This is My Story: Testimonies and Sermons of Black Women in Ministry (Paperback)

~ Cleophus J. LaRue (Author), Cleophus James Larue (Editor) "The twenty-first century will be the century for black women in ministry..." (more)
Key Phrases: women preachers, African American, New Jersey, Holy Spirit (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

African American women continue to confess their call to ministry even when they know such a confession may cause them to face ostracism and criticism from many of the same men and women who nurtured them in the faith. In "This is My Story," thirteen successful African American women clergy tell the inspirational and heartbreaking stories about their calls and ministerial journeys, which they experienced in the midst of anguish, uncertainty, and in many cases unfriendly leadership environments. Each of the women includes a sermon of particular importance to her. Contributors include: Cokiesha Lashon Bailey, Cecilia E. Greene Barr, Deborah K. Blanks, Alsyon Diane Browne, Delores Carpenter, Odessa Coder, Claudette Anderson Copeland, LaVerne M. Gill, Alison P. Gise Johnson, Cynthia L. Hale, Carla Jones, Cheryl A. Kirk-Duggan, and Charlotte McSwine-Harris.

About the Author

Cleophus J. LaRue is Francis Landey Patton Associate Professor of Homiletics at Princeton Theological Seminary. He is the author of "The Heart of Black Preaching" and the editor of "Power in the Pulpit: How AmericaÂ’s Most Effective Black Preachers Prepare Their Sermons," both published by Westminster John Knox Press.

Product Details

• Paperback: 216 pages
• Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press (May 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0664227767
• ISBN-13: 978-0664227760
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #971,646 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sister Voices, May 25, 2005

By	Simon Lewis (Bangor, Maine) - See all my reviews

The imbrication of Black and white cultures on the issue of gender roles and the pulpit is noteworthy in that it forced women of both races to either openly defy the patriarchal status quo or to submerge their pastoral longings in social and moral uplift. Dr. LaRue, Professor of Homiletics at Princeton Theological Seminary, opens his work, This is My Story: Testimonies and Sermons of Black Women in Ministry, with a very painful admission. "I came to faith in a congregation where it was absolutely unacceptable for a woman to claim that she had been called by God to preach." he says and then goes on to admit that he was personally responsible for denying funding to women who came before the Texas Baptist scholarship committee asking for assistance in pursuing the ordained ministry. His Damascus road experience came when one of those women questioned him saying, "Who are you to get in the way of what God has called me to do?" That statement stands well as the theme of this work. LaRue has chosen to present thirteen women who have felt the call to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and who are not allowing anyone to sant in the way of what God has called them to do.

Alison Gise Johnson, one of the thirteen women whose lives and sermons are presented, states that she has learned two things, the first is that we "overcome not only by the blood of the lamb but also by the words of our testimonies" and the second is "it is important to share interpretations of the past for the sake of forging a powerfully faithful future." These lessons under gird that anonymous woman who spoke so passionately to Dr. LaRue, God calls us to do what God wills and our own lives are testimonies to that call.

In her sermon, "Straighten Up",drawn from Luke 13:10 - 17, Alyson Diane Brown speaks in the person of the woman crippled by a spirit for eighteen years: "Even though I have to sit in the segregated section of the temple reserved for women, even though I cannot read from the Holy Scriptures or engage in dialogue with the rabbis, I still go to church." She goes on to describe meeting Jesus and the freedom granted through his word. She ends by saying, "I know what it's like to be bent over, I know what it feels like when your are powerless to change your situation. I know a man named Jesus who is still in the miracle-working business. One touch, one encounter and you will straighten up. All that your condition has robbed you of can be resorted. It's time. You've been bent over long enough. You've got divine permission to straighten up!" That is what has happened for the African-American preaching woman. As LaRue states, "the twenty-first century will be the century for Black women in ministry." This is an excellent book to listen to the voices of those who will lead the church boldly where she must go next.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This Is My Story, July 6, 2005

By	Diane Walker (New Brunswick,NJ,USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The Best I've read in a very long time. This Is My Story has so much Black History in it, it is a must read. It tells of how our own family had the same doubts about women preaching and how men looked at women in the pulpit. Women have and still are trying to take their rightful place in socity. The stories are so inspiring and lets you know that when it is all said and done God has the last word.