Let It Shine!: The Emergence of African American Catholic Worship

Description:

Let It Shine! probes the distinctive contribution of black Catholics to the life of the American church, and to the unfolding of lived Christianity in the United States. This important book explores the powerful spiritual renaissance that has marked African American life and selfunderstanding over the last several decades by examining one critical dimension: the forging of new expressions of Catholic worship rooted in the larger Catholic tradition, yet shaped in unique ways by African American religious culture.

Starting with the 1960s, the book traces the dynamic interplay of social change, cultural awakening, and charismatic leadership that have sparked the emergence of distinctive styles of black Catholic worship. In their historical overview, McGann and Eva Marie Lumas chronicle the liturgical and pastoral issues of a black Catholic liturgical movement that has transformed the larger American church. McGann then examines the foundational vision of Rev. Clarence R. J. Rivers, who promoted forms of black worship, music, preaching, and prayer that have enabled African American Catholics to reclaim the fullness of their religious identity.

Finally, Harbor constructs a black Catholic aesthetic based on the theological, ethical, and liturgical insights of four African American scholars, expressed through twenty-three performative values. This liturgical aesthetic illuminates the distinctive gift of black Catholics to the multicultural tapestry of lived faith in the American church and can also serve as a pastoral model for other cultural communities.

Blending history, theology, and liturgy, Let It Shine! is a valuable resource for scholars, teachers, and students and a practical pastoral guide to bringing African American spirituality more firmly into the sacramental life of American parishes.

Brief description: MARY E. McGANN, R.S.C.J., is Associate Professor of Liturgy and Music at the Franciscan School of Theology in Berkeley, California. She is author of award-winning A Precious Fountain: Music in the Worship of an African American Catholic Community and Music as Worship and Theology: Research in Liturgical Practice.

Review Quotes:

Mary McGann's book Let It Shine is about a people and their worship, it is about their experience, their culture, and their beauty. Clarence Rivers, 1931-2004, priest, liturgist, musician, African American, wove together the gifts of African American worship and Roman Catholic liturgical tradition and created something that was unique, original, and enriching. How this was done and the vision of Rivers and those who followed him is the subject of this remarkable book.

OR

Mary McGann's book on the emergence of African American Catholic Worship is both a history and a resource. Thanks to the commentary and the analysis by leading black Catholic theologians and liturgists, we have one of the first in-depth studies of the work of Clarence Rivers and his vision. As an analysis of how black Catholic worship became the formative element in the liturgical expression of American Catholics, we have a vision of what American Catholic Worship can become.