-class white America. Austin Channing Brown's first encounter with a racialized America came at age 7, when she discovered her parents named her Austin to deceive future employers into thinking she was a white man. Growing up in majority-white schools, organizations, and churches, Austin writes, "I had to learn what it means to love blackness," a journey that led to a lifetime spent navigating America's racial divide as a writer, speaker and expert who helps organizations practice genuine inclusion. In a time when nearly all institutions (schools, churches, universities, businesses) claim to value "diversity" in their mission statements, I'm Still Here is a powerful account of how and why our actions so often fall short of our words. Austin writes in breathtaking detail about her journey to self-worth and the pitfalls that kill our attempts at racial justice, in stories that bear witness to the complexity of America's social fabric--from Black Cleveland neighborhoods to private schools in the middle-class suburbs, from prison walls to the boardrooms at majority-white organizations. For readers who have engaged with America's legacy on race through the writing of Ta-Nehisi Coates and Michael Eric Dyson, I'm Still Here is an illuminating look at how white, middle-class, Evangelicalism has participated in an era of rising racial hostility, inviting the reader to confront apathy, recognize God's ongoing work in the world, and discover how blackness--if we let it--can save us all.
Call Number: E185.615 .B73 2018ISBN: 9781524760854Publication Date: 2018
Join the Resistance : step into the good work of kingdom justice by
An awakening has been happening across our society. People increasingly recognize how long-standing, systemic issues have prevented many from flourishing. But often Christians are not sure how best to engage. Does it help to march and hold signs? What can we do to contribute and not further complicate things? Faith-rooted justice advocate and activist Michelle Ferrigno Warren equips Christians to join Christ's restorative work in the world. In nearly three decades of experience, she left much of her privilege to work alongside the poor and marginalized in the restoration of individuals and communities, collaborating with community leaders, marching in streets, and meeting with and speaking truth to power. She says, "How you show up is just as important as showing up." From the grassroots to the grass tops, Warren invites us to understand our place in this moment and learn from those who have gone before: the poets and prophets who call us to resist oppression and injustice. Biblical, historical, and contemporary examples give us ways to walk in God's righteousness, truth, and peace. We can better understand our shared solidarity, persevere in the midst of struggle, bring people along, and remain rooted in joy as we continue the good work of kingdom justice.
ISBN: 9781514004333Publication Date: 2022-10-04
*Myths America Lives By : white supremacy and the stories that give us meaning by
Six myths lie at the heart of the American experience. Taken as aspirational, four of those myths remind us of our noblest ideals, challenging us to realize our nation's promise while galvanizing the sense of hope and unity we need to reach our goals. Misused, these myths allow for illusions of innocence that fly in the face of white supremacy, the primal American myth that stands at the heart of all the others.
Call Number: ONLINEISBN: 9780252050800Publication Date: 2018-09-05
Necessary Risks : challenges privileged people need to face by
Good people of privilege are increasingly aware of racial injustice but unsure what to do about it and afraid to venture into challenging dialogues and spaces. Necessary Risks: Challenges Privileged People Need to Take encourages readers to value risk-taking as the path toward a more equitable and just world. Building on skillful, memoir-like stories, Teri McDowell Ott explores ten risks--including learning, teaching, leading, following, going, and staying--with which she has wrestled in her work with diverse populations as the chaplain of a liberal arts college and as a volunteer in a men's state prison. Ott then reflects on how these experiences, including mistakes in often tense settings, have forced her to confront and wrestle with the systems and structures that have privileged her as a white Christian woman. With humility, she relates how risk-taking has led to profound changes in herself and her community. These necessary risks are also informed by Ott's study of authors, theologians, and scholars of color, such as Martin Luther King Jr., James Baldwin, bell hooks, Audre Lorde, Gloria Anzaldúa, Ada María Isasi-Díaz, and Eddie Glaude Jr. Demonstrating that in the face of injustice, white silence and inaction are not neutral, Necessary Risks leads readers to feel less fearful and more capable in diverse settings and ultimately to contribute to personal and communal learning and growth, change and transformation.
ISBN: 9781506471815Publication Date: 2022-03-15
No Innocent Bystanders : becoming an ally in the struggle for justice by
The struggle for justice is ongoing. In answering the biblical call to act justly and love mercifully, can Christians cross lines of privilege to walk humbly not only with God but with their marginalized neighbors as well? No Innocent Bystanders looks at the role of allies in social justice movements and asks what works, what doesn't, and why. It explains what allies legitimately can accomplish, what they can't, and what kind of humility and clarity is required to tell the difference. This book is a start-up guide for spiritual or religious people who are interested in working for social justice but don't know how or where to begin, drawing on the lessons of history, the framework of Christian ideas, and the insights of contemporary activists. It offers practical guidance on how to meaningfully and mindfully advocate alongside all who struggle for a more just society.
Call Number: BR115.J8 C73 2017ISBN: 9780664262624Publication Date: 2017-10-11
The Myth of Equality: uncovering the roots of injustice and privilege by
Is privilege real or imagined?It's clear that issues of race and equality have come to the forefront in our nation's consciousness. Every week yet another incident involving racial tension splashes across headlines and dominates our news feeds. But it's not easy to unpack the origins of these tensions, and perhaps we wonder whether any of these issues really has anything to do with us.Ken Wytsma, founder of the Justice Conference, understands these questions. He has gone through his own journey of understanding the underpinnings of inequality and privilege. In this timely, insightful book Wytsma unpacks what we need to know to be grounded in conversations about today's race-related issues. And he helps us come to a deeper understanding of both the origins of these issues and the reconciling role we are called to play as ministers of the gospel.Inequality and privilege are real. The Myth of Equality opens our eyes to realities we may have never realized were present in our society and world. And we will be changed for the better as a result.
Call Number: BR115.J8 W975 2017ISBN: 9780830844821Publication Date: 2017
Understanding White Privilege : creating pathways to authentic relationships across race by
Knowingly and unknowingly we all grapple with race every day. Understanding White Privilege delves into the complex interplay between race, power, and privilege in both organizations and private life. It offers an unflinching look at how ignorance can perpetuate privilege, and offers practical and thoughtful insights into how people of all races can work to break this cycle. Based on thirty years of work in diversity and colleges, universities, and corporations, Frances Kendall candidly invites readers to think personally about how race -- theirs and others' -- frames experiences and relationships, focusing squarely on white privilege and its implications for building authentic relationships across race. This much-anticipated revised edition includes two full new chapters, one on white women and another extending the discussion on race. It continues the important work of the first, deepening our knowledge of the recurring history on which cross-race relationships issues exist. Kendall's book provides readers with a more meaningful understanding of white privilege and equips them with strategies for making personal and organizational changes.
Call Number: HT1575 .K456 2013ISBN: 9780415874274Publication Date: 2012
More Barbour Library Resources by Subject
Click on the links below to perform subject searches in the library catalog:
Social justice -- Religious aspects -- Christianity.
Select Bibliography
The articles below are not available in either the print or electronic Barbour Library journal collection. Please check your local library for interlibrary loan services in order to obtain copies. PTS students, faculty, and staff may obtain the article through Barbour Library's interlibrary loan services.
Hogue, Michael S. 2022. “The Matrix of Whiteness.” Currents in Theology and Mission 49 (1): 83–87.
Moltmann, Jürgen. 2022. “Black Theology for Whites.” Currents in Theology and Mission 49 (1): 71–82.
Parker, Eve Rebecca. 2022. “World Christianity as a Critique of Whiteness in Theological Education.” The Ecumenical Review 74 (1): 45–57.
Stoddart, Eric. 2022. “Reimagining the White Surveillance Gaze: A Practical Theological Proposal for Repentant and Solidaristic Engagement.” Practical Theology 15 (1–2): 94–106
Articles in Barbour Library
Articles that are available online have links, and are only available to current PTS students, faculty, and staff. Articles without links are in the print journal collection.
Banks, Adelle M. 2016. “Racial Justice Programming in Many Mainline Churches Focuses on Privilege, Power.” Christian Century 133 (12): 18.
Schneider, Rachel C, and Sophie Bjork-James. 2020. “Whither Whiteness and Religion?: Implications for Theology and the Study of Religion.” Journal of the American Academy of Religion 88 (1): 175–99
Teri Ott, Risks Privileged People Should Take (Leading Theologically, PCUSA) - March 25, 2021
Articles
- The Christian Century: "A Liberal Daughter Discusses White Privilege with her Conservative Dad" (October 27, 2020) Follow God’s call, friends – even when, and perhaps especially when, it’s scary. Take the next step in your activism. If you’re not among the suffering, get proximate to suffering. If you look like me, if you identify as White, risk following or centering people of color in your life so that we can help liberate ourselves from the bonds white supremacy and systems of injustice have on all of us. And may God bless you and keep you. May God be kind and gracious to you. May God look upon all of us and our work with favor and bring us all to a place of peace and justice. Amen.
- The Presbyterian Outlook: "Looking into the Lectionary-The Second Sunday of Advent" (November 28, 2022) In this lectionary reflection, Teri McDowell Ott explores the spiritual opportunity John the Baptist presents on this second Sunday of Advent.
- The Presbyterian Outlook: "Women in Clerical Collars" (July 22, 2022) “Is your daddy a pastor?” the carpet salesman asked after I’d inquired about his clergy discount. I was 26, newly ordained after graduating with my Master of Divinity, and carpet shopping for my first house. None of my credentials changed my appearance, though. To this salesman, I didn’t look like a minister...
Other Links
- Teri McDowell Ott: Encouraging Courage I am a pastor, writer, and editor/publisher of The Presbyterian Outlook. Before joining The Outlook staff in June of 2021, I served as the Dean of the Chapel for Monmouth College. My experiences working with marginalized students and volunteer teaching at a men’s prison inspired me to write Necessary Risks: Challenges Privileged People Need to Face.
- The Presbyterian Outlook Creating and curating trustworthy resources for the church, the Presbyterian Outlook connects disciples of Jesus Christ through compelling and committed conversation for the proclamation of the Gospel.