Popular Culture Faculty Publications
Document Type
Article
Abstract
Shirley Caesar, a celebrated, multiple award-winning gospel singer and preacher, used and retold stories about three transformative spiritual experiences to build a case for defending her call to preach. These ritualistic spiritual events included chronicling her conversion, spirit baptism, and call experiences. In this discussion, I examine the contexts of Caesar’s familial and religious backgrounds, Christian Protestant preaching culture and gender, Caesar’s “parable” and “prolegomenon” of purpose, and Caesar’s defense of her call to preach. I conclude by exploring the ways in which, as an “outsider within,” Caesar’s “defense case story” negotiated and dissented from theological narratives about the place of women in Black Holiness-Pentecostal preaching culture. Journeying on her own path, inspired and led by God, Caesar crossed the borders and boundaries of traditional gender roles, standing within (and outside) the margins of gospel singing and gospel preaching.
Copyright Statement
Publisher PDF
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Repository Citation
Nelson, Angela, "Defending the Call to Preach in Shirley Caesar’s Gospel Autobiography" (2023). Popular Culture Faculty Publications. 15.
https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/pop_culture_pub/15
Publication Date
Summer 6-25-2023
Publication Title
Religions
Publisher
MDPI
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14070832
Volume
14
Issue
7
Included in
African American Studies Commons, American Popular Culture Commons, Christianity Commons, Ethnomusicology Commons, Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons