This book's title, "the stones that the builders rejected" (Psalm 118:22), refers to "history's black absent ones" who may indeed have much more to say about the nature of moral discourse and redemption of America's soul than has previously been acknowledged.

In the book, six outstanding black scholars, women and men, build on the hypothesis that, because of its distinctive socio-cultural location and long history of producing quality leadership despite inadequate material and social resources, the black church tradition is a prime candidate for offering direction for the development of leaders for today's national and global communities.

Contributors include: Peter Paris, Princeton Theological Seminary; Marcia Y. Riggs, Columbia Theological Seminary; Clarice J. Martin, Colgate Rochester Divinity School; Cheryl Townsend Gilkes, Colby College; Carolyn C. Denard, Georgia State University; and Michael Eric Dyson, Columbia University.

While the authors offer distinct methodological approaches for understanding ethical leadership, all express the need to return to some of the powerful resources of the past as a way of rethinking appropriate forms and styles of leadership in the lives of African Americans and the nation at large.

The editor, Walter E. Fluker, is Project Director of the National Resource Center for the Development of Ethical Leadership from the Black Church Tradition at Colgate Rochester Divinity School.