Wesley Spears-Newsome (he/they) lives in the Research Triangle region of North Carolina. By day, he works as a pastor and organizer. He writes science-fiction and fantasy, non-fiction related to ministry and organizing, and picture book fiction.
Seek the Well-Being of the City: Pastoral Leadership in Community (Cascade Books, 2025)
Publisher | Bookshop | Barnes & Noble | Amazon
From the publisher: “No one lives in a community that couldn’t be better. But no one wakes up one day and magically knows exactly how to make the improvement happen. Congregational leaders have unique challenges and opportunities to strengthen and make more vibrant the places that they live. Engaging with the local context, rather than simply with one’s congregation, enlarges pastoral imagination and can graft new life into the roots of moribund churches. This book is a guide for congregational leaders – including, (but not only) parish pastors — who want to know how to learn about, engage, lead, and respond to their communities. There are countless ways to think up new programs for social engagement, or interventions to call attention to social problems. But this book helps leaders identify where their lever to move an obstacle is longest, where the most beauty and verdancy can be brought about to places that need it.”
Co-authors: Wesley Spears-Newsome, Derek Nelson, Erica Knisely, Jason McConnell, Natalie Aho, Leslie King, and Amy Howard
The Abolition Lectionary (Christians for Abolition, 2025)
In addition to my writing, I’m also a pastor. I believe the ministry of the Christian church should be grounded in the same passage Jesus choose as his ministerial manifesto, selections from the Prophet Isaiah which include a call to “to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners” (61:1). Christians committed to abolition in all forms have appealed to this declaration up until the present day. I’ll be participating in The Abolition Lectionary, a preaching aid aimed at promoting abolition in Christian pulpits around the country. You can find out more about the sponsoring organization, Christians for Abolition, here. The Abolition Lectionary posts are on this blog.
We are currently working on an ebook version of the entire Lectionary commentary that will be coming soon!
Fireweed: Stories from the Revolution (Lonely Cryptid Media, 2020)
“Feel the wind in your hair as a racecar driver sacrifices all. Learn about the long road to Jupiter, and a potentially brighter future for humanity. Rest alongside a young immigrant imprisoned by ICE as she begins to demonstrate strange powers. Reflect on the dreams and ambitions of revolutionary leaders in decades past. Bask in the peace and quiet as the news stops–for just one day.
“These and more await you in Fireweed: Stories from the Revolution. Read, be inspired, and join revolutions already in progress!
“Named for the tenacious fireweed flower, a plant that springs up on burned ground as a testament to life’s ability to flourish under fire, Fireweed includes work by Lorraine Schein, Tina Schumann, Fabiyas MV, Robert Beveridge, R.K. Duncan, Alexander Mercury, Jendi Reiter, H.L. Fullerton, Wesley Spears-Newsome, Gwen C. Katz, M. Darusha Wehm, Alex Zalben, Dan Michael Fielding, Kai Hudson, Fernando A. Torres, and dave ring.”
Synopsis from Lonely Cryptid Media
Inhospitable: A Deportation Story
Inhospitable tells the revealing and heartbreaking story of a North Carolina man’s detention by ICE, and his community’s fight to keep him from being deported. With scripting by Rev. Wesley Spears-Newsome and hosting and editing by Rev. Dr. Stephen Stacks, this series tells the story of Greenwood Forest Baptist Church’s confrontation with ICE and traces the historical journey that brought us here. Rev. Spears-Newsome and Rev. Stacks are ministers at Greenwood Forest. Find out more at inhospitableusa.org.
Baptist News Global
From 2011 to 2017, I wrote sporadically and eventually as an invited regular columnist for Baptist News Global, the premiere news source for moderate and progressive Baptists. You can find editorials written from my first years in full-time church ministry all the way back to my time in college on my author profile.
Wesley Spears-Newsome 