Sundays Down South: A Pastora€(tm)S Stories

While I was in college in the mid 1980's I took a course called 'social movements' in which my Professor gave a lecture bemoaning our loss of a 'sense of community.' Having just left a small mountain community myself that had been my home for the first 18 years of my life I didn't have a full appreciation of the lecture that day. Over the next few years as I moved into a career, and a big city, I began to realize exactly what my Professor was talking about in that lecture. After living in several apartments in various sorts of neighborhoods I cannot even think of 5 neighbors I ever exchanged more than a nod or hello with. It really is sad to think about. Recently I was given a book, and while not the type of book to make it into my reading list very often I am grateful that it had. That's the great thing about getting books as gifts, they sometimes get you out of a rut. Something for you to keep in mind as you ponder what to get somebody for Christmas. Anyway, the book is called 'Sundays Down South,' do not let the title fool you, although written by a Pastor it has little to do with 'Sundays,' and everything to do with a 'sense of community.' The book is a collection true stories about people that have been a part of the life a man who happens to be a Pastor. The author ( James O. Chatham ) is quite clear in the Introduction that 'this is not a religious book.' Having seen a small glimpse into his theology I was thankful for that fact. What the book does do is warm your heart with short, and true stories about real people. The book breaks down into four parts. It opens in Covington Virginia. In this section one particular story, 'Amy's Gift' even brought moisture to my eye's (something fiction cannot do). The section of the book dedicated to his years in Mississippi is the finest of the four. The author's positioning in the middle of an important place in the civil rights movement of the 1960's gives historical importance to this book. The book remains personal though, giving you insight into the people of that place and time. In this section there is the story of Albert, a man of heroic proportion in the chapter 'Standing on Holy Ground', and the humorous story 'Thus Did the Lord Say.' The book continues with stories from North Carolina, and Kentucky. Some of the stories are sad, some humorous, some inspiring, all help you gain perspective. Many of the stories are about people many would just consider 'poor southerners', ahhh, but how rich they are in 'sense of community.' Compared to so many of us who live in places where we are connected in a real way with so few people, they in contrast seem immensly wealthy. In the very first chapter of the book the author expresses this thought while observing three generations in one family go off to work together in a paper mill, 'Here in vivid color before my eyes, was a vital human network called family, something the chic, upscale world of the new America would soon be paying millions of dollars in th

Having heard sermons of Jim Chatham, I had to read his book. This book, Sundays Down South : A Pastor's Stories, closely reflects his personal delivery of folksy wisdom as a key to deeply held truths. These stories, separate and apart, could be the journal writings of many, but woven together, they touch in a special way the place inside of all of us who yearn for spiritual connectedness, peace and justice. This book rates high with me just as does the good pastor, himself. I would suggest it is great reading for a hot summer afternoon, lemonade in hand, and a cool body of water someplace in the vicinity.

As a Southerner, as a Presbyterian, as one who played a small part in the civil rights movement of the sixties, and as one who now lives in the same city as Rev. Chatham, I felt as if I were reliving some of my life's experiences as I read this book. I had met these people, I had been to these places, I had shared these conversations, I had worshiped together with them. Rev. Chatham does an outstanding job of capturing the essence of what many call "polite racism": that we can be seemingly intelligent, polite, caring, loving, religious human beings and still have the horrible stain of racism imbedded in our hearts and our psyches. On the other hand, the courage of those who overcame the social demand of following the past is glorified as it should be. Congratulations, Rev. Chatham. Your readers will enjoy this journey with you.

Although my favorite books are fiction, this collection of true stories offers similar pleasure. SUNDAYS DOWN SOUTH, though not fiction, describes real people so vividly that they would make good fictional characters. I finished the book recalling the names of characters, as well as the events that constrained or liberated them. Admirable characters, the author explains in the introduction, have been given their real names. For the less admirable, he has invented unlikely names. This book resembles twentieth-century southern fiction because it includes elements of the heroic and the grotesque. But in Chatham's book more people are heroic than not. It is an upbeat book that reminds us of our human capacity for goodness and sacrifice. This engineer-turned-Presbyterian-minister writes with the preciseness of an engineer, the concrete language of a poet, and the compassionate insight of a good pastor. He never bores us with too much detail. He tells only what is needed to understand the person and situation being described. The stories take place between 1962 and the present in four southern locations--Virginia, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Kentucky. The introduction to each section places the reader firmly in that location. We local readers, for example, easily see the truth and humor in his characterization of laid-back Winston-Salem, N. C., as "always about twenty-five miles off the main route." I recommend SUNDAYS DOWN SOUTH for pleasure reading, for better understanding the meaning of being southern, and for appreciating both the foibles and the sublime heights of the human condition.

This engineer-turned-Presbyterian-minister writes with the preciseness of an engineer, the concrete language of a poet, and the compassionate insight of a good pastor. He never bores us with too much detail. He tells only what is needed to understand the person and situation being described. His stories take place in four southern locations: Covington, Virginia; Fayette/Union Church, Mississippi; Winston-Salem, North Carolina; and Louisville, Kentucky. The introduction to each section places the reader firmly in that location. For example, we local readers easily recognize the truth of his characterzation of laid-back Winston-Salem as "always about twenty-five miles off the main route." The book in some ways resembles twentieth-century southern fiction, including characters with elements of both the heroic and the grotesque. But in Chatham's book, more are heroic than not. He has given us an upbeat book that reminds us of our human capacity for goodness and self-sacrifice. Although Chatham never preaches or moralizes, he often points out an insight gained from the story. I recommend SUNDAYS DOWN SOUTH for pleasure reading, for better understanding of the meaning of being southern, and for appreciating--mostly with optimism--the foibles and sublime heights of the human condition.