It because pastoral care and counseling facilitate personal agency and efficacy (personal, social, and political empowerment and transformation) that African American pastoral care and counseling are inherently political processes, contends Wimberly. In this new book, he outlines the theological anthropology that under girds the practices of care and the practices of self as holistic processes. He shows those who engage in pastoral counseling with African Americans how to navigate around the negative self-images, identities, and stories into which they have been recruited in order to liberate themselves to discern how to best make use of their personal and political agency and efficacy.

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"

Important questions face any pastoral counselor when working with African American couples and families. Edward Wimberly focuses on the religious worldview that African Americans bring to their understanding of marriage and family, so that the counselor can learn the assumptions behind the presenting problems. Wimberly's treatment examines the social context of African American families, the separate issues for men and women, intergenerational factors, the impact of the life cycle, sexuality, affairs, and abuse. This wide-ranging book is exceptionally practical for all pastoral caregivers. The purpose of the Counseling and Pastoral Theology series is to address clinical issues that arise among particular populations currently neglected in the literature on pastoral care and counseling. This series is committed to enhancing both the theoretical base and the clinical expertise of pastoral caregivers by providing a pastoral theological paradigm that will inform both assessment and intervention with persons in these specific populations.

Respond to God s unfolding drama to bring healing and reconciliation. In this major revision of his classic book, Dr. Edward Wimberly updates his narrative methodology by examining current issues in African American pastoral care and counseling. "In this new edition, Ed Wimberly reconfigures what comprehensive care means for the African American struggle for dignity and proposes pastoral care approaches to the crisis of disconnection. Using his own narrative, Wimberly courageously describes how pastors and churches can claim a new narrative method for reestablishing the African American village. His paradigm for African American pastoral theology is inspiring." --Homer U. Ashby Jr., W. Clement and Jessie V. Stone Professor of Pastoral Care, McCormick Theological Seminary, Chicago, Illinois

"Wimberly s revision of his classic work "African American Pastoral Care "invites readers to reconsider narrative theology as a primary framework for pastoral care in the African American community and congregation. He adds perspectives on human sexuality and other current day issues to this new volume. First-time readers will find themselves taken by Wimberly s own use of narrative as his conceptual and practical wisdom emerges throughout the book." --Teresa E. Snorton, Executive Director, Association for Clinical Pastoral Education, Inc., Decatur, Georgia "

This inspiring and practical book has three parts. Part 1 explores how Jesus came to grips with the shame and humiliation he faced in his own life and how we can imitate his manner of handling shame. Part 2 focuses on how Jesus dealt with the shame that others brought to him and the implications this has for how we can overcome shame by internalizing and reenacting Jesus' stories in our lives. Part 3 explores the parables of Jesus and their implications for helping us live lives grounded in nonshame-based values.