Tangible Grace

“Tangible Grace is an essential, life-saving read for all religious leaders, communities, parents, and scholars who care about the well-being of teens. Evelyn L. Parker tackles a too-often-neglected critical issue in religious life—gender-based and intimate partner violence among teenagers. This book stuns with powerful questions such as: How is the faith and spirituality of a teenager shaped when [their] body hurts during Sunday worship—a site of Christian faith formation—from slaps and punches administered just hours before? With deeply moving narratives, Parker makes readers aware of the problem of violence in teenage romantic relationships, including same-gender teen partners, and offers practical guidance for how to teach, preach to, worship with, pastorally care for, and advocate on behalf of teens. Combining knowledge from her long history of working with and on behalf of young people with insightful wisdom from other leading practical theologians, Parker challenges us to see teenage bodies as tangible manifestations of God’s grace and provokes us toward emancipatory pedagogies that stand against gender-based violence. As a religious educator and practical theologian, I see Tangible Grace as the critical and creative book I’ve been missing in my courses.”

Rachelle R. Green

“Tangible Grace by Evelyn L. Parker addresses teen dating violence through a theological lens, emphasizing tangible grace and using ministerial practices like teaching, preaching, and pastoral care to prevent and intervene. It highlights the importance of addressing implicit gender-based violence in religious and educational settings. Parker offers a provocative understanding of grace that she describes as tangible grace. The book explores ministry interventions for addressing teen dating violence, emphasizing the theological concept of tangible grace as God’s gift of the human body. Weaving science, theological spirituality, and storytelling, womanist scholar Evelyn Parker unmasks the unthinkable, undiscussed, unseen realities of gender-based violence in adolescent relationships. With an overwhelmingly gentle tone and radically inclusive approach, Parker offers this well-researched, beautifully written, and cutting-edge volume to those intentionally nurturing adolescents, those searching for a resource to teach/preach a holistic approach to sexuality, and those needing a practical powerful pathway back to divine love when tangible grace has been distorted. Alison Gise Johnson, womanist scholar and associate professor of philosophy, Claflin University Tangible Grace is a powerful text that not only lays bare the problem of teen dating violence but also offers approaches through teaching, liturgy and worship, pastoral care, preaching, and advocacy to aid in both prevention and intervention. As a womanist Christian educator and practical theologian, former youth minister and youth institute director, someone who experienced teen dating violence, and a mother of two boys, I find this text to be not only a must-read but a must-implement and must-act. Educators, practitioners, laypersons, parents, and grandparents: we all need to heed Parker’s words and take this reality seriously by implementing the approaches she suggests. When we fail to act, we enable and aid in the tormenting of teens’ tangible grace. The lives and well-being of our youth are at stake.”

Lakisha R. Lockhart

“Evelyn L. Parker highlights the prevalence of intimate partner violence among teenagers and the importance of awareness and intervention and suggests using religious teachings, pastoral care, and advocacy to prevent and address teen dating violence. Parker’s teaching strategies include integrating gender-based violence education into human sexuality courses and using emancipatory pedagogy and subversive teaching of holy scriptures to address systemic issues of patriarchy and power contributing to gender-based violence. The book invites us to see the role teaching plays in addressing gender-based violence. We are also given tools to combat teen violence, such as the use of implicit curriculum and religious teachings.”

Carmichael Crutchfield

“Evelyn L. Parker’s Tangible Grace: Ministry Interventions for Teen Dating Violence is an essential resource for addressing the pressing issue of teen dating violence in our communities. Through theological insight and practical strategies, Parker empowers ministry leaders to foster healing and transformation. This book is a profound guide for creating safe spaces that affirm the dignity and worth of every teenager. Latricia Edwards Scriven, pastor and author of When Jesus Laughs This is a book of collective wisdom from the various branches of practical theology. Parker places insight, theory, and best practices in conversation with each other to help young people whose tangible grace has been tormented. The topics discussed and Parker’s approach make this text essential essential reading for those involved in the spiritual formation of young people. Annie Lockhart-Gilroy, associate professor of Christian education and practical theology and director of the Doctor of Ministry Program, Phillips Theological Seminary, and author of Nurturing the Sanctified Imagination of Urban Youth As a pioneering womanist practical theologian, Evelyn Parker has created an invaluable resource for ministry practitioners with her groundbreaking work, Tangible Grace: Ministry Interventions for Teen Dating Violence. Guided by a profound commitment to intersectional understanding—deeply attentive to race, class, gender, and sexual identity—her book offers a comprehensive approach to youth ministry that centers on reverential love, bodily dignity, and holistic healing. Drawing from a rich tapestry of personal sacred memories, scholarly research, and compelling narratives, Parker illuminates the critical issue of gender-based violence among teenagers in the United States. Her work is distinctively rooted in a careful consideration of the lived religious beliefs of girls and young-adult women, providing a nuanced and deeply empathetic exploration of their experiences. What sets this volume apart is its expansive vision of ministerial responsibility. Parker persuasively argues that every aspect of ministry—from preaching to pastoral care, from Christian education to liturgical planning—carries a unique opportunity and obligation to create safe spaces for young people. She empowers ministry leaders to recognize their collective role in protecting and nurturing youth, and for endowing them with an abiding sense of their own agency. Central to Parker’s approach is the powerful theological assertion that every body is an enfleshment of God’s grace, and as such, God wills the complete wholeness, healing, and flourishing of young people. By emphasizing self-love, respect, and intentional care, she provides a framework for ministry that goes beyond traditional models, offering a profound reimagining of youth spiritual support. This book is essential reading for anyone committed to working with youth or desiring to make their ministries genuinely relevant to young people’s lived experiences. Parker has gifted the faith community with a compassionate, scholarly, and deeply practical guide that has the potential to transform how we approach youth ministry. I recommend this book for pastors, youth ministers, educators, counselors, and anyone passionate about supporting and empowering young people in their faith journey.”

Neichelle R. Guidry