Depression in African American Clergy: Black Religion/Womanist Thought/Social Justice

In this book Wynnetta Wimberley addresses the often overlooked crisis of depression in African American clergy, investigating the causes underlying this phenomenon while discussing possible productive paths forward. Historically, many African American pastors have had to assume multiple roles in order to meet the needs of congregants impacted by societal oppression. Due to the monumental significance of the preacher in the African American religious tradition, there exists a type of ‘cultural sacramentalization’ of the Black preacher, which sets clergy up for failure by fostering isolation, highly internalized and external expectations, and a loss of self-awareness. Utilizing Donald Winnicott’s theory of the ‘true’ and ‘false’ self, Wimberley examines how depression can emerge from this psycho-socio-theological conflict.  When pastors are depressed, they are more prone to encounter difficulties in their personal and professional relationships. Drawing from a communal-contextual model of pastoral theology, this text offers a therapeutically sensitive response to African American clergy suffering with depression.