Prayer Tradition of Black People -- Harold A. carter

By Harold A. Carter

Prayer as a vital force in the in the life of Black people is affirmed by this book. The author describes how their African heritage and biblical influences have been combined in their life of prayer. But this is not just a history book--on the basis of personal interviews the author demonstrates the contemporary vitality of this strong tradition of prayer.

Not only does the prayer of Black people reflect the various elements of their heritage, but it also brings together their personal religion and vital social reform. The author describes how prayer has undergirded and directed the significant work of Black people in bringing change to social and political patterns in the United States.

-- Gateway Press, publisher

The Prayer Tradition of Black People by Reverend Harold Carter of New Shiloh Baptist Church (Baltimore) is an excellent study, based on Dr. Carter's dissertation. This scholarly book that examines the prayers and prayer life handed down by nineteenth-century enslaved American blacks has gone through at least five printings since its publication in 1976.

Dr. Carter reproduced copiously the prayers that were copied by folklorists or prayers secured from interviews of religionists or recalled by observers of religious services of post-bellum and Southern blacks in the 20th-century. The Rev. Dr. Carter provides an excellent analysis of the form, technique, biblical source, and style of these prayers. Many of which are still in use today because they have been passed down orally in the rural districts of the South from one generation to the next during the annual summer revivals.

This short book, probably about 145 pages, has no rivals. Few if any have performed or continued Dr. Carter's study. This book indeed should be read and that if it is out of print Dr. Carter and the publisher should be encouraged to bring out another edition.

This is an excellent work for seminary or bible students or just regular lay people or for students interested in the linguistic or literary history of African-Americans. Even an old copy is better than none at all. Grab a copy, even one that has been marked up, and check out this wonderful work on black religious life.

--Rudolph Lewis from Baltimore, MD USA

Contents
1. Introduction	19
2. African Heritage in the Black Prayer Tradition	23
3. Theological Influences within the Black Prayer Tradition	35
4. Major Functions of the Black Prayer Tradition	71
5. Other Functions of the Black Prayer Tradition	93
6. The Black Prayer Tradition as a Weapon of Social change	99
7. The Black Prayer Tradition--An Outgoing Model	117
8. Summary and Conclusion	127
Bibliography	133
Index	141

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Harold A. Carter grew up in the 1940s, in Selma, Alabama. He was the third of five children (two boys and three girls) in the home of Reverend Nathan Mitchell Carter, Sr. and Lillie Belle Carter. His father--Nathan Carter--was a Baptist pastor and preacher, and also professor at Selma University, a Baptist School founded in 1878 by Baptists of Alabama. His father taught Bible and theology.

In the late 1950s, Harold Carter first earned a Bachelor of Divinity degree from Crozer Theological Seminary (Chester, PA). At some point between the mid 1950s and 1968, Harold Carter was for a full year a pastoral assistant to Martin Luther King. In 1987 (?), Carter earned a Ph.D. in Theology at St. Mary's Seminary and a Doctor of Ministry in the same month from Colgate Rochester Divinity School. He was (1959-1964) a pastor at Court Street Baptist (Lynchburg, VA) and has been pastor since 1964 of New Shiloh Baptist (Baltimore, MD).

. Dr. Carter led New Shiloh into a church and Family Life Center, Sunday, May 27, 1990. Over the years of his ministry, he has led citywide crusades in evangelistic ministry across America and in many countries abroad. Dr. Carter's first book "The Prayer Tradition of Black People" continues to be a standard work in the Black Spiritual Anthology. A more recent work, "Building Disciples in the Local Church," is being used by churches near and far, to build revival fires in the local church. His Book, "America, Where Are You Going?" has also proven to be a powerful call for America to examine where she is going in light of the Christian faith, so often compromised and even ignored in our present day world.

Harold Carter thinks of himself as a minister, "Determined to Live With Christ." Dr. Carter is married to Dr. Weptanomah W. Carter, noted speaker, author and founder of several ministries in New Shiloh Baptist Church.

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updated 28 July 2008