Wes Crawford

The author, himself a white preacher of the churches of Christ, describes how and why the American churches of Christ are really two distinct religious denominations (a term members of the churches of Christ detest when applied to their faith group) and have always been such. To support his claim, the author provides background by defining race and racism as exemplified in American Christianity throughout its history, and particularly in the churches of Christ, a mainly Southern denomination.

The author then divides the book into five chapters to develop his thesis and draw conclusions:
1. Understanding Churches of Christ (no single ecclesiastical structure, but thought is dominated by journals, schools, and lectureships)
2. Segregation (imposed by whites; accepted by the successful African American minister, Marshall Keeble)
3. Independence (of black churches of Christ - who, how, and why independence came about; the Civil Rights Movement)
4. Closing of the Nashville Christian Institute (the event that dramatically revealed the white-black division)
5. Greater Separation Coming (white and black churches have also developed different hermeneutics)

I believe the author succeeds in making his case that there are two churches of Christ in America, and found the book to be a valuable component in attempting to learn more of my Stone-Campbell religious heritage (although I am not a member of the churches of Christ stream).

The book is well-documented, has a large bibliography, and is indexed. I am glad to have read it. It will be interesting to learn how this book is viewed by members of the churches of Christ, white and black. I agree with the two words the author uses to start each chapter, "Race matters."… (meer)