Faith Unleavened

The Wilderness Between Trayvon Martin & George Floyd

Tamice Spencer-Helms

"Much has been written about the young white exodus from evangelical religion. Rarely have we been invited to journey alongside young evangelicals of color. Tamice Spencer-Helms takes readers by the hand and walks them through her exodus and liberation." —Lisa Sharon Harper, author of Fortune: How Race Broke My Family and The World—and How to Repair It All

Tamice Spencer-Helms, nonprofit leader and public theologian, once gave themself wholly to white Christian ministry, trusting its promises. But when brutality against Black lives demanded a moral reckoning, the same faith community they had passionately served betrayed them with silence, excuses, and complicity. What they had thought was the gospel revealed, was instead an idol—an insidious, unlivable theology that nearly destroyed their faith.

Faith Unleavened confronts this crisis head-on. Through unforgettable storytelling, Spencer-Helms uncovers how the idol of whiteness seeps into churches, distorts scripture, and shackles the power of truth-telling. Tamice recalls the gut-punch of watching murders from Trayvon Martin to George Floyd, the numbing repetition of “thoughts and prayers,” the gaslighting when justice was demanded, and the silences that spoke louder than sermons.

But this book is more than a critique—it is a pathway toward freedom. By “extracting the leaven” of white supremacy that animates American Christianity, Spencer-Helms names the spiritual harm done when churches excuse injustice and when colonized faith tells believers to shrink themselves.

Readers will leave both unsettled and renewed—confronted by hard truths, yet emboldened to claim a deeper, truer freedom.

Themes: Social Justice | Identity & Belonging | Healing & Wholeness

Praise for Faith Unleavened

"Much has been written about the young white exodus from evangelical religion. Rarely have we been invited to journey alongside young evangelicals of color. Tamice Spencer-Helms takes readers by the hand and walks them through her exodus and liberation. We witness the scales falling from her eyes and see with her, for the first time, that the white evangelical waters she once found respite within are actually filled with the rotting bodies of theology and discipleship stunted and killed by White Jesus. Walk with Tamice through each stage of her healing and transformation, and encounter unleavened faith. This is a worthy read, indeed."

—Lisa Sharon Harper, President and Founder of Freedom Road and author of several books, including The Very Good Gospel and Fortune: How Race Broke My Family and The World—and How to Repair It All

"Tamice is an incredibly important voice as someone who lives faith at the intersection of practitioner and theologian. Her reflections on historical events that have shaped this emerging generation are a gift to anyone who mentors young people of any racial background, since these events have shaped our ecosystem."

—Rev. Sandra Maria Van Opstal, Founder of Chasing Justice

"I learn so much from listening to stories unlike my own. In this memoir of evolving faith, Tamice bravely invites us into a journey that is tender but unflinching, heavy with grief and suffused with hope. I am challenged by the ways we disagree with one another, and even more challenged by the ways we agree."

—Gregory Coles, author of Single, Gay, Christian and No Longer Strangers

"In Faith Unleavened, Tamice Spencer-Helms vulnerably provides us with her exile experience in white evangelicalism and her courageous exodus out of it. Doing so, she offers a gift for the rest of us, inviting everyone to let go of White Jesus so we can encounter the living, liberating, and unleavened Bread of God. Read this book!"

—Drew G. I. Hart, Associate Professor of Theology at Messiah University, author of Who Will Be A Witness?, and co-host of the InVerse Podcast

“We all contend with a wilderness and on that journey, it’s necessary to choose what we consume. In Faith Unleavened, Tamice showed me a path I hadn’t seen and gave me nuggets of a better way to do community and life with one another. I’ve still so much to learn. Join me in the wilderness.”

—Seth Price, host of the Can I Say This at Church? podcast

 “We all need fellow sojourners on our path to a more beautiful, just world. Tamice Spencer-Helms is an ideal guide for those seeking to leave behind faith narratives of exclusion, violence, greed, sexism, exploitation, and racism rooted in white supremacy for narratives of reconciliation, inclusion, nonviolence, generosity, equality, and sustainability. Spencer- Helms displays a powerful, honest, and clarion voice in Faith Unleavened. This book is a must-read for all who care about the role of faith in a world seeking justice.” 

—Doug Pagitt, pastor, author, activist, Executive Director of Vote Common Good

“Tamice Spencer-Helms guides us through the wilderness of a Black woman contorting herself to a white Jesus and into freedom as a Black woman fully seen and loved by herself and Jesus. Spencer-Helms shares her doubts and the obstacles to decolonizing faith with a vulnerability and honesty that made me flinch. She powerfully names how white supremacy gaslights all of us and she gives hope to those still on the journey.”

—Kathy Khang, author of Raise Your Voice

 “A faith cannot feed you until you have first wrestled with it and sat with the story it has yielded in your life. In Faith Unleavened, Tamice Spencer-Helms shares the story of her wrestling in the wilderness and the sustenance she found therein. May we all be courageous enough to trust God with our stories.”

—Trey Ferguson, author of Theologizin' Bigger and co-host of the Three Black Men podcast

 “Everyone should read Tamice’s story. She describes how white supremacist beliefs in Christian organizations deepen pain and self-hatred for people of color, especially when they are trying to minister from those frameworks. She illustrates how both over-rationalism and over-emotionalism in white evangelical theology(ies) hinder trauma processing instead of helping. She shows how shallow understandings of God, people, and society cause more problems than they solve. But Tamice helps us glimpse the glory of Christ in the Black Church!”

—Mako Nagasawa, Founder & Executive Director of the Anástasis Center, author of Abortion Policy and Christian Social Ethics in the United States

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