Esther Dozier, the dynamic pastor of the Clinton AME Zion Church, needed a photo of David presenting his book about the church to her, so I went down (after an intense yoga class, the kind that demands a hot bath afterward, so I’m afraid I missed the service) to do a photo shoot. I’ve taken many photos in the church, and of the congregation. Here are Esther and David. We also arranged about donating 10% of the proceeds from the book to the church, and will be interviewing Esther after Christmas for the new book David and I are doing together, a collection of interviews with American believers, called for the moment The Voice of Faith. We have met a number of impressive, thoughtful believers in the course of our work on religion and society, and feel that they are not understood by the liberal intellectuals we spend most of our time with. We’re looking for a way to bridge that gap. We are looking for believers of different faiths to interview, so if you know someone who is particularly impressive, of any faith (mainstream or otherwise), we’d love to hear from you.
Technorati : ame zion church, faith, religion
What I hope is clear from the post above, written six months before Esther’s tragic death on 10 June, is that she was a most impressive and thoughtful believer, and a woman with a joyous presence. I’m heartbroken at the news of her death, and so sorry that we never organized the interview mentioned here.
There’s much more here on the Berkshire Blog in the days after 11 June 2007, and the high Google ranking of this post encourages me to write something about the breathtaking funeral service held last month at the Congregational Church in Great Barrington. Please do check the post for 24 June to read about it. KC writing on the 23rd.