Why have small churches remained small? And why has this mandate in Mark 16:15 not impacted the thousands of small, denominational churches across the country? When you consider the plan of salvation, how can a church not grow? Because of the positive growth in many nondenominational churches, some church leaders falsely assume they can have the same results by abandoning their denominational heritage. However, most people are attracted to a particular church because they feel welcomed by the people in that church, and because of that church's unique ministry in their community. While it may be helpful to de-emphasize the denominational connection, it is a mistake to abandon it. As you read The Little Brown Church in the Vale, you will be challenged to take a fresh look at the direction your ministry and your church is taking.

Ninety years after W.E.B. Du Bois first articulated the need for "the equivalent of a black Encyclopedia Britannica," Kwame Anthony Appiah and Henry Louis Gates Jr., realized his vision by publishing Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience in 1999. This new, greatly expanded edition of the original work broadens the foundation provided by Africana. Including more than one million new words, Africana has been completely updated and revised. New entries on African kingdoms have been added, bibliographies now accompany most articles, and the encyclopedia's coverage of the African diaspora in Latin America and the Caribbean has been expanded, transforming the set into the most authoritative research and scholarly reference set on the African experience ever created. More than 4,000 articles cover prominent individuals, events, trends, places, political movements, art forms, business and trade, religion, ethnic groups, organizations and countries on both sides of the Atlantic. African American history and culture in the present-day United States receive a strong emphasis, but African American history and culture throughout the rest of the Americas and their origins in African itself have an equally strong presence. The articles that make up Africana cover subjects ranging from affirmative action to zydeco and span over four million years from the earlies-known hominids, to Sean "Diddy" Combs. With entries ranging from the African ethnic groups to members of the Congressional Black Caucus, Africana, Second Edition, conveys the history and scope of cultural expression of people of African descent with unprecedented depth.

Preceded by three introductory essays and a chronology of major events in black religious history from 1618 to 1991, this A-Z encyclopedia includes three types of entries: * Biographical sketches of 773 African American religious leaders * 341 entries on African American denominations and religious organizations (including white churches with significant black memberships and educational institutions) * Topical articles on important aspects of African American religious life (e.g., African American Christians during the Colonial Era, Music in the African American Church)

Since 1865 African-American architects have been designing and building houses and public buildings, but the architects are virtually unknown. This work brings their lives and work to light for the first time.

This study of brass chamber music in lyceum and chautauqua fills a lacuna in brass history. It explores the forgotten phenomenon of the many chamber brass ensembles that entertained millions of Americans from coast to coast from 1877 to 1939 and presents histories of sixty-one ensembles that performed music for brass trio, brass quartet, brass quintet, and brass sextet for lyceum and chautauqua audiences. The author also writes about the large repertoire of music for small brass ensembles that he discovered was published in America from 1875 through the 1920s. This First American Chamber Brass School is discussed in one of five overviews of the principal eras in brass chamber music history that form the most comprehensive history of brass chamber music written in fifty years. Hardbound.

Wilbur H. Siebert published his landmark study of the Underground Railroad in 1898, revealing a secret system of assisted slave escapes. Siebert's research relied on the accounts of northern white male abolitionists, and while useful in understanding the northern boundaries of the journey, his work omits the complicated narrative of assistance below the Mason-Dixon Line. In The Gospel of Freedom: Black Evangelicals and the Underground Railroad, author Alicestyne Turley positions Kentucky as a crucial "pass through" territory and addresses the important contributions of antislavery southerners who formed organized networks to assist those who were enslaved in the Deep South. Drawing on family history and lore as well as a large range of primary sources, Turley shows how free and enslaved African Americans developed successful systems to help those enslaved below the Mason-Dixon Line. Illuminating the roles of these Black freedom fighters, Turley questions the validity of long-held conclusions based on Siebert's original work and suggests new areas of inquiry for further exploration. The Gospel of Freedom seeks to fill in the historical gaps and promote the lost voices of the Underground Railroad.