Estrelda Y Alexander

"O where are the sympathies of Christians for the slave and where are their exertions for their liberation? . . . It seems as if the church were asleep." David Ingraham, 1839In 2015, the historian Chris Momany helped discover a manuscript that had been forgotten in a storage closet at Adrian College in Michigan. He identified it as the journal of a nineteenth-century Christian abolitionist and missionary, David Ingraham. As Momany and a fellow historian Doug Strong pored over the diary, they realized that studying this document could open new conversations for twenty-first-century Christians to address the reality of racism today. They invited a multiracial team of fourteen scholars to join in, thus launching the Dialogue on Race and Faith Project. Awakening to Justice presents the groundbreaking work of these scholars. In addition to reflecting on Ingraham's journal, chapters also explore the life and writings of two of Ingraham's Black colleagues, James Bradley and Nancy Prince. Appendixes feature writings by all three abolitionists so readers can engage the primary sources directly. Through considering connections between the revivalist, holiness, and abolitionist movements; the experiences of enslaved and freed people; abolitionists' spiritual practices; various tactics used by abolitionists; and other themes, the authors offer insight and hope for Christians concerned about racial justice. They highlight how Christians associated with Charles Finney's style of revivalism formed intentional, countercultural communities such as Oberlin College to be exemplars of interracial cooperation and equality. Christians have all too often compromised with racism throughout history, but that's not the whole story. Hearing the prophetic witness of revivalist social justice efforts in the nineteenth century can provide a fresh approach to today's conversations about race and faith in the church.

Pentecostal women ministers have been silenced in official conversations about their place in church leadership. What do women ministers believe about family life? Have they been influenced by liberal feminism? Do they really want to be equal ministry leaders with men? What Women Want answers these questions in a first ever empirical study that paints a portrait of what it's like to be a Pentecostal woman minister. ""Alexander and Bowers and their colleagues in this volume insist that whatever their provenance, the voices of Pentecostal women ministers can no longer be ignored. Perhaps more than two or three prophetesses are speaking in these pages, calling attention to injustices and exploding the myths perpetuated by some of the sons who claim the Spirit. If so, then now the congregation of readers must judge and discern what is said--may those with ears to hear respond to what the Spirit is saying to the churches."" --Amos Yong, Director of the Center for Missiological Research, Professor of Theology and Mission, Fuller Theological Seminary ""Tears were rolling down my cheeks as I read the stories found within the pages of this book. God has been and will continue to call and gift his daughters for ministry. Not only have Bowers and Alexander discovered what women want, they have given voice to their concerns in a powerful and passionate way. Evident is that a feminist political agenda is not at play, but rather called women who are seeking full expression of the giftings which they have received from God. This place of equal leadership can be found throughout numerous churches that trace their roots to the holiness tradition. May we be willing to listen to the voices and open our hearts and minds to the Spirit's leading."" --Caria Sunberg, Forty-Third General Superintendent, Church of the Nazarene ""This important study listens to data gathered from women in a major Pentecostal denomination and gives expression to their beliefs and experiences in ministry. It contains many insights as well as some surprises. Significantly, it identifies a research agenda that has implications beyond Pentecostalism and the church in North America. As such, it deserves to be read widely, and its findings considered carefully by those in church leadership."" --Mark J. Cartledge, Professor of Practical Theology, Regent University Kimberly Alexander is Associate Professor of the History of Christianity at Regent University School of Divinity. She is the author of Pentecostal Healing: Models of Theology and Practice (2007), as well as numerous articles and book chapters related to Pentecostal spirituality and women in the Pentecostal tradition. She is a past-president of the Society for Pentecostal Studies. James P. Bowers is Director of Graduate Studies at Virginia Bible College and pastor of St. Andrews United Methodist Church in Portsmouth, VA. He is editor of Portrait and Prospect: Church of God Pastors Face the Twenty-First Century and numerous articles and book chapters related to spiritual formation and pastoral practice.

Pentecostal women ministers have been silenced in official conversations about their place in church leadership. What do women ministers believe about family life? Have they been influenced by liberal feminism? Do they really want to be equal ministry leaders with men? What Women Want answers these questions in a first ever empirical study that paints a portrait of what it's like to be a Pentecostal woman minister. ""Alexander and Bowers and their colleagues in this volume insist that whatever their provenance, the voices of Pentecostal women ministers can no longer be ignored. Perhaps more than two or three prophetesses are speaking in these pages, calling attention to injustices and exploding the myths perpetuated by some of the sons who claim the Spirit. If so, then now the congregation of readers must judge and discern what is said--may those with ears to hear respond to what the Spirit is saying to the churches."" --Amos Yong, Director of the Center for Missiological Research, Professor of Theology and Mission, Fuller Theological Seminary ""Tears were rolling down my cheeks as I read the stories found within the pages of this book. God has been and will continue to call and gift his daughters for ministry. Not only have Bowers and Alexander discovered what women want, they have given voice to their concerns in a powerful and passionate way. Evident is that a feminist political agenda is not at play, but rather called women who are seeking full expression of the giftings which they have received from God. This place of equal leadership can be found throughout numerous churches that trace their roots to the holiness tradition. May we be willing to listen to the voices and open our hearts and minds to the Spirit's leading."" --Caria Sunberg, Forty-Third General Superintendent, Church of the Nazarene ""This important study listens to data gathered from women in a major Pentecostal denomination and gives expression to their beliefs and experiences in ministry. It contains many insights as well as some surprises. Significantly, it identifies a research agenda that has implications beyond Pentecostalism and the church in North America. As such, it deserves to be read widely, and its findings considered carefully by those in church leadership."" --Mark J. Cartledge, Professor of Practical Theology, Regent University Kimberly Alexander is Associate Professor of the History of Christianity at Regent University School of Divinity. She is the author of Pentecostal Healing: Models of Theology and Practice (2007), as well as numerous articles and book chapters related to Pentecostal spirituality and women in the Pentecostal tradition. She is a past-president of the Society for Pentecostal Studies. James P. Bowers is Director of Graduate Studies at Virginia Bible College and pastor of St. Andrews United Methodist Church in Portsmouth, VA. He is editor of Portrait and Prospect: Church of God Pastors Face the Twenty-First Century and numerous articles and book chapters related to spiritual formation and pastoral practice.

Estrelda Alexander was raised in an urban, black, working-class, oneness Pentecostal congregation in the 1950s and 1960s, but she knew little of her heritage and thought that all Christians worshiped and believed as she did. Much later she discovered that many Christians not only knew little of her heritage but considered it strange. Even today, most North Americans remain ignorant of black Pentecostalism. Black Fire remedies lack of historical consciousness by recounting the story of African American Pentecostal origins and development. In this fascinating description she covers what Pentecostalism retained from African spiritualitythe legacy of the nineteenth-century black Holiness movementWilliam J. Seymour and the Azusa Street RevivalAfrican American trinitarian and oneness Pentecostal denominationsthe role of women in African American PentecostalismAfrican American neo-Pentecostals and charismatic movementsblack Pentecostals in majority-white denominationstheological challenges of black Pentecostalism in the twenty-first century Whether you come from an African American Pentecostal background or you just want to learn more, this book will unfold all the dimensions of this important movement's history and contribution to the life of the church.