21,000+ Reviews
Bookshop.org has the highest-rated customer service of any bookstore in the world
Description
In The Labor of Faith Judith Casselberry examines the material and spiritual labor of the women of the Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic Faith, Inc., which is based in Harlem and one of the oldest and largest historically Black Pentecostal denominations in the United States. This male-headed church only functions through the work of the church's women, who, despite making up three-quarters of its adult membership, hold no formal positions of power. Casselberry shows how the women negotiate this contradiction by using their work to produce and claim a spiritual authority that provides them with a particular form of power. She also emphasizes how their work in the church is as significant, labor intensive, and critical to their personhood, family, and community as their careers, home and family work, and community service are. Focusing on the circumstances of producing a holy black female personhood, Casselberry reveals the ways twenty-first-century women's spiritual power operates and resonates with meaning in Pentecostal, female-majority, male-led churches.
Product Details
| Publisher | Duke University Press |
| Publish Date | May 05, 2017 |
| Pages | 240 |
| Language | English |
| Type |  Paperback / softback |
| EAN/UPC | 9780822369035 |
| Dimensions | 9.0 X 6.0 X 0.6 inches | 0.7 pounds |
About the Author
Judith Casselberry is Associate Professor of Africana Studies at Bowdoin College. A vocalist and guitarist, Casselberry was a member of the award-winning reggae duo Casselberry-DuPreé and currently performs internationally with Toshi Reagon and BIGLovely.
Reviews
"Judith Casselberry's The Labor of Faith made me think deeply.... Everyone should read this text, one that takes seriously my heart and my joy, the practices of Blackpentecostal women, their making worlds otherwise than the normative."--Ashon Crawley "Hypatia" (8/1/2020 12:00:00 AM)
"An excellent source for educators and students looking to deepen their understanding of black women's religious power and expression."-- "WATER" (9/1/2017 12:00:00 AM)
"The Labor of Faith is a beautiful ethnography of women's religious labor in the Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic Faith, Inc. . . . Through luminously evocative and accessible prose, Casselberry conveys the deeply felt significance that women in COOLJC attach to their work in its manifold forms and contexts. In so doing, she makes a key contribution to the literature on Pentecostalism that sheds new light on aspects of US labor history as well."--Frederick Klaits "Anthropological Quarterly" (7/1/2018 12:00:00 AM)
"The Labor of Faith joins a vivid ethnography to an intriguing provocation around the relationship between labor, religiosity, and gender."--Josh Brahinsky "Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute" (9/1/2019 12:00:00 AM)
"The Labor of Faith sheds light on the paradoxical construction of gender that is characteristic for the broader Pentecostal movement. . . . I am confident that reading Judith Casselberry's book will inspire researchers engaged in empirical research on gender across religious and secular contexts, in particular those researchers that wish to move beyond the religious secular binary will find inspiration in her conceptualization of women's labor."--Brenda Bartelink "Religion and Gender" (11/1/2018 12:00:00 AM)
"[Casselberry] points the way forward with a compelling argument that by centering on these women in a small, urban parish in a less well-known segment of Pentecostalism--Apostolic Pentecostalism, she is able to offer an innovative interpretation of these women's lives. Her labor has produced an important intervention in a neglected area of scholarship for women's studies, black and diaspora studies, religious studies, and anthropology."--Marlon Millner "Pneuma" (9/1/2017 12:00:00 AM)
"Casselberry has written an excellent study of the work of African American women in the Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic Faith, Inc. in Harlem. . . . By focusing on developing a holy, black, female personhood, the author shows how 21st-century women's spiritual power operates in Pentecostal churches that are male led but female dominated. Recommended."--L. H. Mamiya "Choice" (11/1/2017 12:00:00 AM)
"Casselberry's work is sure to shift the field of Black Pentecostalism studies, as she encourages the field to take seriously the spiritual labor of 20th and 21st century holiness women."--Ahmad Greene-Hayes "Reading Religion" (6/1/2018 12:00:00 AM)
"This sympathetic and insightful ethnography is a tribute to her empathic and careful observation of a Black Church from a very different tradition. . . . The Labor of Faith is an important addition to the growing literature that corrects easy condemnation of Pentecostal 'patriarchy.'"--Bernice Martin "Journal of Contemporary Religion" (4/23/2019 12:00:00 AM)
"An excellent source for educators and students looking to deepen their understanding of black women's religious power and expression."-- "WATER" (9/1/2017 12:00:00 AM)
"The Labor of Faith is a beautiful ethnography of women's religious labor in the Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic Faith, Inc. . . . Through luminously evocative and accessible prose, Casselberry conveys the deeply felt significance that women in COOLJC attach to their work in its manifold forms and contexts. In so doing, she makes a key contribution to the literature on Pentecostalism that sheds new light on aspects of US labor history as well."--Frederick Klaits "Anthropological Quarterly" (7/1/2018 12:00:00 AM)
"The Labor of Faith joins a vivid ethnography to an intriguing provocation around the relationship between labor, religiosity, and gender."--Josh Brahinsky "Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute" (9/1/2019 12:00:00 AM)
"The Labor of Faith sheds light on the paradoxical construction of gender that is characteristic for the broader Pentecostal movement. . . . I am confident that reading Judith Casselberry's book will inspire researchers engaged in empirical research on gender across religious and secular contexts, in particular those researchers that wish to move beyond the religious secular binary will find inspiration in her conceptualization of women's labor."--Brenda Bartelink "Religion and Gender" (11/1/2018 12:00:00 AM)
"[Casselberry] points the way forward with a compelling argument that by centering on these women in a small, urban parish in a less well-known segment of Pentecostalism--Apostolic Pentecostalism, she is able to offer an innovative interpretation of these women's lives. Her labor has produced an important intervention in a neglected area of scholarship for women's studies, black and diaspora studies, religious studies, and anthropology."--Marlon Millner "Pneuma" (9/1/2017 12:00:00 AM)
"Casselberry has written an excellent study of the work of African American women in the Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic Faith, Inc. in Harlem. . . . By focusing on developing a holy, black, female personhood, the author shows how 21st-century women's spiritual power operates in Pentecostal churches that are male led but female dominated. Recommended."--L. H. Mamiya "Choice" (11/1/2017 12:00:00 AM)
"Casselberry's work is sure to shift the field of Black Pentecostalism studies, as she encourages the field to take seriously the spiritual labor of 20th and 21st century holiness women."--Ahmad Greene-Hayes "Reading Religion" (6/1/2018 12:00:00 AM)
"This sympathetic and insightful ethnography is a tribute to her empathic and careful observation of a Black Church from a very different tradition. . . . The Labor of Faith is an important addition to the growing literature that corrects easy condemnation of Pentecostal 'patriarchy.'"--Bernice Martin "Journal of Contemporary Religion" (4/23/2019 12:00:00 AM)
Earn by promoting books
Earn money by sharing your favorite books through our Affiliate program.
Become an affiliate
