Duke Chapel Dean Luke A. Powery has written a new book of daily devotions for the season of Advent that leads readers through African American spirituals to confront the mystery of incarnation and redemption.

The book, Rise Up, Shepherd! Advent Reflections on the Spirituals, was published by Westminster John Knox Press in August. Each devotion features the lyrics of the spiritual, a reflection on the spiritual's meaning, a Scripture verse, and a brief prayer.

These African American spirituals give profound insights into the human condition and the Christian life, according to Powery, who is also an associate professor of homiletics at Duke Divinity School. Many focus on an essential scene of the Christian drama: the coming of God as the child in Bethlehem and as the hope of the world and the liberator of God's oppressed people.