The Civil Rights era was a time of national examination and a moment of great ferment within black churches. Their ministries required new expressions of pastoral theology and care. Soon after the emergence of Black Theology as an academic discourse, distinctively African American approaches to pastoral theology and care were articulated within theological education. Since 1979, Edward Powell Wimberly has been a distinguished and influential voice in the field of pastoral theology and care, especially in African American contexts. Wimberly's career has been dedicated to communicating the love of God for all people in the aftermath of America's original sinaracism. The Edward Wimberly Reader hosts a selection of Wimberly's most vital writings, beginning the important work of expanding the historical record in the field of pastoral theology and care to include the role of African American scholars. Wimberly's various works reflect his social and political engagements, spanning the arenas of congregation and community with a prophetic public theology. At the same time, Wimberly's constructive presentations of African American pastoral care inform pastoral theology methodologies through contextual and narrative approaches to counseling and restorative care practices. An essential collection for students and academics alike, The Edward Wimberly Reader communicates the convictions of a deeply faithful scholar, practitioner, and teacher who changed the conversation by stressing the importance of race, culture, and economics within contexts of pastoral care. Wimberly's corpus offers a faith-inspired vision of a more holistic and life-giving social order, where discrimination is redressed and communities of mutual concern support the flourishing of all.

Straight talk about what it means to be African American men. "Let s have a conversation. Let s talk man-to-man and brother-to-brother.Let s talk about how we grow into adults and what manhood means. Let s talk brother-to-brother and man-to-man about how we relate to one another as we grow into adults. Let s talk about what defines our maleness and our manhood.Let s talk brother-to-brother as African American men.Let s talk openly and honestly about what it means to be black men and American.We can no longer assume that we all know what it means to be African American men.This is a conversation that is long overdue. Let s talk together and listen to one another.This is our time to talk instead of being talked about.It is time for us to shed the unhealthy images and opinions that we have accepted as the standards of what it means to be Black men.The benefits of our talk will transform our souls as well as benefit all the girls and women in our lives." from the book"

In Lee Butlers own words, "This book is an attempt to answer the question, Who are we as African Americans?" Attempting to answer this question is one way we participate in the works of salvation. Liberating Our Dignity, Saving Our Souls is a study of African American identity aimed at pointing a way out of a current crisis into a new liberation and salvation. Butler combines insights and methodologies from developmental psychology, liberation theology, and African and African American history to plot a new course for contemporary African Americans to gain a sense of identity that will guide them away from the identity the European and American cultures have traditionally forced upon them. This involves determining identity by personal worth, not by occupation, economic class, or social class.