Fortress Press

A Rumor of Black Lutherans finally allows Black Lutheran scholars to tell the story of our ancestors, innovators, and powerful elders who came before us. It outlines struggles any Black Lutheran clergy person or congregation would instantly recognize, resistance to white supremacy through the means of grace provided by the church, and hope in the stories laid out before us by Dr. Thomas's loving and careful scholarship. Whole stories for whole people--that's what's offered in this volume.

Beyond the very rumor of biblical angels themselves, could there possibly be any rumor more timely or more fitting for North American Lutherans to hear, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest than A Rumor of Black Lutherans! Years into the future, many will remain indebted, myself first of all, to Professor James Thomas for rendering public these ten profiles in courage at a time when such a dearth of leadership seems evident at nearly every turn.

James Thomas's book provides a welcome contribution to a long-overlooked subject, the history of African American leaders within the larger story of Lutherans in America. Through ten brief biographies of individuals who lived between the eighteenth and twenty-first centuries, he illuminates this often-invisible history, emphasizing the ministry and witness of these pioneers in a church that often barely acknowledged their presence. This work is a thoughtful contribution that both broadens our understanding of what constitutes Lutheran history and contributes to contemporary discussions about Lutheran identity, culture, and context.

As provocative as it is informative, James Thomas's A Rumor of Black Lutherans serves as a painful reminder of the role white mainline denominationalism has played in giving divine sanction to Black subordination. In paying homage to the ten profiles in courage selected for the work, Thomas reminds us of the continual tragedy/triumph nature of the African American journey. It has been tragic in the sense that even our most cherished religious symbols have made their way into the legitimation of white privilege. The triumph lies in the protracted yet redemptive struggle of these stalwart figures to overcome that legitimation by choosing human dignity over staid genuflecting, and in so doing, choosing freedom over bondage. Those with a deep concern for the current pretensions to post-racialism and how Christian faith can rediscover its liberating conscience will find this work a remarkable treasure.

A Rumor of Black Lutherans is a silver tapestry on the stuff of leadership, or what notable author Dr. James Thomas recalls of Willie Lawrence Herzfeld: "artful, sometimes angry, resourceful." It is real. These chapters beautifully articulate lives of courage, resilience, faithfulness, tenacity, and innovation. Individual narratives are blended in a way that reveals a disposition to community that Daniel Payne, the first African American Lutheran president, yearned for in his early experience at Gettysburg Seminary: "More than 600 miles from the place of my nativity. Among strangers, among benefactors, but not among friends in the strict sense of that word." This work is part history; it is also incarnational theology.

There are lessons to take from the volume, and Thomas allows the reader to see them in stark relief. One of these is how our readiness to receive leadership is otherwise than leaders who will find a way anyhow. Multitudes of decades stepping into conflict, breakthroughs and saved lives in Alabama through the triumphs of Rosa Young, Nelson Trout's early work with the LGBTQIA+ community. There is something here for all of us. A Rumor of Black Lutherans is an opening to a discovery. Thomas invites the reader to walk through these pages and assess the rumor yourself.