Through this book, Shelly O’Foran introduces the reader to the community of the Little Zion Baptist Church of Boligee, Alabama, a church which was burned to the ground during a rash of likely racially-motivated arsons of rural black churches around 1996. O’Foran got to know this church community as a Quaker volunteer who helped to re-build the church building during the summer of 1996. However, in this book O’Foran uses her expertise as a folklorist to demonstrate, through the collected memories and worship practices of church members, that the heart of Little Zion rests in its community of believers, impervious to destruction by fire.
O’Foran opens this book honestly, exploring in depth her relationship to the Little Zion church community: as an activist seeking to right a racist wrong, as a folklorist attempting to present the multi-vocal perspectives of a community not her own, and as a Quaker dedicated, like the members of the Little Zion community, to putting “God… at the front” (27) of her research and seeing her shared work with this community as an oral expression of the Quaker “shared divine spark” (24).
In exploring the life of the Little Zion Baptist Church, O’Foran begins by focusing chapter 2 on the relationship between Little Zion and the outside world. She moves the chapter from a discussion of the burning as a “loss of place” (39) within the community, through a history of that place, and finally to the “rebuilding and restoration” (40) of Little Zion. She emphasizes that although the church burning was often perceived by outsiders and media as a purely secular, racist occurrence, Little Zion members’ narratives often “imbue the church burning with a sense of divine purpose” since fire is often biblically associated with “God’s transforming power” (41). In this chapter, O’Foran also traces the orally preserved history of the Little Zion church, from changes in its physical structure to the central role this church has played in the Little Zion community over the years, including its role in educating children, to its relationship with the economic life of the congregation. In particular, she emphasizes the important role that Little Zion, along with other rural black churches, played in organizing the Civil Rights movement and in registering the majority black voters in that county. Finally, O’Foran closes this chapter with a description of the rebuilding of Little Zion, describing the efforts of both church members and outside volunteers.
In chapter 3, O’Foran changes the pace of the book, exchanging the multi-vocal breadth of the preceding and following chapters for an in-depth look at the spiritual narrative of one church member, Sister Rosie Lee Hendricks. In a theme which carries throughout this book, Sister Hendricks’ life story is told “with Little Zion Baptist Church at the center” (89). Sister Hendricks’ testimony follows typical testimonial form: her conversion (the moment at which she became “Born Again”), the ways that The Lord has blessed her in life, and the ways in which God has guided her through troubled times, including the death of her husband. However, while providing the testimony in full, O’Foran also analyzes the poetic telling of the sacred life narrative, demonstrating in this chapter that through an elevated preaching style marked by chant, short, rhythmic sentences, and parallel construction, “the storytelling event becomes folded into the religious journey itself” (93).
Chapter 4 explores the life of the Little Zion church in-depth, from church traditions like Sunday services to weddings, funerals, and children’s education. The major theme of this chapter, brought out through the nostalgic narratives of church members, is that the traditions of Little Zion have moved over the century from more emotional to more cerebral as the education and prosperity of the congregation has improved. The narratives tell of past days when everything was more difficult for congregants: wood had to be brought in to heat the church in the winter, the church building had no running water, members had to walk miles to church or risk getting wagons and trucks stuck in the muddy drive, children were given strict formal religious education in the church, and funeral preparations (including washing the body, building the casket, and digging the grave) had to be handled by church members. However, church members often viewed improvements made in these conditions over the years as softening their commitment, as they can no longer express the “transcendence of practice and faith” (126) over these obstacles.
Church traditions also covered in this chapter include a change in music from unaccompanied “Dr. Watts-style” hymns to the current practices of formalized arrangements of gospel hymns with piano accompaniment. Changes in special events, such as weddings and funerals, are covered as well. Finally, this chapter explores the Little Zion pre-primer school, which operated from 1957 into the 1970s as a public school for poor black families during segregated schooling in Alabama, providing an educational and spiritual foundation for many Little Zion members. O’Foran uses the traditions explored in this chapter to argue that the performance of these traditions formed the foundation of Little Zion, even when the physical structure was destroyed (108).
Although church activities provide venues for church community-making, it is the body of personal spiritual journeys detailed in chapter 5 that sustains the spiritual life of the community. Through narrations about conversion, baptism, faith development (emphasizing the role of the supernatural in assisting with problems of health and money), and the experience of the call to preach, the reader gets a sense of what it means to be a member of the Little Zion community.
Chapter 6 again changes the focus from multi-vocal analysis to the almost un-interrupted and un-analyzed voice of the Rev. Michael A. Barton. Although an analytic performance-based frame was often viewed in this community as suggesting the in-authenticity of the performance, Rev. Barton uses this forum to delve into the performative aspects of his preaching (including use of humor and movement), shedding further light on the oral genre of the African American sermon. This narrative (like chapter 3) highlights the oral power of sacred narration in the Little Zion church.
It is surprising in a book with roots in the very ashes of what was most likely a racist hate crime that the focus of this narrative is not really on racism at all. In the spirit of true collaborative research, O’Foran has created a wonderful portrait of a local community and an account of the events preceding and following the burning which is infused throughout with the spiritual significance of the event for church members. Little Zion: A Church Baptized by Fire is not a narrative about how a community was victimized, but rather a story about that community’s continued vitality.
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[Review length: 1115 words • Review posted on August 29, 2007]