Roosevelt Park Rising: A memoir of the renewal of a pastor, a church, and a neighborhood

Roosevelt Park Rising is a timely, inspiring, true story of Christian spiritual growth and the courage to redefine success in our deeply divided world. The Rev. Dr. Reginald "Reggie" Smith's story is an honest and profoundly helpful roadmap for anyone trying to build community amid cultural, racial, and religious conflict. Whether you are a local leader, a community organizer, a pastor, or simply someone trying to make a difference in your own neighborhood, this Christian memoir provides a masterclass in the gritty, everyday heroism required to spark real change.

In 1994, when the Rev. Dr. Reginald "Reggie" Smith, a Black pastor took the pulpit of a white Dutch Reformed church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, he stepped into a community struggling with conflicts inside and outside its historic walls. The Roosevelt Park neighborhood had transformed into a predominantly Latino, low-income community, leaving the congregation feeling isolated, discouraged, and grieving the neighborhood they once knew. Over the next two decades, Smith navigated a relentless crossfire. On the outside, he battled neighborhood gang violence and advocated for affordable housing, a new library and new schools. On the inside, he struggled with the "managed racism" of his congregation. This inspiring pastor's memoir shows readers the painful reality that institutional change is often excruciatingly slow or fiercely resisted.

In his Foreword to Roosevelt Park Rising, journalist Paul Kix describes Reggie Smith as having "something like Dietrich Bonhoeffer's courage, something like Saint Francis's big beating heart." Kix is best known as the author of You Have to be Prepared to Die Before You Can Begin to Live, listed as a Best Book of the Year by both Amazon and The New York Times.

In her endorsement, Kristin Kobes Du Mez, author of Jesus and John Wayne, writes: "American Christians have long touted the goal of 'racial reconciliation, ' but Reggie Smith's story makes clear that healing the racial divide doesn't happen through quick fixes. Transforming a church requires changed hearts and transformed lives."

Unlike many triumphant leadership narratives, Smith turns the traditional success story upside down. Roosevelt Park Rising is unsparingly honest about the pain of ministry, the grueling reality of racial reconciliation, and the exhaustion of fighting for the marginalized. Rooted in Reformed theology and a deep commitment to Christianity and justice, it is ultimately a story of letting go of dying institutions to discover that true resurrection happens in the streets, in the neighborhoods, and in the hearts of those who refuse to walk away.

This memoir is a masterclass in cross-cultural leadership as Smith gives readers a real-world look at the challenges of bridging racial, cultural, and generational divides. The book is filled with gripping, real-life examples of embodied faith and courageous peacemaking in action. From organizing a prayer vigil on the lawn of a gang house to fighting for the closure of a violent neighborhood bar, Smith demonstrates what it looks like to choose community safety over personal comfort. His "vow of stability," refusing to move his family even after bullets hit his house, will inspire readers to rethink their own commitment to their neighborhoods.

Roosevelt Park Rising is a highly useful case study for anyone leading diverse teams or attempting to modernize a legacy institution. Readers who feel disenfranchised by traditional religion will find a kindred spirit in Smith. Smith today serves as the Diversity Ministry Consultant at Thrive, a Christian Reformed Church ministry to help congregations connect with their communities and grow. In Roosevelt Park Rising, he helps readers envision fresh inspiration, purpose and grace outside the four walls of a church.

Author: Reginald Smith
Publisher: Reformed Journal Books
Published: 08/11/2026
Pages: 174
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.53lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.40d
ISBN: 9781641802444

About the Author
Smith, Reginald: - The Rev. Dr. Reginald "Reggie" Smith is the Diversity Ministry Consultant at Thrive, the Christian Reformed Church's international congregational support agency. Before that, Dr. Smith served as senior pastor of Roosevelt Park Community Christian Reformed Church on the southwest side of Grand Rapids, Michigan. For 30 years, he also was board president of the Roosevelt Park Neighborhood Association, which served as a catalyst to bring hundreds of millions of dollars of investment and infrastructure to the area, including schools, new housing, a library, and an arts academy. In those years, the association also spurred the growth of locally owned businesses, dramatically decreased gang violence, and helped to support immigrant families with translation services and ESL programs. Drawing on his life's work, Dr. Smith has taught urban ministry and urban development courses at Calvin Theological Seminary, Western Theological Seminary, and Grand Rapids Theological Seminary. In 2013, he was appointed by Grand Rapids Mayor George Heartwell to the City Planning Commission.Dr. Smith was born and raised on Chicago's West Side in the North Lawndale neighborhood. He was very active in his home church, Unity Fellowship Missionary Baptist. He was educated in the Chicago Public Schools and became the first in his family to go to college where he earned a bachelor's degree from Culver-Stockton College in History and Political Science in 1984. When he felt God calling him into ministry, he moved to Grand Rapids to attend Calvin Theological Seminary and earned his Master of Divinity degree in 1992. He was ordained into the Christian Reformed ministry on March 14, 1993. Dr. Smith served churches in Chicago and Paterson, New Jersey, before becoming the Senior Pastor of Roosevelt Park Community Christian Reformed Church from 1994 to 2015. In 2004, he earned a Doctor of Ministry degree from Western Theological Seminary.In 2017, Dr. Smith was appointed Director of the Office of Race Relations and the Office of Social Justice for the Christian Reformed Church in North America, the first African American to serve as leader of both offices. In February 2020, Reggie was appointed to the new position of denominational Director of Diversity, where he worked with 300 multiracial and multiethnic churches and leaders to help their communities grow and thrive.Dr. Smith also is an award-winning writer. He wrote a Grand Rapids Times weekly devotional column from 2010 to 2024 and was a regular columnist for The Banner, the Christian Reformed Church's official magazine, from 2017 through 2019. He is a sought-after preacher and educator, often called upon to help communities explore urban ministry, racial justice, social justice, and community development. Dr. Smith is a co-host of The Antioch Podcast, named "New and Noteworthy" by Sojourners magazine in its May 2026 issue.He and his wife, Sharon, have been married for more than 35 years. Together, they are committed to modeling a life of racial reconciliation in a cross-cultural urban setting. He is the proud father of three adult daughters: twins Katrina and Mariah and their older sister Janelle. The entire family attends Madison Square Christian Reformed Church in Grand Rapids.Dr. Smith's inspiring first book is the memoir Roosevelt Park Rising, published by Reformed Journal Books, a publishing partner of Front Edge Publishing. You can find him online at RooseveltParkRising.com

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