Let the Church Say Amen [Paperback]

ReShonda Tate Billingsley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 27, 2004

In her riveting second novel, ReShonda Tate Billingsley -- winner of the Gold Pen Award for Best New Author for My Brother's Keeper -- crafts a bold and heartwarming story of family and faith that will inspire readers everywhere.

Reverend Simon Jackson has always felt destined to lead and he's done a good job of it, transforming his small Houston church into one of the most respected and renowned in the region. But while the good Reverend's been busy tending his flock, his family's gone astray. His nineteen-year-old daughter, Rachel, gives new meaning to "baby mama drama." Crazy in love with her son's father, she's wreaking havoc on the man's life, even though he's about to marry another woman. David, Simon's oldest at twenty-seven, has been spiraling downward ever since a knee injury ended a promising football career. These days he's seeking solace in drugs -- even feeding his habit by stealing church offerings. Blessedly, twenty-three-year-old Jonathan, a college graduate and the apple of Simon's eye, is poised to take his father's side as associate pastor -- or so everyone thinks.

Loretta has been a devoted wife to Simon, but she's beginning to realize that enabling him to give more to the church than to his children was her biggest mistake. As things begin to fall apart and secrets are revealed, will Loretta be able to help her husband reunite their tattered family before it's too late?

Let the Church Say Amen is a powerful journey through one family's trials -- and a remarkable story of reconciliation and love.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

It's hard to imagine a more dysfunctional family than the Reverend Samuel Jackson's, Billingsley's creation in Let the Church Say Amen. The oldest son, David, had a promising career in the NFL but was injured and now steals from the collection plate to support his drug habit. Nineteen-year-old Rachel has had two babies by different fathers. The middle child, Simon, is poised to become assistant pastor and might seem like a chip off the old block, but he has a secret that will prove rather awkward. Reverend Jackson himself pastors a black church he built up from nothing, but what kind of minister is he to his own family? Can his stalwart wife bring healing to this mess? Is prayer any good at all? Though Billingsley drifts toward self-parody, her community of very human saints will win readers over with their humor and verve. John Mort
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

ReShonda Tate Billingsley is the #1 national bestselling author of eight previous novels for adults, as well as the Good Girlz teen series. She has won numerous awards for her journalism and fiction, including the Nova Lee Nation Award from the Greater Dallas Writing Association and the prestigious Gold Pen Award for Best New Author for her first novel, My Brother’s Keeper. Her short fiction appears in the story anthology Have a Little Faith. She is also the author of the nonfiction book Help! I’ve Turned Into My Mother. ReShonda welcomes readers to her websites at www.reshondatatebillingsley.com.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Gallery Books; Original edition (July 27, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743477146
• ISBN-13: 978-0743477147
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (68 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #59,087 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I am a former news reporter in Houston. But I recently left to pursue my true passion full time - writing. I'm the author of twenty books and a mother to three young children. Two of my books are currently being made into movies. I'm also a proud University of Texas at Austin graduate. Not only do I love writing, I love reading almost as much!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars No one sin is greater than the next........................., January 17, 2005

By 

Nardsbaby "Connoisseur of the written word™" (Westside Chi-town, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Let the Church Say Amen (Paperback)

Simon Jackson, pastor of Zion Hill located in Houston, Texas is a regal and revered man. Well that is at church at least. His home life is complicated. He can't seem to understand his oldest son, and only daughter. He's turned them over to God. His concern now is his middle child. The one he refers to as his prodigal child. His wife has been the only woman he's been with. It wasn't like he didn't have opportunities, but he honored God. He just wished that Loretta could see that there grown children needed to sink or swim.

Loretta Jackson, first lady and school teacher. She's been called a many names. Mainly she was devoted to her husband and her family. Though she didn't have much to say Loretta is the glue that holds her dysfunctional family together. She didn't dare argue with Simon about the children. Instead she tries to make up for him. It is Loretta's hope that her family eventually realize that they need one another. And no matter how they may feel they are all the others have.

David the oldest child had always been a problem child. Nothing major, he was a C student fun loving kid. Only problem David couldn't seem to adjust to, was not having his father's acceptance. Once he had a college scholarship and played football. Now things were so different. His family at times tried to help him.

Jonathan the middle child has always done precisely what it was his father wanted. A college graduate with a Divinity degree. Jonathan is struggling with the weight of the world on his shoulders. There is no easy way for Jon to divulge his secrets to his father. Not if he wants to maintain Daddy's love.

Rachel this baby girl gives new meaning to what it is to be a preacher's kid, as well as a drama filled baby mama. She doesn't have just one child out of wedlock, but two children, with two different men. Sister girl is still a partier! Yet she wonders why she can't make it to praise God on time!

This is a VERY BOLD story. It promises to keep you perched on the edge of your seat trying to read what is going to happen next. I tell you at times I was like this is some crap. At other times I was laughing aloud. It's filled with a family struggling with demons and as they bond the burden appears to get lighter. Those of you who haven't opened this book from fear that it's "religion" TRUST this book has a lot to offer.

God is an awesome God! AMEN...

We may not understand God's motives, but He knows what's best for us!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Little Bit Shallow But I Kept Turning the Pages!, July 22, 2005

By 

Colleen McMahon ""Omnivorous Reader"" (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Let the Church Say Amen (Paperback)

This is the story of a family in turmoil. The seemingly perfect pastor of a medium-large Houston African-American church, Rev. Simon Jackson, has a smoothly running ministry but trouble at home. His long-suffering wife Loretta is caught between her choice to follow him as her leader and head of the household, and her feeling that his neglect and hard attitude toward his children is a mistake that is making things worse. And the kids are a mess! The oldest son is a drug addict, the daughter, with two babies by two different men, puts the drama in "baby mama drama" and the younger son, the one that Simon thinks is the perfect one who will follow in his footsteps, is hiding a secret that is making him miserable. As his family life continues to unwind, other events are coming that will shock Simon out of his complacency with his life and his judgmental ways with his children.

While the events kept me turning pages and there were a few surprises, the characterizations of each of the main players could have been more substantial. I especially felt that in the case of the daughter, Rachel, who comes off as an unsympathetic brat most of the time (but who, I confess, added most of the page-turning action to the story, wondering what her crazy butt would do next). Things are on the road to resolution by the end of the story but it's hard to see what changes have occurred (again, especially in the case of Rachel) and the wrap up was a bit rushed. There were so many events where I wanted to see more into the characters' heads for their deeper emotions and reactions, but the storyline rushed on to another development instead. Maybe a sequel is in the works?

Anyway, it was a pretty good read--like I said, I kept turning the pages and read it pretty much in one sitting--but just a little less than fully satisfying. However, as a non-African-American non-churchgoer, the setting of a church and pastor's family was also a fascinating glimpse into a part of everyday life that I hadn't seen before.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Read it if you have nothing else good to read, May 4, 2005

By 

Mia Myers (Detroit) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Let the Church Say Amen (Paperback)

This is how i would put it. If you read all of your good books, then you might want to read this from your "later" pile if you have nothing else good to read. My bookclub was wrong for selecting this.