Plenty Good Room

""I offer this book as an outgrowth of my faith journey in the African American Church and as an ethicist who is deeply concerned about the distorted relationship between the professed theological and ethical beliefs and moral practices with respect to gender in that church. I am concerned with the way that we interpret our beliefs about justice in particular in order to match our sexual gender oppressive practices while maintaining that we ""received"" such interpretation by way of the Bible and/or church tradition.""
- Marcia Y. Riggs

In Plenty Good Room: Women Versus Male Power in the Black Church, Riggs discusses African American church life as a case study for ethical reflection about sexual ethics and clergy ethics - the prevailing silence about sexuality in the black church as well as the fact that sexuality is generally a taboo in the Christian tradition. The author feels that sexism has been perpetrated by misuse of the Scriptures and by circumscribing the role of women, and seeks to transform current discourse about sexual behavior and clergy misconduct from a concentration on formulating policy to re-train.

Riggs offers both descriptive analysis and normative proposals for transforming the moral life of the African American church - the way of ""being"" and ""doing"" characteristic of the African American church - in the areas of:
Sexual-gender relations
Clergy ethics
Ministerial ethics
Ecclesial practices

Riggs begins each chapter with a scenario and ends each chapter with dialogue questions for further group reflection.


Marcia Y. Riggs is Associate Professor of Christian Ethics at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia.