The Challenge of Joseph H. Jackson

Jared E. Alcántara is Professor of Preaching and holds the Paul W. Powell Endowed Chair in Preaching at Baylor University's Truett Theological Seminary in Waco, Texas. His recent publications include How to Preach Proverbs, Let the Legends Preach, and The Practices of Christian Preaching. Alcántara is a member of the Academy of Homiletics, the Evangelical Homiletics Society, and the Hispanic Theological Initiative. An ordained Baptist minister, he has also served as a youth pastor, associate pastor, and teaching pastor in Illinois, Massachusetts, Oregon, and New Jersey.

• AcknowledgmentsPreface Chapter 1 Child of the Delta Chapter 2 Black Church in the Black Metropolis Chapter 3 Ascending the Ranks: Jackson's Rise to Power Chapter 4 "His Mantle Will Fall on You" Chapter 5 "The Greatest Young Preacher Ever Lived" Chapter 6 "The Man who Would Be President" Chapter 7 Cracks in the Foundations Chapter 8 Schism in the Air Chapter 9 "Don't Be Angry, Let Me Stay" Chapter 10 As I Come to a Close: Three Cities that Shaped the Last Three Decades of Jackson's Life Conclusion BibliographyIndex

This work succeeds brilliantly at humanizing a person usually demonized in African American history. Drawing from records no one else has used so extensively, Jared E. Alcántara recreates the world of an African American pastor at the center of the saga of the mid-century migration to the North, the building of one of the most important and influential congregations in the United States, and power struggles in the black Baptist convention. There is no other full-length work remotely like this covering this important but largely forgotten figure.