Word Made Plain: The Power and Promise of Preaching, The

The Word Made Plain: The Power and Promise of Preaching. By James Henry Harris. Minneapolis, Minn.: Fortress Press, 2004. 160 pp. $17.00 (paper).

This book succeeds in its task of explaining why homiletics is an important part of African American spirituality. Harris provides powerful insight about the perspective and hermeneutic of Black preaching as being always focused on the balance between the self and the community. In addition to providing such insight, his writing is deeply engaging. In his chapters, he outlines the roots of Black preaching, provides examples of noted practitioners, explains the interpretive practice of Black preaching, displays the aesthetic dimension of some great preachers, and lays out the process of sermon development.

Such a book may be most valuable to the practitioner of preaching. When reading this book, such a person will naturally identify with the struggles to prepare sermons and the spiritual practices needed to allow God to speak to individuals and communities despite such struggles with the preacher's own self-esteem. Harris encourages the reader not to worry about the dynamic of struggle in preaching. It is from dynamic struggle that God's voice is heard more clearly. As a result, it is not by accident that Black preaching is dynamic. Such call and response, and such cadence and participatory preaching happen intentionally to make a suffering people rise above and beyond affliction. Harris states, "This constant struggle, while not unique to African Americans, is emblematically captured in Black church history" (p. 3).

However, non-practitioners will also benefit from reading this book. Harris's powerful insight that "While community is being together, this does not suggest uniformity but rather the freedom of diversity" (p. 20) has value for all. Harris provides invaluable aid to anyone willing to see that much work needs to be done by all to accept this mystery of freedom in diversity. It also gives Harris the clear vision to challenge and invite us toward finding such mystery.

Harris's insight emphasizes the truth that personal spirituality always needs the balance of communal spirituality (and vice versa). For example, the Black Church is now benefiting from more personal forms of spirituality focused on contemplation and individual spiritual direction. Church members can afford such benefit, however, because the core of their spirituality has been communally practiced until now. Of course, such communal spirituality could be seen as a by-product of racist societies forcing such communal bonds. Forced or not, African American spirituality provides a unique way of proclaiming the gospel-the good news. The listener will neither be bored nor indifferent upon hearing such a message. Mainline churches and the new "emerging" churches will do well to remember these best practices of spirituality arising out of the Black Church.

MICHAEL BATTLE

Virginia Theological Seminary

Alexandria, Virginia

Copyright Anglican Theological Review, Inc. Winter 2006
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