ReShonda Tate Billingsley, Let the Church Say Amen

Let the Church Say Amen

ReShonda Tate Billingsley

Pocket, Jul 2004, $13.00, 277 pp.

ISBN: 0743477146

In Houston, the congregation appreciates the hard work of their dynamic Reverend Simon Jackson. Since he took over Zion Hill his strong effort has turned the small congregation into one of the most respected places of worship in the city.

His faithful wife Loretta has always supported Simon in his work while raising their three children mostly by herself. However, she realizes that while Simon has done terrific work for God, he has failed his family; their three adult children have personal crises that their father blithely ignores. Nineteen-year-old Rachel stalks her former lover, the father of her child, though he is ready to marry someone else. Twenty-seven-year old bitter David is a thieving junkie with no hope for future since he had blown out his knee. Twenty-three-year-old Jonathan is the heir apparent as he has his act together, but he does not want to become his father's associate pastor. Loretta wonders how to reach Simon that his own house is in trouble when he spends every moment receiving adulations for tending to his flock.

LET THE CHURCH SAY AMEN is an interesting family drama that focuses on the need to maintain a healthy balance between work, religion, and family. The fabulous Jackson Five are well drawn individualists with each having their own needs, something the patriarch fails to grasp though his wife now sees the negative impact of his divine work on the three lost souls in their household. ReShonda Tate Billingsley provides a deep, powerful character study with a strong message to do the Lord's work, but to remember that includes keeping one's house in order too.

Harriet Klausner