The Convention: A Parable

Set in the post-Reagan period, this forward-looking version of the politics of organized religion taps into contemporary concerns. When Dorcas Rose McBride, representing her small church community in Mississippi, journeys to Chicago for the convention of the Federal Baptist Church, she has little inkling that she will become flagbearer for the women's caucus and be elected as the first woman president of ``America's largest Protestant church body.'' Dorcas, a housewife who has a black child in her foster care, serves her community and her God. Her simplicity and truthfulness triumph over the chicanery of the dominant male power brokers at the media-covered convention. As a modern parable, this novel carries a rather heavy-handed message, but it is made entertaining by the homey, domestic details of Dorcas's Gospel-imbued life. Campbell ( Brother to a Dragonfly; Forty Acres and a Goat ) writes in a folksy style suitable to his inspirational tale. (October)