Description
Originally published in Born to Preach: Essays in Honor of the Ministry of Henry & Ella Mitchell, Samuel K. Roberts, ed. (Judson Press, 2000), 8299.
Rev. Victoria L. Pratt recognizes that the African American church and community are in crisis. Her solution is to reclaim the African beliefs of her ancestors. She calls for those in the church to realize their cultural heritage instead of the system instilled in them through oppression. By recognizing the power of nommo to heal and transform people through worship and returning to the belief and practice of the sanctity of life, both human and natural, the African American church can use the wisdom of the ancients to restore the hearts of believers.
VICTORIA L. PRATT, MDiv, is instructor of practical theology at the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union University. Her interests lie in spirituality and the interplay between religion and wholeness.