The Ground Has Shifted - (Religion, Race, and Ethnicity) by Walter Earl Fluker (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Honorable Mention, Theology and Religious Studies PROSE Award

A powerful insight into the historical and cultural roles of the Black church

If we are in a post-racial era, then what is the future of the Black Church? If the US will at some time in the future be free from discrimination and prejudices that are based on race how will that affect the church's very identity?

In The Ground Has Shifted, Walter Earl Fluker passionately and thoroughly discusses the historical and current role of the Black church and argues that the older race-based language and metaphors of religious discourse have outlived their utility. He offers instead a larger, global vision for the Black church that focuses on young Black men and other disenfranchised groups who have been left behind in a world of globalized capital.

Lyrically written with an emphasis on the dynamic and fluid movement of life itself, Fluker argues that the church must find new ways to use race as an emancipatory instrument if it is to remain central in Black life, and he points the way for a new generation of church leaders, scholars and activists to reclaim the Black church's historical identity and to turn to the task of infusing character, civility, and a sense of community among its congregants.

Review Quotes

"[T]imely and fascinating...The Ground Has Shifteddoes a masterful job of blending black religious thought, literature, critical theory, memoir, and personal experience."-- "Religion Dispatches"

"An excellent conversation starter to inspire holistic freedom for all people."--The Journal of African American History

"An exuberant, thought-provoking assessment of the dilemmas facing black churches. [A] passionate analysis and call for change."-- "STARRED Publishers Weekly"

"An important and perceptive contribution to the literature on religion and race."-- "Choice"

"Fluker has a fresh approach to deal with the subject and provides new insights on the subject. It is meticulously researched and well-referenced. Walter Earl Fluker's scholarship is unmatchable."-- "The Washington Book Review"

"Flukers book is thoroughly interesting as he studies the history and present of the black church Fluker brings us a work for todays church and a charge to connect that church to the world house."-- "Journal of the American Academy of Religion"

"Flukers judicious use of personal reflection provides an exciting affirmation that our black lives and our black churches really do matter as important standpoints for engaging spirituality, renewing the national imaginary, and enhancing the human condition."--Cheryl Townsend Gilkes, Colby College

"The Ground Has Shifted addresses questions being posed by a historical Black Church caught between its piety, the politics of respectability, and a cataclysmic shifting of the taken-for-granted realities of a besieged/blessed people. I will buy and teach this book as often as I can. What an amazing contribution to the literature."--Barbara A. Holmes, President Emerita of United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities

"The Ground Has Shifted analyses the ramifications of post-racialism in the black church and emphasizes the various ways that religious leaders and scholars can engage and re-evaluate critical questions; thus, coming up with clear and concise solutions towards historical problems of race, and sexualized and gendered politics of the church ... The author paves a way for a new generation of church leaders, scholars, and activists for them to reclaim the black church's historical identity of being the pivotal force within the community, while also instilling character, civility, and a sense of community among its congregants once again."--Black Theology

"The Ground Has Shifted puts forward a passionate challenge to the Black Church and all those who profess to stand in the prophetic Black Church tradition. It is a powerful and provocative treatment of the role and place of this venerable institution and the Gospel that gives it life. But more than that, the book offers a blueprint for a way forwarda pathway that involves "reclaiming [our] humanity through the integrity of the act"; to find beauty and grace in the dark places of what it means to live in this world without the burdens of ghosts. Beautiful written; passionately argued. A must read!"--Eddie S. Glaude, Jr., author of Democracy in Black: How Race Still Enslaves the American Soul

"This is a very important work that challenges all who read it to continue to search for answers to the growing crisis of faith in the black community, answers that will provide a viable way forward for black Christians and their churches in the challenging years ahead."-- "The Journal of Religion"

"This is the most decisive statement on post-racialism, the American dilemma, and black church positive agency. On each page, Fluker's writing moans and wails us out of southern African American religiosity, up north into the fragmentation of black urban life, and into an ethical world of hope for an America becoming. A defining direction and persuasive proposal on how to get us to healthy community."--Dwight N. Hopkins, author of Being Human: Race, Culture, and Religion

"Walter Fluker is the towering theorist of the Black Church and the unapologetic lover of the black prophetic tradition. This powerful and timely book is sophisticated, subtle, and rich. And it soars with a deep, long memory alive in the present a present that reeks of a 'cultural asylum' that he notes the Black Lives Movement is shattering!"--Dr. Cornel West