ReShonda Tate Billingsley
Let the Church Say Amen (2004)
Author: ReShonda Tate Billingsley
Genre: Literary/Christian
Plot Summary:
Loretta Jackson is a devoted preacher’s wife, ex-school teacher, and mother of three grown children. Simon Jackson is a preacher hopelessly devoted to his congregation at Zion Hill. Let the Church Say Amen is an exploration their family’s struggles: David, their oldest son, is addicted to cocaine and heroin after a torn ACL shatters his dreams of playing in the NFL; Rachel, their nineteen-year-old daughter, already has two children of her own, is embarrassingly obsessed with her first baby’s father, and is constantly partying; Jonathan, the youngest son, is seen as the “good” son, the one who redeems the family, but even he has a secret of his own. Loretta is literally the glue that holds the family together. She is forgiving and accepting of her children even though she is disappointed in their actions. Simon, on the other hand, is worried about his church’s reputation and his standing as a minister, and is less understanding of his children’s shortcomings. There are many references to Simon’s absentee fathering style due to church commitments. SPOILER: Although there is much foreshadowing in the book, Billingsley likes to surprise her readers. Jonathan, the future preacher son, turns out to be gay, but he hides it from his family. Loretta has a heart condition that she is keeping secret from her family. A heart attack lands her in the hospital and allows her family some introspection where they all realize how difficult it would be to live without her. Loretta dies just days after her heart attack, her heart too weak to keep her alive. Jonathan’s gay lover, Tracy, comes to console him over his loss, forcing him to come out to his family. Simon is shocked and disgusted at his son’s behavior and the family seems more distant than ever in Loretta’s absence. All of these events have made it difficult for Simon to focus on his work and he learns that some of the Deacons at his church have been discussing his removal. He refuses to resign quietly and the issue goes to vote at his congregation. Simon summons his children to his side to show the church how his family bonds in the face of adversity, but they see through his game and refuse to be a part of the vote. Even without his children at his side, Simon narrowly retains the right to remain the minister of Zion Hill. After he receives the news, he finds he feels empty and lonely, with no one to share his news with. Tracy, Jonathan’s partner, approaches Simon about coming over for dinner at his and Jonathan’s house. Simon is hesitant, but prays on it, and comes to the realization that he needs to forgive his children in order to have a relationship with them.
Geographical Setting: Houston, Texas
Time Period: Present day (1998)
Appeal Characteristics:
Let the Church Say Amen would be lifeless without its characters. The action is centered around character development and by the end of the novel you feel like you know the whole family. Details are often given through dialogue, making the novel a page-turner. The crux of the novel is bound up with real life struggles and experiences, which might not appeal to all Christian readers. Billingsley does not gloss over her language or situations for her audience, which again might not appeal to all Christian readers, but she does infuse her story with humor and wit, making heavy situations a little bit lighter. The Christian themes that will appeal are those of unconditional love, forgiveness, family bonds, and reconciliation. Another strong appeal characteristic is the novel’s focus on the African American community and church, readers who come from this experience will find a lot to relate to in Billingsley’s narrative. This novel won Library Journal’s award for Best Christian Fiction in 2004.
Read-alikes: Let the Church Say Amen is an African American Christian novel that does not shy away from controversial topics, violence, sexuality, and language. Those who enjoy this variety of Christian fiction may also enjoy Church Folk by Michele Andrea Bowen. Set in the 1960s in rural Mississippi and Memphis, Tennessee, Church Folk follows the lives of Pastor Theophilus Henry Simmons and his wife Essie Lee Lane as they confront major drama (including a call-girl service run out of a funeral home by church leaders) in the Greater Hope Gospel United Church. Those who found Rev. Jackson and his family intriguing will enjoy Bowen's realistically flawed characters as well. Readers who enjoyed Rachel's theatrics may be interested in ReShonda Tate Billingsley's sequel, Everybody Say Amen, in which Rachel follows in her mother's footsteps as first lady of Zion Hill when her husband Lester becomes the new minister. With this book, readers will get another taste of Billingsley's light tone with hints of high drama and characters facing some serious issues of faith. In The Preacher's Son by Carl Weber, Bishop T.K. Wilson, respected head of the largest African American church in Queens, runs for local office as his family secrets begin to surface. Readers who enjoyed the rich characterizations of Rev. Jackson's dysfunctional family might enjoy Weber's descriptions of Bishop Wilson, his wife Charlene, and his nearly-grown children Dante and Donna, all of whom face personal struggles in the public spotlight. Weber, like Billingsley, rotates between narrative perspectives to keep the pace moving and to provide diverse insights and intimate details. For readers interested in books about gay characters' struggles for acceptance within the setting of the African American religious community, Grown Folks Business by Victoria Christopher-Murray might be a good match. Sheridan thought she had an ideal marriage until her husband reveals that he's gay. Like Billingsley, Christopher-Murray features characters dealing with real and often controversial issues within a Christian frame. For those who enjoyed Billingsley's contemporary urban setting within the African American community, her rotating narration, and her fresh writing style, Eric Jerome Dickey's Friends and Lovers may be a good match. Dickey's stories, not as religious as Billingsley's, often focus on hip, upwardly mobile characters. Set in Los Angeles, Friends and Lovers explores the romances and friendships between two African American couples.Fans of Billingsley’s face-paced writing style and humorous tone will enjoy her semi-autobiographical I Know I’ve Been Changed, a novel that explores themes of family and forgiveness as an Arkansas born girl becomes a reporter in Houston and must reconcile her newfound freedom with a deeper commitment to her family. Another humorous novel that focuses on the African American church is Second Sunday by Michele Andrea Brown, a novel that focuses on a Baptist church congregation’s struggle to appoint a new pastor. Readers who enjoyed Loretta’s character and the focus on the pastor’s wife would enjoy What a Sista Should Do by Tiffany L. Warren, another novel that focuses on real life issues through its exploration of promiscuity, drug abuse, and domestic violence. Warren’s novel focuses on the bond between women, rather than family, as they learn the power of forgiveness and faith. Truth Be Told by Victoria Christopher Murray is another novel that focuses on forgiveness and between sisters in the face of one sister’s struggle with adultery and family drama. Readers who enjoyed the setting of the African American church would enjoy Sister Betty! God's Calling You Again! By Pat G’Orge-Walker. Walker’s book is a humorous look inside an African American church and the dysfunctional relationships between the members of its congregation—a self proclaimed “gospel comedy”!
Red Flags: Very strong language, graphic descriptions of drug use and sex, homosexuality, mild violence, tolerance for sin, forgiveness.
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