For the Souls of Black Folks examines the impact of black religious culture in shaping the ethical values and sociopolitical condition of U.S. blacks. The book reviews the nexus of theological traditions and historical factors that have formed black churches as environments where preachers serve as the moral compass for black churchgoers. For the Souls of Black Folks builds upon the work of sociologist W. E. B. Du Bois, who highlighted the presence of a double consciousness in the collective psyche of blacks stemming from racial oppression. The book explores the ways in which that double consciousness, often reflected in black preaching, socializes black Christians to subjugate their own moral authority to that of black preachers. The central argument is that this socialization to submit to preachers greatly underserves black churchgoers in developing and exercising their own power and authority as social agents, and thus significantly impedes the full sociopolitical liberation of all blacks. The book offers important new preaching strategies that more effectively facilitate the empowerment of blacks as critical agents of social transformation and healing in the twenty-first century.

Pedrito Maynard-Reid explores the multiethnic dimensions of worship by looking at African American, Caribbean and Hispanic contexts of worship.

This new book on worship by renowned hymn writer and professor Ruth C. Duck provides theological foundations for worship and explores the variety of ways Christians have adapted worship to various cultures to help them live faithfully and to communicate the Gospel to others. The author celebrates the many languages and cultural settings in which the Gospel has been, and is, preached, sung, and prayed. The goal of this volume is to support good pastoral and congregational reflection on what worship is and does. Consequently, Duck discusses many different forms of worship from several cultures (African-American, Asian, Euro-American) and offers advice on how to read a congregation and define its culture in order to plan culturally appropriate worship. Although the book does not offer prescriptive formulas or advise a single pattern of worship, it includes many practical suggestions for preparing and leading worship, including diverse ministries of music, movement, and visual arts that are becoming more popular today. From worship's theological underpinnings, the book turns to worship leadership, forms of prayer, preaching, the sacraments, ordination, and various liturgies. Because of its emphasis on Spirit-led worship, this comprehensive book on Christian worship will be used for years to come not only as a core textbook for seminarians and ministry students from a variety of cultures and traditions, but also as a resource for local church pastors and laity who are dedicated to the enlivening of Christian worship.

In this curriculum guide, the Association for the Study of African American Life and History continues its emphasis on Du Bois' prophetic statement first enunciated at the Pan-African Conference of 1900 that "the problem of the Twentieth Century is the problem of the color-line," and moreover the "double-consciousness" or "two-ness" confronting African Americans-"two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring details in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder." In addition to engaging the issues raised in Du Bois' prophetic statement, the editors have chosen to highlight the following themes in his seminal work: The Souls of Black Folk Revisited Black History and Historians The Tuskegee Machine and the Politics of Accommodation Talented Tenth Race Relations Pan-Africanism The Sacred Arts These themes are reflective of the evolving scholarship that W.E.B Du Bois expressed in The Souls of Black Folk and throughout his prolific career. While it is patently impossible to design a curriculum guide around the fifty or more state history standards, the editors have employed the Mid-continent Region Education Laboratory's Content Knowledge: A Compendium of Standards and Benchmarks for K-12 Education as well as consulting the state standards in California, Maryland, Illinois, and Virginia in creating this useful guide.

'Another World is Possible' examines the many peoples who have mobilized religion and spirituality to forge identity. Some claim direct links to indigenous spiritual practices; others have appropriated externally introduced religions, modifying these with indigenous perspectives and practices. The voices of Black people from around the world are presented in essays ranging from the Indian subcontinent, Japan and Australia to Africa, the UK and the USA. From creation narratives to trickster heroes, from the role of spirituality in HIV positive South Africa to its place in mental health and among the poor, spirituality is shown to be essential to the survival of individuals and communities.

First Published in 2005. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

This perceptive study of African American spirituality sees the experience of the African American church as an example for all other peoples in their struggles for liberation from the world's shackles.

"Examines the history of worship in the Black Church in America, the enduring effects of white supremacy on its liturgical heritage, and proffers a new liturgical paradigm, using a womanist hermeneutic"--

An initial introduction to the study of Christian theology is both exciting and invigorating for students of its discipline. One can become enameled in the classic perspectives of theology without any consideration of a possible alternative. Defining Salvation in the Context of Black Theology is an exit from the classic conviction that trumpets the doctrine of soteriology attributing its substance to the posture of eternity while ignoring the importance of salvation in the existential. Careful not to reject the question of eternal life, but examining the nuances of the term "salvation" empowers this work to present the like manner essential that having salvation is just as much about "now" than it is in the here after.