Mission, Anguish, and Defiance
A Personal Experience of Black Clergy Deployment in the Church of England
- Church Leadership & Ministry
- Ethics, Culture & Social Issues
- Publisher: Wipf and Stock
- Published: 2019
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Publisher's Description
Mission, Anguish, and Defiance documents how David Isiorho has explored his ministry as a black priest in the Church of England using his formidable intellect, which reveals the ingrained prejudices and lack of genuine love from the structures of that august institution. He draws on his PhD as a platform to conduct this examination, not seeking pity but writing prophetically from a deep loyalty to the Church. He has meticulously interviewed a wide range of research participants, giving them a voice to join with his own. He uncovers evidence of vast, painful, and redundant suffering in this group of black colleagues. This book is about hurt and it may be perceived as hurtful, certainly by those who are called to account. Isiorho's bravery comes through clearly, as does his hopeful fidelity to the God and the Church that he loves. Throughout he does not seek to be vindictive; rather, he searches to show the salvific and redeeming love of Christ which, together with the energizing Holy Spirit, can see real reform and profound healing. That is his prayer in this moving and challenging piece.
Endorsements (4)
“In a powerful description of the way racism can work in the ordained ministry of the Church of England, David Isiorho uses personal narrative and theological skills to analyze causes and consequences.”
“David Isiorho brings a personal dimension to a political dilemma. Examining how ‘structural inequalities’ and ‘White prejudice’ in the Anglican Church underlines racism and undermines attempts to tackle it, his book portrays racism as a moral and spiritual problem and shows how assumptions of cultural superiority within structures of Church governance subvert the promise of Christ in John 10:10, ‘I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.’”
“With heartfelt personal narrative and scholarly citation of sources, David Isiorho’s book provides a devastating exposition of institutional bullying and racism in a Church of England, wherein the blood of Christ flows consubstantial and coeternal with that of the victims of the Church’s history of Empire. This is a prophetic voice challenging the idolatry of Anglican clericalism and unmasking the colonialist control of discourse, and represents a vital document for interfaith as well as ecumenical relations.”
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