Church Folk

Rating:
Summary: uplifting.
Review: i think the story is funny. i have not even finished the book yet and i am already recommending it. the characters are so real that im sure everyone has sat behind, overheard, or even know someone just like them from thier own church. its nice to be reminded that even the godly have lives and sometimes get caught up in situations we ought not but still god is faithfull to us, even when we are not to him.

Rating:
Summary: Couldn't Put It Down!!!!!
Review: This was a great book! I read it in a day and a half. The characters were wonderful and I enjoyed watching each develop through out the book. It was really nice to take a behind the scenes look at what being the "Pastor and First Lady" really involve. It made me laugh out loud! This was an outstanding book and I eagerly await the next from Ms. Bowen. Many blessings to you!!!!!

Rating:
Summary: Sub-par
Review: Let me first say that I did read the book rather quickly. I did want to see what happened to the characters. The story did pull me in. However I would not recommend the book for about 5 reasons:

1. The church services did not seem authentic to me. The Black church is very interactive, but the people in this book would speak complete sentences to the Pastor while he is preaching. It is very common in a real Black church to hear someone in the congregation saying, "Yes Sir," "Amen," "That's all right," and "Yeah!" All of these are short statemetns of affirmation...

However in this book people would say complete sentences. So one time a preacher was preaching saying that he was careful in what he was saying so that the church would not talk about him when he was done. One person in the congregation then said something like, "No need to worry Pastor. People at this church are good folk. Go ahead and say what you gotta say." Much too long.

But less you think I am nitpicking, it seems as though every interaction between the people and the preacher was like this. Further in the same sermon someone jumped up and intereupted the preacher by saying something like, "That's right Pastor, I have had many children who are soldiers in the Civil rights movement. And I have raised a lot of them in this church."

It really seemed like the author did not have any first hand experience in the Black Church but heard that there was a lot of intereaction. Of course the author does have a lot of experience in the black church so I really cannot understand the unrealistic church service.

2. The overly detailed description of skin tone and clothing also was distracting. AS someone else said, this book spent a good amount of time describing the dress and skin tone of people down to small details that were just unnecessary.

Also there is a interesting anti "light-skinned" bias that shows itself by looking at the behavior of the light-skinned people versus the dark-skinned.

3. While preachers are capable of many things and have done many wicked things, this whole scheme at a General Conference just seemed to be unbelievable. Especially since it was politically damaging to the participants.

4. The close was very anti-clymatic. Instead of taking us to the action of what happened at the pivital election we are told what happened when Pastor Theo thinks back.

5. Conflict seemed slapstick. There was a lot of hitting of people and a lot of people falling down while trying to hit people and diving, etc... Some of the conflict I could not even visualize. I had to try to think three stooges to visualize some of the physical conflict.

Rating:
Summary: pure enjoyable
Review: This book was so real and I caught myself laughing out loud many times. I recommend this for anyone.

Rating:
Summary: Hallelujah!
Review: It's all good, even when it's funny! I didn't have any idea all these things could be going on behind the scenes of the "chuch"! It was good to see and feel a younger, unmarried up-and-coming minister going through his growing pains to find a wife, and find his way through the "established" church hierarchy. This wasn't a full of action book, but I did have to see it through to the end to see what happens!

Rating:
Summary: Church Folks...
Review: Church Folk by Michele Andrea Bowen

Church Folks...no one can tell you about the ways of church folks like another member of the church family. There is so much to be said about Church Folk and church folk. Michele A. Bowen did a wonderful job telling us all about church folks so I'm going to tell you about Church Folk.

There are so many types of church folks, you have the good church folks and the bad church folks. You have the real church folks and you have the fakes. You have both the sincere and the insincere church folks. You have the caring men and women of God and you have the one who just don't care about anything including themselves. Well, youl'll meet all of these type of church folk many more.

Church Folk is a number one page turner that will keep you laughing and wondering what will happen next and with who. We are introduced into the world of Theophilus Simmons who states right off that he has "one unshakeable conviction about God - that He loved women." Now I must admit I have never heard a Man of God make a statement like this and I had to figure out if he had something in common with God on this level. Theophilus Simmons is the new and elgible (as in available, as in single) pastor of Greater Hope Church in Memphis. There are many women would like to become Mrs. Theophilus Simmons but he has his eyes set on Essie Lee Lane, a beautiful intelligent woman he met in a small town while giving revival. There are also a number of clergymen who would like to see Theophilus fail or at least find something that will tarnish his reputation but what these men fail to realize is that Theophilus has so much more for him than they could ever put against him. I could go on and on about Church Folk but I truly believe you would rather read what Michele A. Bowen has to say about church folks, so pick it up and have a good time. I can guarantee that you will know some church folk like the ones Church Folk.

Rating:
Summary: Did I Miss Something!
Review: I was really disappointed with this book. The substance was very weak. I grew tired by the middle of the book of the too detailed descriptions of attire, hair and skin color, which if removed from this book there wouldn't be too much of a story left. I've had enough of the lightskin, straight hair bashing. Let it go!

Rating:
Summary: Say Amen between laughs
Review: Having grown up in church and the daughter of a Baptist minister, many of the epithets in Church Folk are real. What I liked most is that Bowen reminds us that pastors are human and are prey to the same temptations as members of the congregation. She upholds that love, passion and desire - when in accordance to God's will - are for His people.

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding first novel!!!
Review: This book was truly a fantastic read. The main characters, Theophilus and Essie, as well as the setting, the South in the early 1960s, set the foundation for a well-written and well-developed story line. Church Folk shows a side of the Black church that we may wish did not exist. As an up and coming pastor, Theophilus has his work cut out for him. Corruption and deceit abound and put him, as well as his denomination, in turmoil. This book was a page turner, if I've ever read one!

Rating:
Summary: Excellent read!
Review: I had no idea what to expect when my online book club chose this book for their next read. I picked it up and couldn't put it down. It totally engrossed me from the first paragraph.

The setting is the 60's in the midst of the civil rights movement in which the black church was the center of much of this causes activities.

Theophilus Simmons, new pastor of Greater Hope United Church is single, new in the ministry, and falling deeply for Essie Lane. Their courtship is sweet and honest. Their marriage is put to the test by 'church folk'.

'Church Folk' shows all the elements of church life, the good, the bad, and the ugly. This book shows that there are wolves among the sheep, but the sheep ultimately overcome.

While reading this book I laughed out loud, said 'Amen' several times, and reminisced of the times when I was young attending church in the 60's. It isn't so 'churchy' that it isn't real. It isn't so hardcore that you can't enjoy it as a christian.