Black Church Studies Reader

Alton B. Pollard, III is Dean and Professor of Religion and Culture at Howard University School of Divinity, USA. His publications include Mysticism and Social Change, How Long this Road, and a new edition of Dubois's The Negro Church. He is lead researcher for Equipping the Saints: Promising Practices in Black congregational life.Carol B. Duncan is Professor and former chair of the Department of Religion and Culture at Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada. She is the author of This Spot of Ground: Spiritual Baptists in Toronto, co-author of Black Church Studies: An Introduction and co-editor of Womanist and Black Feminist Responses to Tyler Perry's Productions.

'The Black Church Studies Reader adds breadth, depth, and clarity to a field of study within the theological curriculum and the teaching ministry of the church. The contributors represent a broad array of fields, but they are uniform in the quality of their credentials and in the scholarly contribution. We owe a debt of gratitude to all who have contributed to this seminal publication.' - Marvin Andrew McMickle, President and Professor of Church Leadership, Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School, USA 'This is a vital contribution to Black Church Studies and a must-have for the classroom. Pollard and Duncan have captured the essence of the Black Christian tradition in this celebration of the theological imagination and moral vision born at the interstices of bondage and freedom. The volume's interdisciplinary breadth is unparalleled in the field. The Black Church Studies Reader is a milestone text for anyone who is inspired and affirmed by the rich traditions of the Black Church.' - Eboni Marshall Turman, Assistant Research Professor of Theological Ethics and Black Church Studies and Director of the Office of Black Church Studies, Duke University, USA

• Foreword; Forrest E. Harris, Sr.Prologue; Alton B. Pollard, IIIIntroduction: 'The Black Church Studies Reader'; Alton B. Pollard, III and Carol B. DuncanPART I: ORIGINS1. Black Church Studies: Some of the Roots; Henry H. Mitchell2. Black Church Studies as Advocate and Critic; Gayraud S. Wilmore3. Black Church Studies as an Academic Interest and Initiative: A Historical Perspective; Lewis V. BaldwinPART II: PROGRAM INITIATIVES4. A Field of Study as a Field of Dreams: Contours of Black Church Studies; Stacey M. Floyd-Thomas5. God Talk with Black Thinkers: An Innovative Model for Black Church Studies; Arthur Pressley and Nancy Lynne Westfield6. The Public Vocation of Religious Leaders and the Mission of Black Church Studies; Robert M. FranklinPART III: PURPOSE AND POWER7. Reestablishing the Purpose and Power of the Preached Word through BlackChurch Studies; Teresa Fry Brown8. Music and Worship in Black Church Studies Curricula; James Abbington9. Black Church Studies and Scripture; Rodney S. Sadler, Jr.PART IV: PREACHING AND POETICS10. All Flesh is Eligible!; Ella P. Mitchell11. Good Food; Yvette Flunder12. That was Then, This is Now; Otis Moss, III13. for women of color scholars who have considered giving up/when the church wasnot enuf; Pamela R. Lightsey14. Noble Nubian Priestess, Sister Friends and Church Mothers, Preachers and Teachers in the House; Cheryl A. Kirk-DugganPART V: PRACTICES AND POLICY15. Black Church Studies as Practical Theology; Dennis W. Wiley16. The Black Church and Public Policy: Retrospect and Prospect; Harold Dean Trulear17. Black Megachurches and the Paradox of Black Progress; Tamelyn Tucker-WorgsPART VI: TRANSATLANTIC CROSSINGS18. Black Church Studies in the African Context; Emmanuel Y. Lartey19. Freedom to 'Catch the Spirit:' Conceptualizing Black Church Studies in a Caribbean Context; Claudette Anderson20. Out of the Bitter Sea': The Black Church and Migration in North America; Carol B. Duncan21. Towards Greater Involvement of the British Black Church in the Secular Education of Black Youth: School Exclusion and British Black Males; Doreen McCallaPART VII: COMING FULL CIRCLE22. The Black Church and the Mission for the 21st Century; Dwight N. Hopkins23. I, Too, Sing Songs of Freedom: A Theo-Sociological Praxis Toward an Emancipatory Ethic for the Black Church and its Trans-Same-and-both-Gender-Loving Members; Dorinda G. Henry24. Black Environmental Liberation Theology: The Theological and Historical Roots of Environmental Justice Activism by the African American Church; Dianne D. Glave25. Closing the Gap between the Academy and the Church: Black Church Studies' Role in Eliminating Health Disparities; Selina A. Smith26. Economic Justice, and Globalization in Black Church Studies: Confronting the 'Malignant Kinship' in the Post-Civil Rights Era; Juan Floyd-ThomasEpilogue: 'The Endarkenment': A Parable; Alton B. Pollard, III