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In this book Wynnetta Wimberley addresses the often overlooked crisis of depression in African American clergy, investigating the causes underlying this phenomenon while discussing possible productive paths forward. Historically, many African American pastors have had to assume multiple roles in order to meet the needs of congregants impacted by societal oppression. Due to the monumental significance of the preacher in the African American religious tradition, there exists a type of ´cultural sacramentalization´ of the Black preacher, which sets clergy up for failure by fostering isolation, highly internalized and external expectations, and a loss of self-awareness. Utilizing Donald Winnicott´s theory of the ´true´ and ´false´ self, Wimberley examines how depression can emerge from this psycho-socio-theological conflict. When pastors are depressed, they are more prone to encounter difficulties in their personal and professional relationships. Drawing from a communal-contextual model of pastoral theology, this text offers a therapeutically sensitive response to African American clergy suffering with depression.

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Foreword; Emmanuel Y. Lartey
Part I:

1. Depression in the Pulpit 2. Depression in the Data


Part II:
3. Depression in the Slavocracy 4. Depression as Cultural Stigma


Part III:
5. A Setup for Depression 6. A Pastoral Theological Response

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Wynnetta Wimberley is Adjunct Professor of Pastoral Theology, Care, and Counseling at Emory University, USA, and is on staff at the Emory University School of Medicine. She is clinically trained in psychodynamic psychotherapy, having earned her ThD in Pastoral Counseling from Emory University, and MDiv and ThM degrees, respectively, from Princeton Theological Seminary, USA. An ordained pastor in the American Baptist Churches, USA, with over twenty years of ministry with marginalized communities, she consults with pastors in crisis.

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