The Edward Wimberly Reader: A Black Pastoral Theology

by Mary Clark Moschella (Editor), Lee H. Butler Jr. (Editor)

Overview

The Civil Rights era was a time of national examination and a moment of great ferment within black churches. Their ministries required new expressions of pastoral theology and care. Soon after the emergence of Black Theology as an academic discourse, distinctively African American approaches to pastoral theology and care were articulated within theological education.

Since 1979, Edward Powell Wimberly has been a distinguished and influential voice in the field of pastoral theology and care, especially in African American contexts. Wimberly’s career has been dedicated to communicating the love of God for all people in the aftermath of America’s original sin—racism. The Edward Wimberly Reader hosts a selection of Wimberly’s most vital writings, beginning the important work of expanding the historical record in the field of pastoral theology and care to include the role of African American scholars. Wimberly’s various works reflect his social and political engagements, spanning the arenas of congregation and community with a prophetic public theology. At the same time, Wimberly’s constructive presentations of African American pastoral care inform pastoral theology methodologies through contextual and narrative approaches to counseling and restorative care practices.

An essential collection for students and academics alike, The Edward Wimberly Reader communicates the convictions of a deeply faithful scholar, practitioner, and teacher who changed the conversation by stressing the importance of race, culture, and economics within contexts of pastoral care. Wimberly’s corpus offers a faith-inspired vision of a more holistic and life-giving social order, where discrimination is redressed and communities of mutual concern support the flourishing of all.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781481312448
Publisher:	Baylor University Press
Publication date:	07/01/2020
Pages:	308
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.14(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Mary Clark Moschella is Roger J. Squire Professor of Pastoral Care and Counseling in the School of Divinity at Yale University.

Lee H. Butler, Jr. is Distinguished Service Professor of Theology and Psychology at Chicago Theological Seminary.

Table of Contents

Introduction
1 Pastoral Care in the Black Church (1979)
2 African American Men: Identity, Marriage, and Family (1997)
3 Narrative Care for Spiritual Renewal (1997)
4 Relational Refugees (2000)
5 Politics, Oppression, and Empowerment (2006)
6 African American Narrative Pastoral Care (2008)
7 Narrative Care in the Contexts of Trauma (2011)
8 Pastoral Theology in a Wesleyan Spirit (2011)
9 African American Pastoral Theology in Practice: The Gathering of the Village (2017)
Conclusion

What People are Saying About This

Bishop Teresa Jefferson-Snorton

Butler and Moschella have captured the legacy of Edward Wimberly through their thorough and intriguing discussion and analysis of Wimberly's writings. Their exposition reveals the evolution of Wimberly's theological understanding of pastoral care. In addition, the significance of understanding the field through the cultural lens of the African American experience is clear. This is a timeless and relevant reader for pastoral theologians, pastors, and professional or volunteer spiritual caregivers.

Vergel L. Lattimore

This impressive volume edited by two gifted scholars demonstrates the seminal intellectual and theological leadership of Professor Edward Wimberly. Moschella and Butler illustrate the rich craft of Wimberly's evolved scholarship and spiritual formation. The breadth and depth of the writers confirm their solid capacity as scholars-practitioners who fully understand Wimberly as a pastoral theologian who is without question the 'Dean' of Black pastoral care theologians. Finally, this volume faithfully documents a perspective in the field of pastoral theology which merits attention, appreciation, and cultural affirmation.

Montague R. Williams

The Edward Wimberly Reader brings together significant essays from a giant in the field of pastoral theology. Edward Wimberly’s scholarship displays rigorous reflection on the particularities of black churches, black communities, and black theological traditions to put forth understandings and practices for meaningful pastoral care. Whether one’s interest involves emphasizing the embodied nature of the soul, discerning ways to faithfully embrace our woundedness, reauthoring our mythologies, exploring adolescent identity development, or outlining the deep connections between pastoral care and social justice, this book will remain an important contribution for scholars and pastors.

Editorial Reviews

This reader is an impressive overview of the stellar writing career of a towering but often unappreciated intellectual within the African American black church tradition.

Modern Believing - Anthony Reddie

This rich and insightful book is a valuable resource for clergy, chaplains, scholars, clinicians, seminarians, and other practitioners concerned with contextual and prophetic pastoral care. The writing is elegant and accessible.

Anglican Theological Review - Sheryi A. Kujawa-Holbrook