Church Folk is the first installment in a two book series, which is centered within African American Baptist churches, and tells the story of an up and coming young male pastor, Theophilus Simmons, and his journey to finding love, as well as a notable place within the arduous members of his denomination. The time period is 1960, and the prologue introduces readers to the main character, the deliciously tall, dark and handsome Theophilus Simmons, as he struggles with his main weakness, women. As an upcoming preacher in theological seminary school, Theophilus is aware of his weakness, and is convicted in his spirit to remove all temptations that could dim his promising career and calling in life as a minister. His main temptation is Glodean Benson, the vivacious and conniving woman, who is known around town as having a bodacious body with intoxicating loving. The kind that could easily make any man forget his status and position in life. When Theophilus breaks things off with Glodean, she plots to take revenge on him when he least expects it. Church Folk opens in 1961, when Theophilus has graduated seminary school and is the head pastor of a church in Memphis, Tennessee. It is during his visit as a guest preacher in a revival in Mississippi, that he meets a radiantly beautiful woman. Essie Lee Lane encompasses not only a pretty face, but has an alluringly well-figured body to match. Essie had brains and beauty, and is not on the prowl to scoop up a preacher man, like the numerous women plotting to entice the attention of a preacher during the week of revivals. Essie’s level of grace and moral effortlessly grabs the attention of Theophilus, which begins the blossoming of a love that will be tested through the thread of lies and schemes of several churchwomen.Author Michele Andrea Bowen does a fair job of depicting a lighthearted comical satire that addresses rather controversial aspects of the black church, which includes premarital sex, hypocritical ministers, and financial laundering. Although Bowen seems to address different issues within the church, she did not depicting the societal implications during the period of time that the book was written. Church Folk is written in the time period of 1961 and 1962, a time when African Americans, especially within the black church, where greatly involved in the Movement. Bowen focused a great deal of the book on portraying petty dramatic occurrences within the church, but did not reference any participation of the black church during the Civil Rights Movement. Although Bowen mentioned numerously to the Civil Rights Movement taking place, not once did she involve any of the characters in the activities of the Movement. This is a huge over look, being that the novel takes place in the heart of the movement, the South. Church Folk had several instances of an amusing tone, with several serious moments included to highlight the controversial subjects being addressed. I believe that Bowen had numerous opportunities to include some characters in the Movement, and failed to do so. The construction of an entire chapter on the participation of the members in the Movement may not have been needed, however a mere mention would have been appropriate. Furthermore, Church Folk is a rather fair quick read that does not fall short of entertaining the reader. One will readily find certain events humorous and even relatable to the actual events within the church. Aside from a few imperfections, this book is a pretty delightful read.
This novel is about a preacher, a young, handsome African Amercan Preacher in the south who is just starting out. He meets a young woman who is a cook in a "jook joint", a place where they serve wonderful spicy food and feature spicy entertainment such as blues singing. Church Folk spans a few years beginning in 1960 (that's the year I was born), Theophilus (handsome young preacher) and Essie (down to earth, fiery-tempered woman) are the two main characters. One of the strongest secondary characters is the church itself. Not just the building, but everything there is about church-going: the congregation, the singing, the music, the church politics, the sermons, the "amens" etc. Sprinkled throughout the book, are mentions and references to the Civil Rights Movement, which was going on during the time period this book is set in, although the main focus in the story is the love story and the machinations of some of the greedy preachers and the workings of the more upstanding "church folk".One of the subplots is the ill-use of funds and the way that some deacons, preachers and bishops seemed to use the church as a way to enrich themselves materialistically rather than enriching their souls and parishioners souls. Church Folk is also a love story and one of the other subplots was the testing of Essie and Theophilis' marriage and love for each other, as well as the growth of their marriage.While there certainly were no graphic sex scenes, it did feel as if most of the passages involving Theo and Essie were one long session of foreplay. Boy, were those two hot for each other. Another thing that really struck me, was the way that almost all the descriptions of skin color were food related. "Caramel colored", "Dark Chocolate", "light Chocolate", even "Dark Coffee without Cream". Kind of a nice way to compare skin colors. (I would probably be Dulce de Leche, or milky caramel. Yum, Yum. What I enjoyed about this, was the sense of happiness, the non-shame of loving and appreciating their bodies while loving and appreciating the bible and bible teachings.All in all, I enjoyed this book. I loved the narration style. I loved the dialogue between all the characters, both mean and sweet. I loved reading about the singing and music and dancing in the aisles. If I were brought up with a church like that, I might still be going! Ms Bowen tells a great story here of the triumph of a preacher and his young wife, their flaws and good points and the persevere against the "devils work" in the church. This is one impulse buy that I'm glad I bought. I would definitely recommend this book, especially if you want a good book with a little bit of history for the POC Reading Challenge. Even though most of the events in this novel took place when I was around two or three years old, I still felt a sense of nostalgia when reading about the environment, the music, the cars and clothes. Those early 60's are a very dim memory in my mind. The late 60's and early 70's kind of exploded in my memories, that was a time of extreme change for a lot of people - I'm talking about changes in general - clothes, music, tv shows, etc.
What do You think about Church Folk (2005)?
Someone recommended this read; so far, it is just an okay read. I am not sure why I am not as engaged as others. I read nearly halfway and had to move onto another book. Essie was taking a bit too long and stubborn to give Pastor Simmons a chance, which became rather annoying. A good woman sometimes doesn't know when a decent man with some flirtation is in front of them! Some of the church scenes were a bit too much for me...reminds me of another author's writing...but I finished that one. *I may let this be after 130 pages and if it doesn't change halfway...will move to her other book recommended as well to read.
—Adrienna
Churh Folk was Great. It helped me see the twists and turns of the church from the outside looking in. I identified with the book well because I am a church girl.For every characer there was in the book Glodean, Essie, Theophilus, Essies Aunt, and The clergy members I knew someone of the like. It was important for Andrea Bowen to keep the goodness of the church as a main theme of the story line. She showed that as with every other organizations there are flaws that can be fixed with the help of
—Jasmine Walker
Very slow starter but demanded more of my attention as it progressed. I'm on to the next one.......Second Sunday. Yes, Michele Andrea Bowen has captivated me with this "chutch" thing. She does an amazing job portraying the southern African American church culture. No, not every African American church has this culture but as Essie would say, "Lawd but a good many of 'em do!" It was comforting to read a review by an older Caucasian woman that said, ".............it's not just the "black" church that acts this way!"
—Sophia
