ON THE SHELF
New Book Pays Tribute to Dean of Chapel By Echol Nix Jr.
Published by the Mercer University Press (2015)
W
hen Lawrence Edward Carter Sr. saw In The Beginning: The Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel of Morehouse College (Mercer University Press, 2015), something that rarely happens with the longtime dean of the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel actually took place. He was speechless. The book, edited by Echol Nix Jr., is a group of essays from Nix and a number of religious scholars, educators and leaders. Hugh Gloster Jr., son of former Morehouse president Hugh Gloster, talks about the hiring of Carter and his early impact on the new edifice. Harold Truelear talks about some of Carter’s challenges
with building a strong Chapel program. And Fisk University Chapel dean Jason Curry talks about how being mentored has helped him to mentor. “No one has had more influence on me than Dean Lawrence Edward Carter,” Curry writes in the book. “… Like Paul, I thank God for affording me the opportunity to be influenced by the life and ministry of Dean Carter.” Carter sees the book as the rarest of opportunities to preview his obituary. “My mouth flew open when I saw it,” Carter said. “I thought it was the highest compliment in the academy. I also thought I had died, the funeral was over, I’d been buried and everybody had left the cemetery and an arch angel came over and whispered
to me, ‘We’re going to give you a chance to read what they said about you.’ That’s the feeling I get when I read this.” Carter believes the writings of everyone—from his former students to one of his own former professors—get across the idea that he is a philosophical personalist. “If you want to understand the unifying philosophy of my theology, it’s personalism,” Carter said. “That was the philosophical position of Martin Luther King Jr. ’48. A personalist is one who believes that the whole universe is personal. It’s a universe of selves. God is the ultimate person and humans are the infinite person…,” he continued. “This book helps you understand that about me, about
The Divided Mind of the Black Church: Theology, Piety and Public Witness By Raphael G. Warnock ’91 Senior Pastor, Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta, Ga. Published by the New York University Press (2014) The Rev. Dr. Raphael G. Warnock ‘91, senior pastor of Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church, believes there is a tug of war going on in the black church between social transformation and individual piety that needs to be addressed. It’s a topic that he delved into in his book, The Divided Mind of the Black Church: Theology, Piety and Public Witness (Religion, Race and Ethnicity) (New York University Press, 2014). “It is a book that both looks back at our history—examines that theologically—and also charts the way forward for a discussion, at least, for where we ought to be going,” said Warnock. Warnock’s book comes at a time when the reality television show, “Preachers of L.A.,” is popular and some are defending an Atlanta pastor who wants his to church to pay for a $66-million private jet. Warnock argues that while a number of black churches are doing great work in the community, there are others that don’t know the difference between charity and justice—the former meaning dispensing goods to those in need and the latter asking why people are hungry and broken in the first place. “I argue in the book that at the center of black Christian faith is this tension between individual piety and the passion surrounding that, and the quest for social transformation,” he said. “Both of those things are formative in the development of the black Christian faith. “My concern of late is owing to that rugged individualism that is part of American culture,” he said. “We’ve lost sight of the kind of piety that causes us to struggle for justice in the world. So it’s a call to the black church to return to the best of liberationist heritage. And, at the same time, it’s a recognition that our quest for justice has, at least as it has come out of the best of our tradition, always been rooted in a profound sense of spirituality.” MOREHOUSE MAGAZINE
24 FALL 2015
King and about the framework for my ministry of how we should relate to all persons. We should relate to them like we are relating to divinity, the sacredness of all human personality respectfully. If we could do that, we would easily be able to have the beloved world community. The people who put this book together had their own angle in understanding me. And people clearly have been watching me for years and listening when I thought nobody was.” n -AS
God Is the Goal: The Chase for Intimacy With God By Taft Quincy Heatley ’98 Published by iUniverse, Ellenwood, GA (PRWEB, May 23, 2014)
In his new book, God Is the Goal: The Chase for Intimacy With God, author Taft Quincy Heatley ’98 explores what it means to seek closeness with God. Working on Wall Street as an investment banker was profitable for Heatley in more ways than one. Aside from his six-figure salary, he was exposed to new ideas and intelligent, passionate people. Although he enjoyed the lifestyle his job afforded him, he couldn’t shake a feeling of emptiness and slowly began to realize he was running from God’s true calling. Once he began this pursuit, Heatley found that intimacy with God was his true goal, and recognized that God was calling him to serve as a preacher of the Gospel. Heatley writes: “I was on the wrong chase. What I was really after was for someone to notice me and recognize me for what I had. This was a pursuit of emptiness. Once I embraced the love of God, my life changed, even though the struggle for acceptance remained.” Heatley is now a pastor and ordained minister. He graduated from Morehouse College and Princeton Theological Seminary.