This book focuses on pastoral and lay leadership in the African American church. It deals with the internal and external issues such as the tendency toward a bifurcated mentality and practice such as the 'this is business' syndrome as well as the social issue of race and affirmative action. Ministers and laity in the black church must actively engage themselves in overcoming the inequities that are still endemic to life in urban America. Harris affirms that affirmative action policies are more important than ever in obtaining a degree of social justice.

Description: No Longer Bound is about the intersection of reading comprehension and interpretation that leads to the development of a powerful and transformative sermon. Reading facilitates the interpretive process, which is the essence of any sermon. The sermon is an interpretation of an interpretation and as such presents itself as a new gospel message. The ability to write and preach a sermon is an exercise in freedom. The book is grounded in a narrative theological form that begins with the author's experience and filters that experience through the lens of hermeneutic philosophy and theology. Reading and preaching constitute the thread that runs throughout the book. The book suggests that the sermon is the philosophic theology of Black practical religion inasmuch as the Black church is central to religion and culture. This is a fresh and new understanding of homiletics, philosophical theology, and interpretation theory that is intended to produce better preachers and more powerful and life-changing sermons by all who endeavor to preach. Endorsements: "James Henry Harris is the only preacher and professor I know who can so easily blend together in one book the plaintive messages of American slave songs of the nineteenth century, the rigorous inquiry of European philosophy of the twentieth century, and the challenges confronting black preachers in the twenty-first century. . . . All preachers would do well to read this challenging and insightful book and apply its lessons to their pulpit ministry " --Marvin A. McMickle, President and Professor of Church Leadership, Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School "So much more than a great book on the art of the sermon--and it is that --James Henry Harris has given us a fully realized theology of dialogue and liberation. In astonishingly deft and astute ways, he juxtaposes his own autobiography with commentaries on philosophical theology, literature, postmodern society, and life in diverse African American communities. A fine, critical work of narrative art in its own right, No Longer Bound guides us--issue by issue, question by question--into the passion of 'preaching as an act of love.'" --Larry D. Bouchard, Professor of Religious Studies, University of Virginia "Here is a compelling, multi-leveled account of preaching in the Black church, integrating biography, Scripture study, homiletics, philosophy, and theology. Harris tells the story of his dual African American legacies: of slavery and racism on one side, and redemptive preaching on the other. He gleans a theology of preaching from his years as a professor of homiletics, as a pulpit preacher, and as an activist for civil rights and religious freedom. . . . It is an intellectually spicy and soulful account of how preaching the word can liberate the spirit." --Peter W. Ochs, Professor of Modern Judaic Studies, University of Virginia "This is a deeply personal book. James Henry Harris weaves threads from his rich life of ministry and learning, all lived out against the backdrop of a racially charged land, into a beautiful tapestry of faithful and courageous preaching. Harris manages to bring a host of strong thinkers helpfully into the conversation--Cone and Ricoeur, Derrida and Dubois, and many others--without ever losing the clear and confident sound of his own voice." --Thomas G. Long, Professor of Preaching, Candler School of Theology, Emory University About the Contributor(s): James Henry Harris is Professor and Chair of Preaching and Pastoral Theology at Virginia Union University and Senior Minister at the Second Baptist Church, both in Richmond, Virginia. He is the author of The Word Made Plain (2004) and Preaching Liberation (1996). He is a recipient of the Henry Luce III Fellowship in Theology and a past president of the Academy of Homiletics.

Preaching mediates the word of God into a cultural matrix. And no American preaching has done so more effectively and powerfully than African American preaching, claims noted homiletician James Harris. Known for its rhetorical strength, social-justice orientation, and dead-on connection to the community's lived experience, black preaching is here analyzed and proposed as a model for all preaching. Harris here grounds black preaching in the self-understanding of the historic black church and its most prominent preachers, from Martin Luther King Jr. to Samuel Proctor. Harris also explores the hermeneutical and aesthetic dimensions of preaching, especially at the intersection of the sacred text and the broader culture. He then lays out the specific distinguishing characteristics of black preaching, including verbal cadence and rhythm, use of gestures, and, most thoroughly, the narrative model of sermon. His last chapter, "Preaching Plainly," provides specific instructions on how to put the sermon together employing this model.

For all preachers who take seriously the church's role as a catalyst of social and spiritual transformation, James Harris advocates the salient features of liberation preaching, especially as exemplified in black-church settings.

A taut analysis of black liberation theology, connecting scholarship to practical congregational ministry. The chapters of this book focus on liberation and evangelism, the urban community, and black theology as well as church administration, worship, education, and self-esteem.