Clarence Jordan

Overview

"The power of Clarence Jordan's words comes mostly from the fact that he lived out the Gospel rather than just preaching it, and he did that with courage and a sense of humor." --Don Mosley, author, With Our Own Eyes

Highly recommended. --Library Journal

Clarence Jordan (1912-1969) was a true American prophet. Reared in the heart of the Southern Baptist Church, he passed up the options of scholarship or traditional ministry to found an interracial Christian community in Americus, Georgia at a time when preaching racial justice and equality could spark a backlash of violence. His cooperative farm was repeatedly attacked by the KKK and subject to a total economic boycott. Through his sermons and his so-called "Cotton Patch" version of the Gospels--a "dynamic" translation of his own setting Jesus life in a Southern context--Jordan laid out a revolutionary vision of the gospel.

Joyce Hollyday lives in Pisqah Forest, North Carolina. She is an Associate Conference Minister in the United Church of Christ and author of numerous books, including Clothed with the Sun and Then Shall Your Light Arise. She is co-author (with Anne Morrison) of Held in the Light: Norman Morrison's Sacrifice for Peace and His Family's Journey of Healing.