African American Studies catalogue from McFarland & Co., Inc. Publishers

Download the catalogue

African American Studies catalogue from McFarland

My biography of James Solomon Russell in on page 24.

BLACK HISTORY month in Virginia and Alabama

In 2012 McFarland and Company, Inc. published my biography of James Solomon Russell. A former slave, Russell founded Saint Paul's College in Lawrenceville, Virginia. As an Episcopal priest in the newly-formed Diocese of Southern Virginia in the late 1890s and early 1900s, Russell planted 31 churches.

In 2014 Archdeacon Books published my book Alabama Timelines: African American Entrepreneurs. This book is helpful for finding historical black entrepreneurs in the State of Alabama before, during, and after the Civil War.

Both books can be purchased through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Books-a-Million online bookstores.

103rd Archbishop of Canterbury in Birmingham, AL at Beeson Divinity School

George Carey, 103rd Archbishop of Canterbury

The Living Church Magazine article for February 1, 2016

Sarai by the Sea

Sarai by the Sea

She strolls the sands

A pace so slow

Noticing not how the ocean expands

Its ebb and flow.

The ocean’s creative energy bound in two:

Its massive diastolic reach

Engulfs the old, makes new

The systolic remnant folding from the beach.

The surf’s repetition

Is what most see,

The grandeur of the waves’ disposition,

Both a danger and beauty, most will agree.

Is there a secret

Hidden in the sea?

Does it request

From everyday life to flee?

Sarai stares into the ocean blue

Searching for an anchor,

For any answer, in lieu

Of the source of her internal rancor.

The ocean can settle

From its pacific smile,

Its stormy waves, her mettle.

But now only confuse and beguile.

Sarai’s life not as she thought.

In search of her true roots,

A flicker of hope she bought,

Revealed but as rotten fruit.

Day after day,

Year after year,

Sarai searched for someone to say

That she is some father’s little dear.

Not from the shoreline, the outer banks,

The majestic great lakes fronts.

It was at the southern sunshine beaches and ranks,

She ceased her daughter-hunts.

Always at water’s edge

She looked for the concrete.

It was as if Sarai could not dredge

From the sea’s bed a stable seat.

Seemingly an orphan of the sea,

Disappointment and rejection

Guided her to flee

From her closest affections.

Simply looking to the ocean

Is not a lasting retreat,

But of symbol and notion

How life can be complete.

New life and new birth

Also symbolic of the sea,

Point to One of higher worth,

The One Who hung on a tree.

Sarai was never abandoned,

While lorning for her truth.

Her Father, His hand on

Her heart from childhood and youth.

Now time

To be drenched by the sea.

A different clime,

Baptizing Sarah's new me.

© 2016 WENjr

Readers Respond to Book by Archdeacon Books's author J.N. Sullivan

Readers Respond to From My Father’s House by J.N. Sullivan

·        Ruth Jean's voice is so true, so evocative of that time in the South that it is mesmerizing. I'm over halfway through, and I had to put it aside for a while because I didn't want it to be over.  That feeling has happened before with some other books, but not often.  Something very special.

·        It’s a wonderful story. I was born in Vass, NC, near Pinehurst, and spent a great deal of time at my grandmother and great-grandmother’s homes.  I had not thought of “slop buckets” in forever, but the memory is back.  Also shelling beans on the back porch and so many other small moments in small Southern towns in another time.  The words of so many hymns sung in the Methodist Church we regularly attended….the melodies came back to me.  And BVD’s.  In some ways I was reminded of Laura Ingalls Wilder, a good story line, the evocation of another time in very clear, simple prose.

·        I bought and read the book right after I learned about it. I loved it!  I am going to put it in the church library.

·        I read this wonderful book over Christmas vacation. It was a sweet and inspiring story, and beautifully written.

·        I've been kicking around in my head how to express the deep impression it made on me. Let me only say that I was absolutely transported into the world rendered; "disbelief" was willingly--and as completely as I believe it's possible to be--"suspended," and I was deeply moved by the tale from many different angles.  It has earned its place in the Southern "canon"!

·        I loved this novel. The style is simple and elegant and flows easily. The story puts us right into the 1920’s in a small town in Virginia as it is seen by the young narrator, Ruth Jean. Along with her, readers will enjoy the humor and warmth of family and community life even as we confront the difficulties and moral issues that arise along the way.

·        Great reading! This novel excels at qualities I value most.  It offers characters in a way that makes the reader know and care about them. Its details let the reader learn about a world of experience distant from his or her own. It is built from vivid episodes, especially those filled with difficulty and danger. I imagined how interesting it would be, as a teacher, to explore this book with a group of readers the same age as its heroine, Ruth Jean. Would they understand her? Would they be able to compare her growth to their lives? What values would they learn from her?

·        J. N. Sullivan's book takes readers to another time. Depending on the age of the reader, the details bring forth memories. Each chapter provides an insightful story, and the chapters are skillfully linked to create a heartfelt remembrance by the narrator. Readers will react to the array of characters and to recognized situations of today which are made more difficult by the social restrictions of the past.

5.0 out of 5 starsI loved this book

·        I loved this book. I just could not put it down –a lovely journey of a little girl learning what it means to take personal responsibility for your life! 

Purchase "From My Father's House"

Overseers and Servants

Overseers and Servants

The case was made early.

Modern times need no alteration

To qualifications that surely

Issued as God’s demarcation.

A noble task,

The office of overseer.

God simply asks

One wife to him He foresees her.

Sober-minded, self-controlled, and respectable,

Not quarrelsome, nor a drunkard, but gentle;

Such conduct electable,

To episcopal orders central.

As in the overseer’s life,

His ecclesiastical enablers so to:

With dignity and truth rife,

Their examiners seeking blamelessness sue.

Overseer and servant,

With clear minds in confident belief,

Lead and serve God’s people in faith most fervent.

Their burden? Joy, not grief.

We pray for all bishops and deacons,

First ministries in the early church,

With Christ-like reflections, as beacons

Guiding His people in their search.

1Timothy 3:1-13

A Sampling of Responses to Anglican Primates' decision by # of Words

The Primates of the Anglican Communion met in Canterbury, England January 11-15, 2016. Following the Primates' decision about The Episcopal Church many American bishops (and others) issued statements. I took a sampling from the statements posted by George Conger of Anglican Ink. Curiosity caused me to see who is the most verbose. Of this sampling the Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada wins. Most, if not all, of the links to responses can be found on the Anglican Ink website.

	Bishop(s)	Diocese/Organization	Province/Jurisdiction	# Words
1	Hiltz, Fred	Primate/Archbishop	Anglican Church of Canada	3037
2	Martins, Daniel	Springfield	TEC	1893
3	Garner, Bruce	President - Integrity	TEC	1525
4	Ely, Thomas	Vermont	TEC	1338
5	Stokes, Chip	New Jersey	TEC	1278
6	Douglas, Ian & Ahrens, Laura	Connecticut	TEC	1248
7	Brewer, Gregory	Central Florida	TEC	1129
8	Daniel, Clifton	Pennsylvania	TEC	780
9	Sumner, George	Dallas	TEC	733
10	Knisely, Nicholas	Rhode Island	TEC	700
11	Gunter, Matthew	Fond du Lac	TEC	558
12	Hougland, Whayne	Western Michigan	TEC	532
13	Dietsche, Andrew	New York	TEC	503
14	Mayer, J. Scott	Northwest Texas (diocesan) and Fort Worth (IV provisional)	TEC	441
15	Iker, Jack	Fort Worth	ACNA	440
16	Strange, Mark	Moray, Ross & Caithness	Episcopal Church of Scotland	428
17	Lee, Jeffrey	Chicago	TEC	365
18	Ousley, Todd	Eastern Michigan	TEC	363
19	Hunter, Todd	Churches For the Sake of Others	ACNA	355
20	Wabukala, Eliud	Primate/Archbishop	Anglican Church of Kenya	339
21	Hanley, Michael	Oregon	TEC	309
22	Waggoner, James	Spokane	TEC	273
23	Milic, Jasmin	Croatia	The Reformed Episcopal Church in Croatia	233
24	Hodges-Copple, Anne E. & Lee, Peter	North Carolina	TEC	228
25	Fenwick, John	Primus	Free Church of England	106
26	Graham, Franklin	Samaritan's Purse	Evangelist	104