We suffer a dearth of published scholarship on Black religious leaders who engendered social and religious transformations in the twentieth century. Amanda Brown's The Fellowship Church is a much-needed contribution to correcting this omission. Her focus on Howard Thurman's vision of beloved community, pioneering leadership of Fellowship Church as a multi-racial and multi-cultural church, prophetic speaking and writings that influenced major civil rights leaders and contributions to Christian liberalism present Thurman as a creative force in America's religious history.
The Fellowship Church is the book's title; however, over half the book is devoted to interpreting Thurman's intellectual history as its cofounder and pastor. Cosmopolitan community, the significance of religious experience in spiritual formation, engaging spiritual truth from various religious traditions and the religious commitment to peace and justice are interpreted as hallmarks of Fellowship Church that are indebted to Thurman's embrace of Christian liberalism. Brown's analysis is crucial to understanding the intellectual ground in which Thurman and Fellowship Church are planted.
Brown makes incisive connections between Thurman's mentors (especially Rufus Jones, the Quaker scholar and activist) and their roots in philosophical pragmatism, mysticism and Christian liberalism. William James’ writings are the most cited fertile soil for Thurman's mentors. A strong case is made that the pragmatism of the religious left led to the formation of persons, including Thurman, who transformed society and religion. Moreover, she asserts that Thurman was not only nurtured in Christian liberalism, but also made creative contributions to that tradition – especially his focus on overcoming the separation of races. With Fellowship Church, Thurman established an institutional answer to the racial separation crisis that plagued churches and society.
Brown's scholarship helps readers to understand the intellectual company to which Thurman is indebted. Her in-depth argument is well documented and persuasive. Still, it fails to identify pivotal sources that were foundational to his intellectual convictions – sources from Black mentors whose influence was profound. Brown highlights how Thurman's portrayal of Jesus in his most celebrated publication, Jesus and the Disinherited, reflects tenets of pragmatism, cosmopolitanism and Christian liberalism. Absent is any reference to Thurman's illiterate grandmother, Nancy Ambrose, about whom Thurman says he learned more about ‘the genius of the religion of Jesus’ than from anyone else. He believed she had so deeply identified with Jesus that she saw reality through Jesus’ eyes. He often quoted his grandmother's wisdom when speaking about personal value within oppressive realities, nonviolent behaviour, being practical in resolving church disputes and other themes of his adult life. Omitting Nancy Ambrose's influence is to dismiss a foundational source of Thurman's intellectual history.
Mordecai Johnson, President of Howard University, is another intellectual source who merits attention. At age 19, inspired by a Johnson sermon, Thurman wrote to Johnson and asked Johnson to mentor him. Johnson offered guidance and a close ongoing relationship that years later resulted in his inviting Thurman to join the Howard University faculty. Johnson's commitment to social justice as a Christian conviction, admiration of Gandhi's peace initiatives, administrative approach to achieving progressive outcomes, criticisms of traditional religion and other ideals express tenets of the Christian left.
As a Black man searching for answers to the racial hostility and systemic oppression he faced, Thurman not only pursued meaning in the intellectual soil of scholars whose insights he adapted for his life experiences; he also found meaning in the soil of his and other African Americans’ experiences. Thurman comes to Christian liberalism as someone whose life experiences had already rooted him in its tenets.
Brown does write about W. E. B. Du Bois’ pragmatic approach for dismantling racism – an approach that likely resonated with a young Thurman. Still, naming Thurman's relationships with Ambrose, Johnson and other Black mentors as intellectual sources is needed and consequential. The inclusion of African American mentors, ideas given by persons who are not scholars, and lessons learned from the behaviours of those he admired are crucial to interpreting Thurman's intellectual history. Brown's assertions about American pragmatism and Christian liberalism being Thurman's home are correct. Her rigorous research into direct and plausible influences upon Thurman from scholars is important to understanding Thurman's intellectual growth. Missing, however, is a thorough discussion of persons who reveal the Black community's role in his intellectual formation. Such an analysis would also deepen the understanding of what the Black community contributes to Fellowship Church and Christian liberalism through Howard Thurman.
The Fellowship Church is clearly among the required readings for interpreting Thurman's and Fellowship Church's spirituality. In addition, the book is a gem for classes and research on twentieth-century theology and church history, African American studies and American studies. Brown's research is scrupulous in discussing major organisations that fostered aspects of Christian liberalism. And the national climate in race relations and war mobilisation are ever present for putting the significance of Fellowship Church and Thurman in context. Her thorough scholarship is chronicled in a compelling argument that is accessible and beautifully written.
