The Story of Lemuel Haynes: The Preacher Who Challenged Injustice

By Anthony Coughlin, Illustrated by T. Lively Fluharty

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Expected: May 6, 2025

Retail Price: $11.99

The Story of Lemuel Haynes: The Preacher Who Challenged Injustice

By Anthony Coughlin, Illustrated by T. Lively Fluharty

... Show All

Middle-Grade Biography on Lemuel Haynes, First Black Ordained Minister and Voice against Racial Injustice

Lemuel Haynes was a writer, preacher, and influential figure in the abolitionist movement who was determined to spread the good news of God’s grace, justice, and mercy in a nation filled with racism and injustice. Trusting in God’s loving providence throughout his life, Haynes became the first Black man to be ordained as a minister and to receive a master’s degree in the United States. 

This short and lively biography takes middle-grade readers on an exciting journey through Haynes’s life, highlighting his difficult upbringing as an orphan and indentured servant, his adoption into a White family, his enlistment in the militia, and his passion for public ministry. His story teaches young readers that despite their sin and trials, God is at work bringing them closer to Jesus and making them more like him. Featuring illustrations, maps, timelines, bonus sidebars, and study questions, this addition to the Lives of Faith and Grace series engages kids ages 8–13 in the drama of history, showing how God worked in the past through ordinary people like them.

  • Lively Biography: Explores the influential life of Lemuel Haynes, an important yet often unexplored figure in church history and the abolitionist movement 
  • Written for Kids Ages 8–13: This short format includes illustrations, maps, timelines, and bonus sidebars to help young readers stay engaged
  • Inspiring: Teaches about God’s hand of providence and the power of the gospel to transform anyone, no matter where they come from
  • Part of the Lives of Faith and Grace Series: Engages kids with the real-life stories of Christian men and women from history

Author:

Anthony Coughlin

Anthony Coughlin (MEd, Cabrini University) serves as a pastor for Risen Christ Fellowship in the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia. Anthony worked as an urban educator and curriculum designer for fifteen years and served as a bivocational pastor in an inner-city church plant. He is married to Cindy, and they have three children, one with the Lord (Micah), Jadon, and Olivia.

Illustrator:

T. Lively Fluharty

T. Lively Fluharty is an accomplished illustrator whose artwork has appeared in such publications as Time Magazine, Sports Illustrated, and Focus on the Family. His work has been recognized by the Society of Illustrators, Communications Arts, and Spectrum. Fluharty illustrated The Barber Who Wanted to Pray and The Boy and the Ocean, as well as Fool Moon Rising which he cowrote with his wife, Kristi.

Product Details

Format: Paperback
Page Count: 112
Size: 5.25 in x 8.0 in
Weight: 8.0 ounces
ISBN-10: 1-4335-9298-3
ISBN-13: 978-1-4335-9298-0
ISBN-UPC: 9781433592980
Published: May 06, 2025

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Drowning in the Summer Sun (1760)
Chapter 2: Abandoned and Taken In (1753–1773) 
Chapter 3: A Tale of Two Evenings (1773–1776)
Chapter 4: The Corpse, Conviction, and a Cause (1774–1776)
Chapter 5: Liberty for All? (1776)
Chapter 6: A Saturday Sermon (1774–1776)
Chapter 7: Sermons to Solemn Vows (1776–1783)
Chapter 8: Plowing New Fields (1785–1788)
Chapter 9: A Battle with Ballou (1805)
Chapter 10: Blood and Bittersweet Goodbyes (1818)
Chapter 11: Providence in Manchester (1819–1833)
Chapter 12: “May We Bring Forth Fruit in Old Age!” (1833)

Conclusion: Lessons from a Life
Timelines
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