The reward for reading biographies is the otherwise unavailable portal into the lives of people with whom you are not familiar. In particular Christian biographies serve to help me evaluate my own life and pursuits by examining the course of others who similarly walked this narrow road. The one weakness in my personal biography reading has to be my personal preference to read folks that I am already somewhat familiar with. Thankfully in his book The Faithful Preacher, Thabiti Anyabwile introduces me to three men whom I have not previously heard.
Anyabwile’s goal is to introduce his readers to three ‘pioneering African-American pastors’. When I first heard of the book I wondered why this specific book was written. Then I pondered further and wondered who he might have written about and what their impact was. My question as to why the book should be written was answered by my own ignorance of who these men might be.
The author introduces us to three men from different generations in American history. All of the men are African-American pastors who cared deeply about the biblical mission of the church. Anyabwile provides a brief biographical sketch of each man followed by some of their more impactful public addresses. The biographical overview is similar to what John Piper has done in his ‘Swans’ series on church history.
The three individuals that we are introduced to are Lemuel Hayes, Daniel Payne, and Francis Grimke. They hail from different eras; Hayes in the early 1800’s, Payne in the mid-late 1800’s, and Grimke the early 1900’s.
My personal favorite section dealt with Lemuel Hayes. This man was an African-American Calvinist, who was a pastor of a predominantly white church in Vermont, married to a white woman, and the father of over 10 children. I only point out the ethnicity here because it was so surprising to me in considering early American history. Furthermore, in reading Hayes’ sermons I am struck with his seriousness ascribed to the ministry of the gospel. As someone who surely felt social pressure he stands as an example to fear the living God and his examination preeminently.
The Faithful Pastor not only opened my eyes historically to some faithful ministers of Christ but also stirred my own heart unto greater faithfulness through their enduring witness in their sermons.
Discounted copies are available at Westminster or on Amazon.
