RELIGION BOOKSHELF

THE BLACK CHURCH IN THE AFRICAN AMERICAN EXPERIENCE. By C. Eric Lincoln and Lawrence H. Mamiyal. Duke University Press, 519 pages, cloth, $47.50, paperback, $18.95.

Based on a 10-year study of black churches in America, the book draws on interviews with 1,800 African American clergy and includes an historical overview of seven black denominations. The black churches are self-confident and holding their own in membership, the authors said.