Costen Review African-American Christian Worship: Research Paper

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" (13) It is thus that Costen poetically paints a picture of an inherently spiritual and devout people channeling their faith in the diaspora. Costen more than adequately achieves the goal of defining a unique, beautiful and empowering culture encapsulated in the intercession of Christianity and African-American heritage.

One of the reasons that the text seemed to be so effective in achieving its aims was in its close emotional connection to the source material. The author writes both with a scholarship and a passion that denote a very clear sense of faith and racial identity, with pride and understanding permeating both. The appeal to biblical scripture for instance is uniquely interwoven with a lucid discussion on the history of the African-American people, from slavery through to the post-Civil Rights Era.

It is in this approach, in fact, that Costen offers the greatest comfort to the devout among this text's readers, endorsing the centricity of community and asserting that "our presence in God's space frees us to be hospitable and open to welcome others. After all, the kindred of Jesus transcends natural (blood) ties of any human family, or those relationships that are already familiar (see mat. 12:46-50; Mark 3:31-35; Luke 8:19-21)." (92) The employ here of scriptural terminology is indicative of a true appeal to the word of Christ in attempting to define the ethos of the uniquely African-American branch of worship.

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Another unique quality in the text is its appeal to the idea of describing African-American worship not just with respect to the musical praise traditions, the adoption of Pentecostal revivalism, the employ of lyrically masterful biblical oration or even racial isolation in places of worship but more than that, with respect to the way that Christian African-American live in their communities, within their families, within their neighborly and friendly relationships and with themselves.

To an extent, it could be said that this reveals a bias in the text toward an internal view on the practices and ideals of the African-American Christian community. One is left to wonder what an external perspective might offer in the way of cultural examination. This, however, is more a characteristic of the text and the author's voice, not of a weakness in the text.

Indeed, the text is more than suitable for all audiences. Those from within the African-American culture, the Christian culture or the intercession between the two can take pride in the attributes which are glowingly delineated by Costen. And for those outside of these cultures, the text can serve to teach a great deal about the way that cultural experiences and spiritual practices can coincide in response to real collective experiences.

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