Meet Me At The Palaver

Meet me at the Palaver shows the damaging impact of colonial Christianity on indigenous African communities. The book opens with stories of destructive change brought to indigenous contexts, where in the culture, values, religion, and humanity of African peoples were often marginalized. Mucherera argues for a holistic narrative pastoral counseling approach to assess and service the three basic areas of human needs in indigenous African communities: body, mind, and spirit. The book presents a hopeful strategy of recovering stories, cultural traditions, and values that have been subjugated in the past as effective means for dealing with contemporary life in indigenous contexts such as Zimbabwe.

How can we work toward mutual understanding in our increasingly diverse and interconnected world? Pastoral theologian Melinda McGarrah Sharp approaches this multifaceted, interdisciplinary question by beginning with moments of intercultural misunderstanding. Using misunderstanding stories from her experience working with the Peace Corps in Suriname, Dr. McGarrah Sharp argues that we must recognize the limits of our own cultural perspectives in order to have meaningful intercultural encounters that are more mutually empowering and hopeful. Bringing together resources from pastoral theology, ethnography, and postcolonial studies, she provides a valuable resource for investigating the complexity of providing care and fostering communities of belonging across cultural differences. McGarrah Sharp illustrates a process of moving from disconnection to regard for diverse others as neighbors who share a common yearning for hopeful and meaningful connection. Leaders in faith communities, practitioners of care, and scholars will all be able to use this resource to better understand the conflicts, tensions, and uncertainties of our postcolonial twenty-first-century world. An included discussion guide facilitates classroom study, small group discussion, and personal reflection.

In Obeah, Christ and Rastaman, Ivor Morrish sets out to chronicle the religious history of the Jamaican people. Drawing from a rich, complicated history, Morrish lays out the religious tapestry of Jamaica from its native origins, up through the slave trade and the introduction of Christianity, ending in the nineteenth century with the emergence of traditions that would later become associated with Rastafarianism. Morrish discusses Jamaica’s colonial past and culture post-slavery, dispelling myths around African savagery and barbarism that were still persistent around the time of the book’s original publication. He also explores the socio-political roots of Rastafarianism and its rise amongst the disenfranchised. Also included is a brief discussion of the immigrant experience of Jamaicans in England, showing how a deeply spiritual people deal with the secular materialism of their former imperial capital. Obeah, Christ and Rastaman is an intriguing artefact of early Afro-Caribbean Studies from a religious perspective. Morrish treats his subject matter with respect and dignity, facing the subjugation of the Jamaican people head on and considering their possible paths to salvation.

This practical theology model provides seven theme sermons on the attributes of God and his family to provide a spiritual foundation for church youth, to facilitate the healing, sustaining, guiding, and reconciling with Jesus the Christ. This was needed to counteract some of the effects of poverty, racism, and nihilism that is prevalent in the community. The implementation of this holistic model resulted in enhanced confidence, spiritual growth, and maturity among the youth and increased growth in the church family.

The coming of Colonization and Christianity to Africa and other indigenous cross-cultural contexts was a "mixed bag" of pros and cons. The impact of the advent of the two has had a lasting effect being felt even today. It created issues of bi-culturalism and bi-religiousness in personal and religious identities that counselors and the church need to address when working with people from these contexts. There is the existence of deep cultural trauma (including psychological and spiritual scars) needing healing for those living in most of these post-colonial contexts. The Western counseling approaches and Christian rituals need contextualization. A counselor or pastoral caregiver with an integrative consciousness is required to address the psychological and religious identity conflicts existing in African and other indigenous cross-cultural contexts.

This text captures the profound unacknowledged crisis that is unique to children of first-generation immigrants, by virtue of their being caught in a world of their parents’ culture of origin and their social experience in the United States. The book makes the case for three levels of adolescent crisis unique to this population, namely, the general developmental crisis experienced by all adolescents as articulated by developmental theories; the cultural identity crises experienced by ethnic minority persons as they encounter the layered racialization of American history; and, finally, the unique crisis that arises from conflicting cultural values and morals when first-generation immigrant parents, wanting to preserve native values, clash with their children, who seek belonging in the Western context in which they currently reside. The book traces the psychological, emotional, and social roots of the crisis. The authors, representing immigrants from different continents, portray the unique, ethnic minority challenges they encounter in coming to the US, exemplifying further the tri-level crisis. Finally, the book offers ways that parents can be proactive in helping their children navigate the potential tri-level crisis through ITAV (It Takes a Village) camps and family palavers.

Pastoral theologians from Congo, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, and Zimbabwe address, in this book, the issues of leadership, Ubuntu (community), gender-based violence, political violence, healing, and deliverance faced by pastors and ministers in African contexts today. Drawing on biblical, theological, social scientific, and cultural contextual perspectives, these African Christians offer much needed insights to assist in the care and counseling of persons towards healing, health, and well-being.