Title Building beloved communities : the life and work of Rev. Dr. Paul Smith / Hildi Hendrickson

Published Athens : The University of Georgia Press, [2021]

Click on the following:
ProQuest Ebook Central

Copies

Description 1 online resource Contents Cover -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Contents -- List of Photographs -- Author's Note -- Chapter 1. Answering Dr. King's Call -- Chapter 2. On Granny's Porch -- Chapter 3. Riding the Hummingbird into the Fire -- Chapter 4. First Rites -- Chapter 5. Urban Alliances -- Chapter 6. Prophets of Multiracial Christianity -- Chapter 7. Black Employment, Black Theology, and Black Power -- Chapter 8. Undermining Everything That Separates -- Chapter 9. Listening for the Sound of the Genuine -- Chapter 10. Building a Beloved Community, 1986-2006 -- Chapter 11. Speaking Truth to Power Chapter 12. Legacy -- Chapter 13. Black Lives Matter -- Chapter 14. Sacramental Moments -- Postlude -- Acknowledgments -- Note on the Sources -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index Summary "Building Beloved Communities traces the life of Rev. Dr. Paul Smith (b. 1935), an iconoclastic Black minister who has channeled his civil rights work into establishing multi-racial churches in four cities-Buffalo, NY; Atlanta, GA; St. Louis, MO; Brooklyn, NY-over a six-decade career. Following the lead of his mentor, Dr. Howard Thurman (who was also a key influence on Martin Luther King Jr.), Smith has concentrated on building thriving multicultural congregations to create the sorts of communities envisioned by King and others. In 1979, he became the first Black minister of all-white Hillside Presbyterian Church in Decatur, Georgia, making him a unique leader among the 4,000 Presbyterian congregations in the United States. In 1986, he was elected the first African American pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Brooklyn Heights, New York. Throughout his ministry in various churches, he has consciously moved his congregations toward being explicitly multi-cultural and multi-racial, as well as more politically active and welcoming of LGBTQ communities. Hendrickson examines his pastoral care and his increased work with corporations, colleges, and charitable foundations. Building Beloved Communities details the complicated life of a man dedicated to serving as a bridge between Christianity, community activism, public health institutions, and the business world. Based on archival research, historical analysis, and original interviews with Smith and his colleagues, Hildi Hendrickson offers a critical biography of the preacher and his work from the 1960s to the present"-- Provided by publisher Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index Subject Smith, Paul, 1935- SUBJECT Smith, Paul, 1935- Subject Presbyterian Church -- Clergy -- Biography African American clergy -- Biography African American Presbyterians -- Biography Race relations -- Religious aspects -- Presbyterian Church African American clergy -- Political activity African American Presbyterians -- Political activity African American clergy African American clergy -- Political activity African American Presbyterians Presbyterian Church -- Clergy Race relations -- Religious aspects -- Presbyterian Church Genre/Form Biographies Biographies. Biographies. Form Electronic book ISBN 9780820359625 0820359629

  Permalink