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Reviewed by Cedrick D. Bridgeforth, Senior Pastor of Crenshaw United Methodist Church in Los Angeles, California, and author of Thoughts On Things That Make You Think and Prayers to Help You Pray About Them. Growing the African American Church edited by Carlyle Fielding Stewart, III I have read much of what has been published about church growth over the past ten years. However, most of those texts were not centered on African American church growth, which has its peculiarity when compared with other cultural expressions. Carlyle Fielding Stewart has established himself as an authority on church growth within the African American context. If he had not done so before, he certainly has now. All ten chapters are filled with nuggets of wisdom and proven strategies that have instilled vitality, hope, and promise in some African American churches around the country. The contributors to this volume truly represent the African American church scene. The African American church is ecumenical and transformative in nature, as is what is contained and offered in this book. Although the contributors represent various denominational expressions, they are all African American and they do share some common threads. The three factors that are present in most of the cases are intentional commitment to change, ongoing evaluation of the process, and relentless reliance on the Christ-centered leadership. Given the current state of many churches within the United States, the business as usual approach will not prove effective. Instead the church has to be intentional about its mission and strategies. As Jeremiah Wright reflects on his ministry at Trinity UCC, he states, “My first change as pastor of Trinity and the worship leader was to add some black hymns…I knew that if we were going to attract members of the black community, we needed black music.” Overall, Wright and others have good ideas and strategies to spawn growth in their churches but the merit of those ideas rests upon their ability to implement those strategies with intentionality. Beyond intentionality, the vital ministries present in this volume also share the common understanding that growth and change processes have to also include evaluation at every level. It is also prudent to note that not all evaluation comes in the form of a written report. Some evaluative efforts come by way of attendance records, contribution receipts, and accolades shared in informal conversation. Regardless of how the evaluative data is gathered it is crucial in determining the effect any program or ministry has on the life of an individual, community, or congregation. The contributors in this book rely on personal testimony, feedback from key lay leaders, and some administer surveys to determine ministry direction and focus. Tyrone Gordon engages the lay leaders by soliciting their involvement in leadership training and focused Bible study to evaluate individual’s readiness to serve. James Perkins solicits God through prayer for direction, yet he looks to the needs of the people in the community versus the ministries offered by the church to determine if his congregation is being effective in making disciples. Perkins also relies heavily on prayer for guidance and direction in ministry development, implementation and evaluation. He writes, “The power of prayer in the life of the pastor and the people of God cannot be overstated…The vision for one’s ministry emerges from one’s prayer life, and prayer clarifies it. Prayer is a way to transcend the barriers and blockades that prohibit growth.” The third area of commonality between these ministries is a reliance on Christ-centered leadership. It seems that no matter what area of ministry is being addressed there has to be leaders in place who are deeply committed to Christ, who understand the vision, and who have the ability to carry out the mission or fulfill the specific objectives set before them. Bible study and spiritual discipline are key factors in developing Christ-centered leaders. In the Foreword, Vance Ross, as do others throughout the book, lift up the need for a resource that speaks directly to the current and future needs of African American clergy and laity, whether in urban, suburban, rural, affluent, or impoverished communities. Carlyle Steward has compiled a mountain of jewels that the whole church can embrace and enjoy.
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