MAKING ALL THINGS HUMAN: A Church in East Harlem

Mr Schoonover is pastor of the Chambers Baptist Church in Eart Harlem -- the Caucasian pastor of an almost exclusively Negro and Puerto Rican congregation. This acount of his ministry is, as one might expect, a story of hoods and junkies, of decrepit schools and immovable school-board officials, of crumbling neighborhoods and either indifferent or hyperenthusiastic urban authorities, of bureaucrats and political bosses, of frantic parents and wholly emancipated kids. In that respect, it differs_little from the dozen-or-so books that have apr peared on the same general subject. Where it does differ is in the fact that Mr. Schoonover is a man of large sympathies, considerable humor, unrelenting honesty, and surprising literary ability. He records nothing new; but he understands the implications of what he does say, and he does not attempt to buoy UP the account of his work by either professional optimism or extreme pessimism. He is as honest about his failures as he is modest about his successes; and he carries his honesty into the area of the failures and successes not only of ""society"" but also of the residents of the ghettos. Altogether an exceptional book of its kind.