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Summary: Real life happenings. Totally enjoyed it!
Review: I totally enjoyed this book. I've experienced a church setting like the one written about in this book. But my eyes are still focused on God, in spite of humans, and our issues. Church is what you make it; your motive for being there.
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Summary: Your Folks, My Folks ...Church Folks
Review: Church Folks is the real church. Perhaps not what God intended but what really exist. Real people with real issues that don't always act like Christians should. You will laugh and sometimes gasp at what goes on inside the holy walls of a church and of the minds of those claiming to be righteous.
Characters that keep it real are also in the book standing up for Christ and what the Bible says. However the struggle is apparent and the devil is strong. Cozy up in your favorite chair and read about the many people that you will rename as friends, family members or mere associates but mostly just Church Folks.
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Summary: Applause! Applause! Most Entertaining!
Review: To merely say that Church Folks by Michele Andrea Bowen is one of the better books I've read this summer would be an understatement. I purchased Church Folks on a whim, my tiny effort to support African-American authors and I am truly glad that I did. I started reading it at noon and by 6:00 p.m. I had finished the book in its entirety. Ms. Bowen is truly a talented writer. Her vivid characters played out before me as if I were watching a play production. With each page I was drawn in to read another and another. The exchanges between the characters, Theophilus and Essie, Essie and Glodean, Mother Harold, the Bishops and ministers attending the conference, the sermons, the church politics behind the scene, etc. are written masterfully. Soon it was as if I were a bystander in the corner of the room, a fly on the wall, a member of the congregation, or simply listening to them at the dinner table. Often hearing from the man Theophilus Simmons rather than Rev. Theophilus Simmons, we are forced to recognize that he is, as are we all, human by nature. We realize that ministers are human and being such will look, have been known to touch and experience, and as in the case of Rev. Brown, take advantage of a person or situation for his (her) own good. Something even Essie had to learn. While Church Folks is set in African American community, the characters described within are found in each ethnic community. We all know the folks in Church Folks. Written in vivid color and detail, Church Folks takes us into the South and into the heart of the African-American (then Negro) community the church. We see the in-house politics, which we all know but sometimes ignore for our greater good (or at least how others may view us). I'm recommending this book to everyone. And I look forward to reading more of Ms. Bowen's work.
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Summary: I love this book
Review: I am a preacher's kid, my mother is a preacher's wife and I could identify with so much in this book. The small towns..the deacons..the everyday unchurched folk. Michele you did a great job capturing it all and showing how even us Christians struggle a little too. Pastors are indeed human and women as always --can be a trip when it comes to dealing with me. Thank you for showing what true love can look like in a God-inspired marriage. We all could use a little more "juice" or passion in our spiritual lives and everything else. I COULD NOT put this book down. I read it in two days!
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Summary: Let The Church Say Amen
Review: Excellent read I couldn't put it down. I laughed out loud so much, people were asking what are you reading. I've recommended Church Folk to members of my book club and my reading friends. The characters are so believeable. I can see myself loosing control in church when the Bishop lost his teeth. Ministers are human and shouldn't be put on pedestals. This is one of the best novels in 2001. Church Folk would make a very entertaining movie.
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Summary: I laughed, and laughed and laughed......Excellant Novel!
Review: This book was selected by my bookclub. And I loved it!! If you ever wanted to know what goes on behind closed doors in the church, you must read this book. Theophilus was a promising paster. He was also SINGLE. Theophilus was being hunted down by every single female in his church. I could not beleive the things some women would do to become FIRST LADY of a church. But Essie Lee Lane proved to be his soul mate and capable of dealing with all of the want-a-bees in the church. I would not want her job on a bad day. The characters were funny and you will laugh out loud more than once. (Especially when the Bishop's teeth falls out - or when Essie sticks the woman in the butt with her hat pin) The story proved that religious men are just like any other men. It is the congregation that puts these religious men on such high pedestals and then they forget what their real purpose is within the church. CHURCH FOLK should be a required reading for those that want to go into the ministry as well as the congregations. Sometimes people do not realize how much they are acting foolish until they see it in black and white. Ms. Bowen .... Excellant. I can't wait to read your next book! Peace and Blessings !
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Summary: EXCELLENT!
Review: I read this book in 2 days and that is saying a lot for myself for this book had me crying, laughing and wishing I was there to hear the Rev Simmon preach his sermons, but it also make you take a hard look at the people who are in the church and those in higher positions that may take advantage of their status. But in all this book will drawn you in and keep you wondering what more is going to happen. I really don't want to give the plot of it away, but I will say....BUY THE BOOK! You won't regret it!
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Summary: I could not put it down and have loaned it to all my friends
Review: I loved this book...The descriptions of the characters made you believe that you were looking at them as you read. The story line was entertaining but not sensational. As a church officer, I found a number of my congregationalists in it...wonder if the author was sitting on our back pew?
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Summary: inspiring and realistic
Review: I loved this book because it was both inspiring and realistic. My favorite aspect of this book is the way that Theophilus was shown as a man first and then a preacher. Being a preacher did not exempt him from experiencing feelings that any normal man would. The opening of the novel displayed his human qualities, like flirting with the waitress and also his pursuit of Essie was realistic and not glossed over to seem "spiritual". Bowen's depiction of Theophilus and Essie's courtship and marriage included their sweet, tender moments as well as times of friction. This depiction sends a great message to people about how courtship and marriage should be between two God-fearing Christian people. The interactions between the characters in the novel were realistic, which brought a sense of connection for me with the characters. Sapphronia and Peaches' friendship at the end of the book showed how women can learn from each other once they put aside their own issues with jealousy and envy and see each other as women, not as enemies. This is an uplifting, inspiring and very entertaining novel, which highlights almost every spectrum of the Black church. I recommend every reader, christian and secular, to read it because it sends a great message about the rewards that come when an individual's actions follow God's order.
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Summary: Good Until The Last Drop!!!!
Review: Michele Andrea Bowen is sure to make her mark into the contemporary world of good fiction with her first time/new release, CHURCH FOLK. Told with such depth and realism, CHURCH FOLK will have you analizing your true christianity versus that of "church folk". Taking you into the front and back door, CHURCH FOLK deals with turmoil within the congregation and scandal in the denomination. When all this is thrown into the hands of the Greater Hope church folk, only prayers and the strength of God almighty can help the congregation make one of the most important decisions of a lifetime. Fast paced and a page turner, CHURCH FOLK will have you laughing out loud one minute and then wondering in the next......what will happen when all hell breaks loose!
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