About the Contributor(s):
Lewis Brogdon is Assistant Professor of New Testament and Black Church Studies and Director of the Black Church Studies Program at Louisville Seminary. Brogdon has served churches in Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio. He has coauthored an article with Amos Yong on "The Decline of African American Theology? A Critical Response to Thabiti Anyabwile" in the Journal of Reformed Theology, and recently published an essay on "African American Pentecostalism" in A Handbook of Pentecostal Christianity.

Provides an appraisal of the psychological, social, cultural, and theological dimensions of a dilemma facing the Church. It speaks to the dramatic shifts taking place in clergy leadership, revealing the profound pressures facing clergy and their families, while also reflecting the reality of troubled congregations and communities. He lifts up the issue of clergy suicide, which is often been viewed as an embarrassing internal crisis to which the church, particularly denominational leadership, has been slow to respond

The prosperity movement has influenced millions of people in North America, Asia, Europe, South America, and Africa through Pentecostal, Charismatic and nondenominational preachers in some of the largest churches in the world. CNN, ABC, and Time magazine have examined the preachers and churches in this popular and controversial movement. Scholars and church leaders have studied it for more than two decades, producing dozens of books and articles on it. Considering the widespread popularity of the prosperity movement and the attention it is given by its critics, Brogdon asks, ""Is prosperity...

African Americans have always wrestled with hopelessness. Yet in the face of hopelessness, African Americans fought for hope that America can be a land of equality, opportunity, and justice. The fight for hope has been difficult and has taken a toll on African Americans. Today the signs of hopelessness abound in black communities across the nation as an increasing number of leaders express concern about a pervasive problem that they could not identify. Beyond the continuing injustices and inequities linked to systemic racism, they recognize a growing internal apathy in African Americans. This...