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Transcription

RIVER OF STRUGGLE,
RIVER OF FREEDOM
TRENDS AMONG BLACK CHURCHES
AND BLACK PASTORAL LEADERSHIP
by Larry Mamiya
PULPIT & PEW RESEARCH REPORTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Section 1: Trends in Black Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Section 2: Profiles and Studies of African American Laity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Section 3: Recent Profiles of Black Clergy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
About Pulpit & Pew . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
About the Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39
www.pulpitandpew.duke.edu
Duke Divinity School
Durham, N.C.
© Duke Divinity School 2006
ISBN: 0-9774583-0-X
FOREWORD
T
he evangelical pollster George Barna recently identified factors that he believed are reshaping the church in the
United States. One that he listed is “the slow demise of the African-American church community.” As evidence,
he cited “decline in church attendance, Bible knowledge, faith prioritization, and reliance upon the faith
community for support and relationships.” Although these declines may be occurring, they are disputed in this
important report by Lawrence Mamiya. Mamiya, a veteran student of the black church in America and co-author,
with the late C. Eric Lincoln, of The Black Church in the African American Experience, reviews a number of recent
studies of the black church and its leadership. Unlike Barna, he does not find decline but, instead, resiliency and
strength, and he concludes that the studies “reveal a loyalty and depth of commitment to this institutional area that
is not found in other sectors of society, even among white churches. Time and again, different studies point to the
higher levels of religious commitment found among black people across all age cohorts from youth to middle age
to elderly.” Mamiya is not uncritical of some of the trends that he observes in black church life—for example
megachurches that play down social justice in favor of a “prosperity gospel.” Nor does he gloss over several aspects
of institutional weakness—for example, the lack of an adequate theological education that some black pastors
exhibit, or the inadequate salary and pension support experienced by many of these pastors. But his report paints a
more hopeful portrait of black churches and their pastors than does Barna, and it draws attention to much that
those in other Christian churches can learn from the African American religious experience.
Mamiya’s report is the final one in a series of research reports that have been published during the first phase of
Pulpit & Pew. The project, with generous support from Lilly Endowment, has sought to bring together a wide body
of research to gain purchase on the state of pastoral leadership in Christian churches in the United States. The
research has tried to identify trends in the broader society that have an impact on pastoral leadership and to raise
policy implications for congregations, denominations, theological seminaries, and pastors themselves. In addition to
the series of research reports, each of which is available electronically at no cost at www.pulpitandpew.duke.edu or
in printed form from Pulpit & Pew, Box 90983, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, the project has also supported the publication of several books:
• Dean R. Hoge, The First Five Years of the Priesthood: A Study of Newly Ordained Catholic Priests. Liturgical
Press, 2002
• Dean R. Hoge and Jacqueline Wenger, Evolving Visions of the Priesthood: Changes from Vatican II to the Turn of
the New Century. Liturgical Press, 2003.
• Dean R. Hoge and Jacqueline Wenger, Pastors in Transition: Why Clergy Leave Local Church Ministry.
Eerdmans, 2005.
• Mark D. Constantine, Travelers on the Journey: Pastors Talk About Their Lives and Commitments. Eerdmans, 2005.
• L. Gregory Jones and Kevin R. Armstrong, Resurrecting Excellence: Shaping Faithful Christian Ministry.
Eerdmans, (forthcoming April 2006).
• Jackson W. Carroll, God’s Potters: Pastoral Leadership and the Shaping of Congregations. Eerdmans (forthcoming
April 2006).
• E. Brooks Holifield, God's Ambassadors: A History of the Christian Clergy in America (working title), Eerdmans
(forthcoming 2007).
These books are available from various bookstores. I commend them to you along with Lawrence Mamiya’s report.
Jackson W. Carroll
Director Emeritus, Pulpit & Pew and
Williams Professor Emeritus of Religion and Society
Duke Divinity School
RIVER OF STRUGGLE, RIVER OF FREEDOM
1
INTRODUCTION
V
incent Harding has suggested that the
metaphor of “river” applies to the history of
the black freedom struggle, “its long continuous movement, flowing like a river, sometimes powerful, tumultuous, and roiling with life; at other times
meandering and turgid, covered with the ice and snow
of seemingly endless winters, all too often streaked
and running with blood.” He continues:
At first, as the river metaphor took life within me,
I was unduly concerned about its apparent inexactness and ambiguity. Now, with the passing of
time and the deepening of our vision, it is possible
to recognize that we are indeed the river, and at
the same time the river is more than us—generations more, millions more. Through such an opening we may sense that the river of black struggle is
people, but it is also the hope, the movement, the
transformative power that humans create and that
create them, us, and makes them, us, new persons.
So we black people are the river; the river is
us….And at its best the river of our struggle has
moved consistently toward the ocean of
humankind’s most courageous hopes for freedom
and integrity, forever seeking what black people in
South Carolina said they sought in 1865: “the
right to develop our whole being.”1
In keeping with the spirit of Harding’s metaphor, I have
entitled this study, River of Struggle, River of Freedom:
Black Pastoral Leadership and Trends among Black
Churches. If black history can be seen as the flowing
river of the metaphor, then black churches are the ships
or vessels that navigate the often turgid river. They are
the containers of small and large groups of black people
who have pooled their often meager resources to build
these ships and use them for worship, fellowship, education, public forum, concert hall, art gallery, solace, protection and liberation. But I have also extended the
metaphor to viewing black pastors, men and women, as
the ships’ captains and “river guides,” those who help
their people navigate the sometimes treacherous waters
of American society. Some of the ships are small like
rowboats, such as the small rural black church or a
storefront church or a house church begun with family
members. Others are extremely large luxury liners like
the black megachurches described in the following pages.
Throughout the black freedom struggle, courageous
leaders have arisen to point the way forward, often in the
face of hostility, betrayal, and sometimes death. Many of
these leaders were either clergy or lay members of what
Lincoln and I have called the “Black Church.”2
This study will be divided into three sections. Section I
will highlight the recent trends among black churches,
including demographic changes in the black population due to migration and their implications for Black
Church ministry; the development of black
megachurches, which include the rise of neoPentecostalism and the spread of the Pentecostal
praise tradition, the emphasis on Prosperity Gospel,
and the use of televangelism; the development of
nondenominational churches and the rise of local
Bible institutes. There will also be a focus on the continuing trend of black women in ministry.
Section II will also include studies and data on African
American laity: religious profiles on church attendance
and membership; issues concerning black youth;
denominational switching; the importance of the
prayer ritual; black churches as supportive social networks and therapeutic communities and their implications for physical and mental health; and outreach and
social programs sponsored by black churches.
Section III will focus on the studies and data concerning a profile of Black Pastoral Leadership, which will
include data from the Pulpit and Pew Project at Duke
Divinity School and Project 2000, a survey of black
clergy and churches, which was based at the
Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta.
1
Vincent Harding. There Is A River: The Black Struggle for Freedom in America. New York: Random House, 1981: xviii-xix
of the Introduction.
2
While we have been criticized by other scholars for keeping in the tradition of W.E.B. Du Bois, Benjamin Mays and Joseph
Nicholson, and E. Franklin Frazier (who referred to the Negro Church), saying that there is no monolithic entity called the
Black Church but only black churches. We defend its use, first as sociological shorthand, just as others refer to the “black
community” or the “white community,” while understanding the implicit diversity therein. Second, as Lawrence Jones has
cogently argued, “Yet there is a sense in which all black congregations and denominations respond to identical external circumstances and share common internal strengths, pressures and tensions.” In Lawrence N. Jones, “The Black Churches: A
New Agenda,” Christian Century. April 18, 1979, p. 434. Also see http://www.religiononline.org Third, black churches also
share a common black culture, which is shown in similar, worship and preaching styles across denominational lines.
2
PULPIT & PEW: RESEARCH ON PASTORAL LEADERSHIP
SECTION I:
TRENDS IN BLACK CHURCHES
“HOMECOMING” OR REVERSE MIGRATION TO THE SOUTH: DEMOGRAPHIC
CHANGES IN THE BLACK POPULATION AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS FOR THE
MINISTRY OF BLACK CHURCHES IN THE 21ST CENTURY
T
he 1890 census, the first to give an urban-rural
breakdown of the black population, indicated that
nine out of 10 black people lived in the South and
more than 80 percent of them in the rural areas designated as the “Black Belt.”3 The vast black migrations
from the rural South to the urban North and West were
clustered around the periods of the two World Wars
and the Korean War, transforming the demographic
landscape as millions of African Americans relocated
in the search for jobs and a better life. Among the
major causes for black migration were the mechanization of southern agriculture, the boll weevil attacks on
the cotton crops, the lynchings and violence of a rigid
system of Jim Crow segregation, the long-term decline
of sharecropping and individual black farm ownership,
and the need for cheap labor in northern factories and
industries.4 During the first six decades of the 20th century, more than 8 million black people moved out of
the South, depleting its population percentage from 90
percent to 51 percent. However, in the decade of the
1970’s a gradual reverse migration began due to the oil
crises of 1973 and 1979, the de-industrialization of
northern cities, the movement of factories and jobs to
southern states where there were fewer unions, and the
attraction of the warmer climate of the sunshine states.
By 1980, 85 percent of black people lived in urban
areas, making them the most highly urbanized population, and 53 percent lived in the South.
The 2000 Census data and subsequent studies have provided further confirmation of this gradual reverse migration or coming home of black people to the South. In
2002, the percentage rose to 55 percent and in 2004 close
to 57 percent.5 It is not unreasonable to expect that within the next decade 60 percent or more of the black population will reside in the South. According to William H.
Frey of the Brookings Institution, the reasons for this
reverse migration include the South’s economic growth
and modernization, its improved race relations, and the
longstanding cultural and kinship ties it holds for most
black families.6 Southern metropolitan areas, particularly
Atlanta and the Washington, D.C.-Baltimore area, led
the way in attracting black migrants in the late 1990s.
Cities such as New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San
Francisco suffered the greatest out migration of blacks
during this period. For example, South Central L.A.,
where the urban rebellion occurred after Rodney King’s
beating by the police and the birthplace of the Bloods
and the Crips gangs, is now predominantly Mexican and
many black migrants have left California.
Three key factors stand out in the black reverse migration studies:
• First, college-educated African Americans led the new
migration into the South. Georgia, Texas, and
Maryland were the “brain gain” states that attracted
the most black college graduates from 1995-2000,
while New York had the largest net loss.7
• Second, some of the old “Black Belt” counties in the
nonmetropolitan South (or the rural areas) have also
been recipients of this migration. In 96 counties, the
black population comprised 50 percent or more of
the county population and 95 of these counties were
in the non-metropolitan South. St. Louis, Mo., was
the only county outside of the South to have a black
3
U.S. Department of Commerce, The Social and Economic Status of the Black Population in the United States: A Historical
View, 1790-1978. Current Population Reports, Special Studies Series P. 23, No. 80.
4
For some of the literature on the black migrations, see the following: Daniel M. Johnson and Rex Campbell, Black
Migration in America: A Social Demographic History. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1981. Jacqueline Jones, “To
Get Out of This Land of Sufring”: Black Migrant Women, Work and Family in Northern Cities, 1900-1930. Working Paper
No. 91. Wellesley College Center for Research for Women. Wellesley, Mass., 1982. Marcus E. Jones, Black Migration in the
United States with Emphasis on Selected Central Cities. Saratoga, Calif.: Century Twenty-One Publishing, 1980.
5
William H. Frey, “The New Great Migration: Black Americans’ Return to the South, 1965-2000.” Center on Urban and
Metropolitan Policy of the Brookings Institution. The Living Cities Census Series. May, 2004: 1-16. U.S. Census Bureau,
The Black Population in the United States: March 2002.
6
Frey, Ibid., p. 1.
7
U.S. Census Bureau, March 2002: p. 5.
3
population exceed 50 percent. Cheaper housing in
the rural areas has attracted some older black people who have decided to retire in the South, as well
as some younger blacks who are willing to commute to jobs in metropolitan areas.
• Third, it is middle-class, well-educated African
Americans who are moving to the South, often attracted by a “critical mass of black professionals who
reside in and around many southern cities.”8 Some
predominantly black suburbs have developed outside
of Washington, D.C., Atlanta, and Nashville.
The overall implication of this homecoming of African
Americans from the Northeast, Midwest, and West to
the South is essentially positive for the Black Church.
The South as a region is known as the “Bible Belt,”
where religious
adherence in terms of
church attendance and
membership is higher
than anywhere else in
the country. Often the
third question in social
gatherings, after name
and occupation, is what
church do you belong
to? The strong religious
milieu and social
pressure will affect all of
the new black migrants, whether they were religious or
not before they migrated. The key question is what kind
of strategies can black churches adopt to deal with this
reverse migration.
The ministry is the
only class of black
professionals where the
majority of the
practitioners
do not have
graduate training.
Since it is the college educated African Americans
who make up the core of this movement, leaders of
the major black denominations need to keep stressing
educational requirements for black clergy. The
estimates of seminary trained black clergy vary from
20 to 30 percent nationwide.9 According to clergy who
attended a conference at Shaw University in 2004, the
consensus was that only 20 percent of the clergy they
knew in the field were seminary trained.10 As we
pointed out in The Black Church in the African
American Experience, the ministry is the only class of
black professionals where the majority of the practitioners do not have graduate training.11 While
seminary education is not a panacea or solution for
all problems, there is a growing demand for an
educated clergy by middle class African Americans.
For example, George Walker, a theologically trained
lay person who received an M.Div. from Duke
Divinity School and was the Deputy Operations
Director of the Center for Community Change in
Washington, D.C., decried the lack of critical engagement from the pulpits of black churches: “...I know
too many people who grew up in churches or you
know, had been really active and just got disheartened
because it’s like, look I just can’t be smart everyday and
then come to church and be stupid. They’re not
challenged by the pulpit. You know, the civic and critical engagement is just missing for a lot of
congregations.”12
The growth of the black middle class since the Civil
Rights period has also meant the beginning of the
suburbanization of black churches. Although there has
been no formal study of this topic, there is some
anecdotal information from observers of the Black
Church like Dr. David Shannon, former Academic
Dean of the Interdenominational Theological Center
in Atlanta and former President of the Andover
Newton Theological Seminary, who has wondered if
there is a paradigm shift occurring with churches
moving to the suburbs and leaving their original
urban communities.13 For example, a number of black
churches have moved from the central city of
Washington D.C. to Prince Georges County, a fast
8
Frey, p. 6.
9
Interviews with Dr. James Costen, former President of the Interdenominational Theological Center, before he died and with
Dr. Lawrence Jones, former Dean of the Howard Divinity School
10
Shaw University Conference on the Black Church where this paper was the focus of discussion for two days, October 8-9,
2004. The conference was sponsored by the Pulpit and Pew Project of Duke University and Shaw’s Divinity School.
11
C. Eric Lincoln and Lawrence H. Mamiya, The Black Church in the African American Experience. Durham, N.C.: Duke
University Press, 1990), p.p. 399-400.
12
Telephone interview with George Walker, for the Institute of Church Administration and Management’s research study by
Lawrence H. Mamiya and Riggins Earl, “Preparing Black Religious Leaders for Moral and Ethical Community
Leadership” supported by the Ford Foundation. June, 2004. Hereafter referred to as the ICAM Ford Ethics Project.
13
Telephone interview with Dr. David Shannon, former Dean of Academic Affairs at ITC in Atlanta. June 2004.
4
AMERICAN CIVIL RELIGION
AND BLACK CHURCHES
growing black suburb and a similar phenomenon with
people and churches leaving the urban core of
Atlanta for DeKalb County and other suburbs.
Shannon wonders what are these churches doing and
what is their moral responsibility to the poor people
they left behind? Will there be the “suburban captivity
of black churches” to paraphrase a famous critical
work by Gibson Winter of white churches, where
material accumulation reigns and the black urban
poor remain a distant memory?14
As the studies of the reverse migration point out, it is
not only the metropolitan South but also some of the
rural areas of the nonmetropolitan South that black
people are migrating to, which raise questions about
the adequacy of black rural church ministry. Should the
pattern of a largely “absentee pastorate” in rural
churches continue, where pastors have two to five
churches? As we pointed out earlier, the majority of
black rural church pastors live in urban areas and
commute an average of over 40 miles to their churches.15 The massive black migrations from the rural Black
Belt led to this situation in the 20th century. Black
Church culture has been affected by the migrations so
that even in urban churches today, many black
Christians see themselves as “first and third Sunday”
attenders or “second and fourth Sunday,” or only
“first Sunday attenders,” replicating an attendance pattern developed in rural churches. We will return to the
situation of black rural church ministry and what can
be done in a later section. A discussion of the relationship of black churches to American Civil Religion is
necessary to provide a framework for the analysis of
contemporary trends affecting them.
In his famous essay, sociologist Robert Bellah contended that there “actually exists alongside of and rather
clearly differentiated from the churches an elaborate
and well-institutionalized civil religion in America.”
Furthermore, he argued that “this religion—or perhaps
better, this religious dimension—has its own seriousness
and integrity and requires the same care in understanding that any other religion does.”16 In other words, civil
religion is social construct that holds that “most
Americans share common religious characteristics
expressed through civil religious beliefs, symbols, and
rituals that provide a religious dimension to the entirety
of American life.”17 Evidence for the existence of this
religious dimension is found in the references to “God”
in presidential inaugural speeches, in the sacredness and
respect given to the American flag, in the holy days of
the civil religion such as Memorial Day, July 4th
Independence Day, and Thanksgiving celebrations, and
in the values, ideals and beliefs represented by sacred
documents such as the Constitution, the Bill of Rights,
and the Declaration of Independence. Bellah has
argued that the American civil religion also has its times
of crisis or “trials,” such as the War of Independence,
the Civil War, and the Vietnam War.18 Addtionally, as in
any religion, there is a conception of evil—of sin and
brokenness— in the genocide of Native Americans and
the enslavement of Africans.19
All churches, synagogues, mosques, and temples participate in the civil religion to varying degrees, as do most
Americans. Whether one calls it “the American way of
life,” “American patriotism,” or “Americanism,” there is
an accommodation to the core values and beliefs of
American society. However, Bellah also argues that
there is a set of “civil religious principles” that
transcend the nation and represent a “higher standard”
14
Gibson Winter, The Suburban Captivity of the Churches: An Analysis of the Protestant Responsibility in the Expanding
Metropolis. Garden City: Doubleday, 1961.
15
Lincoln and Mamiya, p. 95-97.
16
Robert Bellah, “Civil Religion in America,” in Beyond Belief. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco: 1970, p. 168. The essay
was originally published in Daedalus, Journal of the Academy of Arts and Sciences, issue on “Religion in America,” Winter
1067, Vol. 96, No. 1, pp. 1-21.
17
See “Civil Religion” in the Encyclopedia of Religion and Society, edited by William H. Swatos, Jr. AltaMira Press.
www.hartfordinstitute.org/ency/civilrel.htm, p. 1.
18
Ibid., 6-12.
19
Robert Bellah, The Broken Covenant. Harper and Row: 1984.
5
prophetic dimension of American civil religion were in
accord with his own Christian beliefs and values.
This clarification of the relationship of American civil
religion and the black churches was necessary for an
evaluation of the emerging trends among the churches. Now we turn to the topic of Black Megachurches,
which despite many critics has become the most influential paradigm for ministry today.
BLACK MEGACHURCHES:
NEO-PENTECOSTALISM, TELEVANGELISM,
AND PROSPERITY GOSPEL
by which the nation should be judged.20 Perhaps it is best
to clarify the ambiguous tendencies of American civil religion by using the typology of “priestly” and “prophetic.”
The priestly direction encompasses the patriotic views of
some Americans who worship the American flag, and see
that their society can do no wrong (the “America, love it
or leave it” syndrome). On the other hand, the prophetic
valence encourages a critique of American society on the
basis of the transcendent values of liberty, justice, and
equality of the founding documents.
The priestly and prophetic dimensions of American civil
religion are found among all black churches. Some
churches and pastors will have the American flag in their
sanctuaries, participate in government funded programs
and raise no criticisms about the policies and directions of
government officials. Others will publicly criticize the government and take risks in protests and demonstrations.
For example, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. often reminded
his followers and public officials that they take seriously
“what was written on paper,” i.e. the values of the founding documents. He understood that the values of the
Over the past 30 years, megachurches with more than
2,000 members have been a major growth trend
among both black and white churches. Sociologist
Scott Thumma of the Hartford Institute for Religion
Research, who has developed a specialty of studying
megachurches, estimates that there were 763 of them
in 2004.21 While much of the media attention has
focused on the predominantly white Willow Creek
congregation in Illinois, the large scale participation
of African Americans in megachurch congregations
has escaped notice. Cheryl Gilkes has estimated that
African Americans constitute about 25 percent of the
participants in megachurch congregations, both black
and white.22 Thumma has pointed out that “Twelve
percent of churches without a black majority have a
significant (10-49 percent) black presence among their
regular attenders.”23 For some reason, African
American Christians have been disproportionately
attracted to megachurch congregations. Whether the
primary attraction is the size of the congregation, or
the charismatic pastor, or the message or the musical
program, or a combination of these factors, is not
known. Adequate congregational surveys of African
American participation in megachurches have not
been done.
Bishop T.D. Jakes, pastor of the 28,000 member Potter’s
House in Dallas, has been featured on the cover of
September 2001 Time magazine as “America’s best
20
Bellah, “Civil Religion in America” (1970:168; 1974:255).
21
Scott Thumma, “Database of Megachurches in the U.S..” Online web paper. Htt;//hirr.hartsem.edu.org/faith_megachurches_database.html
22
Cheryl Gilkes
23
Scott Thumma, “Database of Megachurches in the U.S., op. cit., p. 10.
24
Time Magazine, “Is This Man the Next Billy Graham?.” September 17, 2001. Also Atlanta Journal Constitution, June 23-26,
2004 on Bishop Jakes’s Megafest.
6
preacher.” His 2004 summer conference in Atlanta,
“Megafest,” attracted more than 100,000 persons.24 Time
speculated whether Jakes was the “next Billy Graham.”
Some other famous black megachurch preachers who
have also used televised their services include Rev. Dr.
Creflo Dollar of the World Changers Church
International, College Park, Ga.; Bishop Eddie Long of
the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia,
Ga.; Bishop G.E. Patterson of the Temple of
Deliverance Church of God in Christ in Memphis,
Tenn.; Rev. Dr. Frank Reid, III, of the Bethel A.M.E.
Church of Baltimore; Rev. Dr. Grainger Browning of
the Ebenezer A.M.E. Church in Fort Washington,
Maryland; Rev. Fred Price of the Crenshaw Christian
Center in Los Angeles, and Bishop Noel Jones of the
City of Refuge Church in Gardena, Calif.
Historically, there have always been a few black
megachurches in existence before their explosive
growth in the last quarter of the 20th century. For
example, the Bethel A.M.E. Church of Baltimore was
formally organized in 1816, its membership records
indicate that there were between 1,500 to 2,000 members in the mid-19th century.25 In the 1920’s the Rev.
Tinsley built the Tinsley Memorial United Methodist
Church with a membership of 12,000. The seating
capacity of that church was 3,000. In the 1940’s when
he decided to run for Congress, the Rev. Adam
Clayton Powell, Jr. claimed that he had 8,000
members in the Abyssinian Baptist Church in
Harlem, which he mobilized as his political base. The
Antioch Baptist Church in New York City, the Olivet
Baptist Church in Chicago and others were among
the early black megachurches in existence by the
1950’s. The Rev. Dr. Gardner Taylor had built the
membership of the Concord Baptist Church to more
than 15,000 members by 1985.26
Much of the current research has focused on white
megachurches.27 Ms. Tamlyn Tucker-Worgs, a doctoral
candidate in political science at the University of
Maryland, is conducting the only major study of
black megachurches.
In an article, “Get on Board, Little Children, There’s
Room for Many More: The Black Megachurch
Phenomenon,” Tucker-Worgs examined 66 black
megachurches for her dissertation and for Project
2000, a national study of black religious life based at
ITC in Atlanta.28 She used a base line definition of
2,000 average weekly attendees (AWA) for her
definition of megachurch and not church membership.
Obviously, church membership figures would be higher than attendance figures, which range from one-third
to 50 percent of the total membership for most black
churches.29 For Tucker-Worgs the mean AWA is 4,832.
Over 50 percent of the churches averaged about 4,000
people per week and only 6 percent averaged over
10,000 persons. Black megachurches are predominantly urban churches in comparison to white
megachurches, which tend to be suburban. However,
most of the attendees of black megachurches are
African Americans who live in the outer city or
suburbs and commute. Furthermore, their
membership is overwhelmingly middle to upper middle class. Many of them have great difficulty attracting
the black poor who may live in the neighborhood of
these urban churches. According to Tucker-Worgs,
most of the black megachurches are also located in
Sunbelt cities such as Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, and
Los Angeles, including the Washington-Baltimore
area. In terms of denominational affiliation, her study
of 66 black megachurches were divided as follows:
Baptist, 46 percent; Nondenominational, 29 percent;
Black Church in white denominations (United
Methodist, Disciples of Christ, and United Church of
Christ) 9 percent; A.M.E. 8 percent; Sanctified Church
(COGIC, Pentecostal, Assemblies of the World, Bible
Way Church, Apostolic) 8 percent.
25
See Lawrence H. Mamiya, “A Social History of the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Baltimore: The House
of God and The Struggle for Freedom,” in American Congregations, Volume 1: Portraits of Twelve Religious Communities,
edited by James P. Wind and James W. Lewis. University of Chicago Press, 1994: p. 229.
26
Lincoln and Mamiya , p. 190.
27
Scott Thumma, “Megachurches Today: Summary of data from the Faith Communities Today Project.” See the Hartford
Institute for Religion Research website: http://hirr.hartsem.edu/org/faith_megachurches_FACTsummary.html.
28
Tamlyn Tucker-Worgs, “Get on Board, Little Children, There’s Room for Many More: The Black Megachurch
Phenomenon,” in Journey Inward, Journey Outward, a special book length issue of the Journal of the Interdenominational
Theological Center on the ITC/Faith Factor Project 2000 Study of Black Religious Life, edited by Joseph Troutman.
Volume XXIX, Nos. 1 and 2, Fall 2001/Spring 2002: 177-203.
29
See Lincoln and Mamiya, The Black Church in the African American Experience, pp. 141-142.
7
THE GROWTH OF PENTECOSTAL AND
NEO-PENTECOSTAL INFLUENCES:
BAPTICOSTAL AND METHICOSTAL
CHURCHES
In The Black Church in the African American
Experience, we pointed to the phenomenon of the
growth of a “neo-Pentecostal” movement among
African Methodist Episcopal Churches. About a
dozen of the largest and wealthiest A.M.E. churches
such as Bethel A.M.E. in Baltimore, Ebenezer
A.M.E. in Fort Washington, Maryland, Allen A.M.E.
in Queens, Ward A.M.E. and First A.M.E. of Los
Angeles were all part of the growth of a neoPentecostal movement among traditional denominational black churches.30 Similar Pentecostal
phenomena have been
found in a number of
Baptist megachurches.
All of these churches
have adopted an enthusiastic charismatic worship style, often
referred to as “praise
worship,” that included
glossolalia or speaking
in tongues, holy dancing, instrumental bands including drums, and upbeat
gospel singing. The practices of falling out, rolling on
the floor and shouting were no longer limited to the
lower class store front “sanctified churches” of the
black migrations of the early 20th century, but they
had spread to the middle class Baptist and Methodist
churches. Some pastors have called them
“Bapticostal” or “Methicostal” churches. All of the
black megachurches in Tucker-Work’s sample are
either traditionally Pentecostal or neo-Pentecostal in
worship style. In fact Pentecostalism is the fastest
growing sector of Christianity not only in the United
States but also in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. In
order to understand the process and dynamics
In fact Pentecostalism
is the fastest growing sector
of Christianity not only
in the United States
but also in Asia, Africa,
and Latin America.
involved in developing a megachurch, we interviewed
Bishop Charles Blake who recently built one of the
most elaborate and costly megachurch buildings in
the Crenshaw district of Los Angeles.
THE STORY OF BISHOP CHARLES E. BLAKE
OF THE WEST ANGELES CATHEDRAL
CHURCH OF GOD IN CHRIST IN LOS
ANGELES
Bishop Charles E. Blake, founder and pastor of the
West Angeles Cathedral Church of God in Christ, a
predominantly African American megachurch with
19,000 members that recently erected a magnificent
$65 million new church building, claimed that in the
beginning of his ministry he was not prepared to
manage a large organization.31 His theological education at the C.H. Mason Seminary of the
Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta
had not focused on the evangelism of megachurches.
His seminary education was deficient in providing
training in organizational life, administration and
management. Bishop Blake began his ministry in a
small storefront of 50 members in Los Angeles in
1969 after graduating from ITC. Although he had
some natural skills as a community organizer, he
actively sought “greater exposure” to organizational
management. In 1970 he became aware of the Rev.
Robert Schuller’s Leadership Institute and enrolled.
He was the only black pastor in the group. The
Insititute helped to broaden his horizons.
Bishop Blake learned that the Rev. Dr. David (Paul)
Yonggi Cho of Seoul, South Korea, had built the
largest megachurch congregation in the world, the
Yoido Full Gospel Church, with an estimated 780,000
members.32 He has seven 14-story buildings in downtown Seoul that that house his church staff and provide rooms for small group meetings. Thousands of
small group meetings help to provide the personal
ministry in a megachurch. These small groups are the
30
Ibid., pp. 385-387. According to Bishop John Adams, since 1990 the Ebenezer A.M.E. Church in Fort Washington,
pastored by the Rev. Dr. Grainger Browning, has emerged as the largest A.M.E. Church with 20,000 members. Adams
interview in Atlanta, August 10, 2004.
31
Interview with the Bishop Charles Blake of the West Angeles Church of God in Christ in Los Angeles, August 21, 2001.
Duke Divinity School, Pulpit and Pew research.
32
See the website of the Yoido Full Gospel Church for its history and development: http://www.factindex.com/y/yo/yoido_full_gospel_church.html. Also see Dr. H. Vinson Synan’s “The Yoido Full Gospel Church” in
Cyberjournal for Pentecostal-Charismatic Research, 1-6. Joel Comiskey has also written about the Yoido Full Gospel
Church in a more critical fashion. See http://www.comiskey.org/tutorials/yoiido_full_gospel_church.html
8
key for megachurch members overcoming the
anonymity of mass worship. For Blake the main principles were:
1. Small groups of congregational members meeting
weekly
2. Ministries based on the needs of the people
3. Meet the desires of the people
4. Competent staff. A megachurch needs to pay the
salaries to hire competent people with special skills
and not rely only on volunteers.
5. Read Peter Drucker’s book on organizational management.33
According to Blake, the key to a megachurch is “structure.” “When mass exceeds structure, collapse is imminent. A church can grow as long as the organizational
structure is in place.” For Blake, Dr. Cho’s church is
illustrative of the point that there is no numerical
limit to the size of a megachurch, as long as the structure allows it grow.
Blake’s theology is to win as many souls as possible to
Christ. “Christ enhances life. We are lost without
God.” He is evangelistic in his approach and has the
following goals:
1. Glory to God
2. Evangelism of the world
3. Edification of believers.
In the first six years of Blake’s ministry, church membership doubled every year until it reached 1,000
members. In 1976 the church bought its first property.
From 1976 to 1978 they had two services with 2,000
in attendance. In 1978-79 the church used the Lincoln
Theater for its services. In 1981 the offices and sanctuary on Crenshaw Boulevard were built. Bishop Blake
said that he “consciously tried to prepare for growth.”
In 2001 the $65 million West Angeles Cathedral was
completed, capable of seating 5,000 persons with a
modern stage flanked by a large screen video projection system. Professional staff members handle the
video, television, and sound systems. Two morning
services, attracting 4,000 to 5,000 worshipers each, are
held in the Cathedral and a smaller evening service of
about 500 attendees is held in the old sanctuary. The
evening service accomodates the women and others
33
who work as domestics in hotels during the day. The
floor of the Cathedral has inlaid marble. There is a
room with a one way glass for nursing mothers or
mothers with small children. Magic Johnson and
Denzel Washington are co-chairs of the church’s
building fund committee.
Like many megachurches, West Angeles has practical
community ministries, economic and social programs
that do the “earthly things to alleviate suffering.” The
church sponsors some 80 ministries, including jail visits and services in prisons, rehabilitation and counseling program, alcohol and substance abuse program,
HIV/AIDS efforts, a West Angeles Community
Development Corporation for the economic development of the neighborhood, housing, Home Buyers
club, Legal Clinic, literacy, computer training, and
programs for age cohort groups such as seniors,
youth, single young adults, married couples and families.
For Blake, a successful megachurch has to have the
following ingredients:
1. A pastor who is an effective communicator
2. Orderly worship services that are designed for effectiveness
3. Music that will attract members.
Following the Pentecostal tradition, West Angeles has
a professional instrumental group with drums, horns,
bass guitar and synthesizers, as well as several large
choirs of more than 100 members. However, Blake
also cautions that although a pastor can attract
crowds of people with theatrical acts and musical
shows, in order to retain them one needs both “structure and substance.”
The structure of the West Angeles Cathedral has 200
employees, highly capable persons who head
departments and programs of the church. The church
seeks self-starters and capable executives. According to
Blake, “the market is there. The dimensions of human
nature are not something that will disappear
overnight.” There has to be attempts to meet the “felt
needs” of people through personal contact. The church
has mechanisms through small groups and programs to
focus on the individual and accelerate individual
involvement in the church. Asked if he fears that the
$65 million building will leave a very large debt burden
Peter Drucker, Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices. New York: Harper & Row, 1985, c 1974. Given the timeline
of developing his megachurch, Blake probably read the first edition of Drucker’s work published in 1974.
9
for the next pastor and the next generation, Blake said
he had no such fears. As long as the organizational
structure remains effective, a talented pastor can move
in without great difficulty and keep up the growth of
the megachurch. Besides, he plans to complete the
building campaign before he retires.
In commenting about racism in American society and in
churches, Bishop Blake said that “The Black Church has
always been open to diversity. Scores of white ministers
pastor churches with black members. Members of other
races are welcomed at black churches. But the appalling
factor is the “unwillingness of whites to submit to black
leadership on a large scale.” Many whites do not want to
leave “their circle of security” to participate in the life of
black congregations. Blacks have always been and are
“bi-cultural”; they live in and are familiar with both the
black and white worlds. On the other hand, most whites
are “mono-cultural”; they feel no necessity to live in both
worlds or to have a familiarity with black culture.
In regard to a future merger between the largest
Pentecostal denominations, the predominantly black
Church of God in Christ and the largely white
Assemblies of God, Blake said that the Assemblies
were conservative politically and theologically but
COGIC tended to be conservative theologically but liberal politically. “There is a need for the
transformation of American society and a need for
decisive action by the federal government.” He felt
that “the Assemblies of God were not there during
the Civil Rights movement and the fight for justice
and that neither will they be there when the diseases
of the inner city need to be alleviated.” Both denominations are miles apart politically and theologically.
So he did not see a merger in the future.
BLACK MEGACHURCHES, PROSPERITY
GOSPEL, AND THE GROWTH OF LOCAL
BIBLE INSTITUTES
The preaching of a “Prosperity Gospel” has been an
influential trend in many black churches, but especially among some of the megachurches. The rise of a
prosperity message has coincided with the prominent
rise of a black middle class since the Civil Rights era.
The black middle class has grown from the “talented
tenth” of W.E.B. Du Bois in the early 20th century to
the “talented one third” of the present era. As Max
Weber pointed out in The Protestant Ethic and the
Spirit of Capitalism, the Calvinistic theology of the
early Puritans resolved the uncertainty of God’s predestination by rationalizing material accumulation as
a sign of God’s blessing and certain salvation.34 The
current versions of prosperity gospel have their foundations in American Puritanism, capitalism, and the
value of individualism. However, it should be pointed
out that not all of the pastors of black megachurches
are adherents of the prosperity gospel. Some of the
pastors like the Rev. Dr. Calvin Butts of the
Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem have been critical of the injustices of American capitalism and the
prosperity message.35
The “Word Faith” movement, sometimes referred to as
the Faith movement, was begun by the Rev. Kenneth
Hagin Sr. in 1934 and carried by his son, Rev. Kenneth
Hagin Jr., pastor of the Rhema Bible Church in Tulsa,
Okla. The Hagins have a strong emphasis upon
healing, and healing sessions are held daily at their
Bible institute. Word Faith teaching of both Hagins
through their television ministry and Bible Institute has
influenced some famous black megachurch pastors,
including Bishop T.D. Jakes, Bishop Eddie Long, Rev.
Creflo Dollar, Rev. Fred Price, the Rev. Dr. LeRoy
Thompson and, to some extent, Bishop Charles Blake.
Televangelist Benny Hinn’s healing ministry is part of
Word Faith constituency.
Some of the main teachings of the Word Faith view
include: “We can command God by our words and God
wants us healthy and wealthy. And if we are not healthy
and wealthy, it is because of our lack of faith and knowledge. And that our world is what we speak it to be.”36
The core of the Prosperity Gospel message for
African American Christians is found in the books
and sermons of the Rev. Dr. Creflo A. Dollar, Jr.,
pastor of the World Changers Church International,
a nondenominational Word-of-Faith church with
more than 28,000 members in College Park, Georgia.
34
Max Weber, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1958.
35
See the senior thesis of James Williams on the Abyssinian Baptist Church’s Community Development Corporation:
“Radical Economic Vision and Religious Community Development.” Senior thesis in the Religion Department, Vassar
College. Spring, 2004.
36
See the following website: http://www.myfortress.org/bishopeddielong.html
10
In his televised megachurch services, Dollar has had
members come forward to put their dollar bills on the
steps leading to the main pulpit. In his book, No
More Debt!: God’s Strategy for Debt Cancellation, he
argues that “God wants us to experience total life
prosperity. This includes mental, physical, spiritual
and financial wholeness.”37 In Dollar’s own
experience, “It began with a decision to get out of
debt, a changed mindset, and positive, Word-based
confessions. My heart’s desire was to become a
millionaire, so I began to say, “I’m a millionaire!”
daily...Today that confession became a reality.”38
Moreover, from both Old and New Testament teachings, Dollar says, “You see, it is the will of God that
we live a prosperous life. But no one can do that if
they are broke.”39 Frequent repetition of Word-based
mantras and a deep faith belief in it form the essence
of the Word Faith movement. According to a New
Yorker article, “Pray and Grow Rich,” focused on Dr.
Dollar’s ministry of money, the World Changers
Church spends most of its $3 to $6 million monthly
budget on itself and makes modest donations to the
Atlanta Union Mission.40
Another African American prosperity preacher, Dr.
Leroy Thompson Sr., who is also a part of the Wordof-Faith ministries in Darrow, La., has used a more
blunt style in arguing that Money Cometh! To the
Body of Christ. One of his chapters, entitled
“Releasing the Curse of Poverty from the Body of
Christ,” underscores the old Puritan rationalization
that poverty is a sign of God’s curse and wealth is a
sign of his blessing.41 Thompson also says that poverty
is a “result of the unbalanced teaching about prosperity.”42 However, moving beyond the Puritans who
could not enjoy the results of their material accumulation, Thompson enjoins Christians “to enjoy life”
and take vacations and holidays.43
Bishop Charles Blake of the West Angeles Church of
God in Christ said, “The priority of my ministry is the
Bible.” He strives to present the Good News in such a
way that people grow spiritually. He believes in
healing, prosperity, and faith. In commenting about
the trend to emphasize the “Prosperity Gospel” in
some megachurches, Blake said that he also knows
that true Christianity also involves sacrifice and suffering. “Poverty is not God’s punishment,” said Blake in
opposition to some proponents of the Prosperity
Gospel, “Negative things happen to all people.”44
The theological strengths and weaknesses of the
Prosperity Gospel movement should be seen in the
context of upwardly mobile working and middle class
members in African American communities.
Black megachurches, like their white counterparts,
have also encouraged the growth of local Bible
Institutes. Their size and wealth have enabled them to
set up these institutes largely for the continued education of their lay members. Although there has been no
formal study of these institutes, anecdotal data and
field visits indicate that there is a wide variety. In most
megachurches associated with the mainline black
37
Creflo A. Dollar, Jr. No More Debt: God’s Strategy for Debt Cancellation. Creflo Dollar Ministries, 2000. p. 12.
38
Ibid., p. 16.
39
Ibid., p. 61.
40
Kelefa Sanneh, “Pray and Grow Rich: Dr. Creflo Dollar’s ministry of money.” New Yorker magazine, October 11, 2004, pp.
48-57.
41
Leroy Thompson, Sr. Money Cometh! To the Body of Christ. Chapter 2, pp. 22-48. Tulsa, Oklahoma: Harrison House, Inc.
42
Ibid., p. 174.
43
Ibid., pp. 189-191.
44
Interview with Bishop Charles Blake, op. cit.
11
denominations, the institutes just focus on lay education. For example, at the Bethel A.M.E. Church of
Baltimore, the Bible institute is called a Bible “boot
camp” for adult members. Graduates of Bethel’s Bible
courses who want to enter the professional ministry
are then encouraged to go to an accredited theological
seminary such as the Howard Divinity School, where
Bethel has sent more than 150 students in the past two
decades. In fact, denominationally related black
megachurches are a good recruiting ground for seminary admissions offices. However, many
nondenominational megachurches that sponsor Bible
institutes tend to use them as terminal training for
future clergy. For example, the Faithful Central Bible
Church of Los Angeles led by Pastor Kenneth C.
Ulmer, a predominantly black 18,000 member
megachurch that bought the Los Angeles Forum
where the L.A. Lakers once played, has its own fullfledged Bible institute and trains its own clergy.
Apprenticeship to a pastor and attendance at local
Bible institutes have been the primary means by which
most black clergy have received their training. Many
of these Bible institutes are uneven in quality.
However, Oral Roberts University has set up an evangelical accrediting agency that helps to accredit local
Bible colleges and many black megachurches have
found this attractive for the schools they operate.45
For many black clergy, Bible institutes have been
attractive because they meet several needs, including
credentialing, low cost, and accessible education.
According to the Rev. Eugene Williams III, executive
director of the Los Angeles Metropolitan Churches,
since most black and Latino clergy do not have the
time or money to attend seminary, seminaries should
provide certificate courses in settings where the
pastors would feel comfortable.46
Some models have been developed to meet this educational need. For example, the Virginia Union
Theological Seminary has set up a weekend program
(Thursday to Saturday) where pastors can take courses at a low cost and still continue pastoring their
churches on Sundays. The New York Theological
Seminary has developed a relationship with Nyack
College where pastors can take evening continuing
education programs in their institute. Similarly, The
Urban Center of Gordon Conwell in Roxbury,
Boston, has developed evening and weekend courses
for pastors, even teaching them in their own
languages—Spanish, Haitian Creole, etc.
The historically black divinity schools need to come
to terms with the diverse ways of educating black pastors and develop their own outreach strategies. Black
megachurches are beginning to fill the void with their
own Bible institutes.
CRITICISMS OF BLACK MEGACHURCHES
The trend of black megachurches as the dominant
model of ministry in the contemporary period has also
drawn its share of critics. Briefly, the criticisms include:
the lack of an emphasis on justice; the critique of televangelism and the prosperity gospel; the isolationism
of the megachurches from local black clergy alliances
or associations; and the fact that the vast majority of
black churches nationwide are smaller in size, usually
from 100 to 500 members in attendance.
According to Bishop John Hurst Adams of the
A.M.E. Church, the major problem with both black
and white megachurches is a lack of emphasis on justice. Much of the worship is focused on “Praise worship,” and the preaching fails to engage the critical
issues of justice in American society. Adams said:
...maybe this is an issue I ought to lift up
because it is a real concern to me, is the model
of ministry to which our young clergy look
upon are the television preachers where they see
big crowds and big money, both of which can
have a corrupting influence. But the models of
ministry, I wrote about, for example, during the
Civil Rights era were people who are cause oriented, and justice oriented. The models of ministry which our young clergy look to now are the
success images of money and people, big crowds,
big money. And that’s an issue which I think
bears some responsibility for what we’re talking
about.47
45
See Delores Carpenter, A Time for Honor: A Portrait of African American Clergywomen. St. Louis, Missouri: Chalice Press,
2001: p. 141.
46
Interview with Rev. Eugene Williams III, Executive Director of the Los Angeles Metropolitan Churches, August 17, 2001.
Duke Divinity School, Pulpit and Pew research.
47
Interview with Bishop John Hurst Adams, ICAM Ford Ethics Project, op. cit. , p. 21.
12
In a similar vein, the Rev. Mark Lomax of the First
Presbyterian Church in Lithonia, Ga., argued that the
black megachurch preachers have shaped “the moral
consciousness of America” through television airtime;
they have become the “superstars” of the African
American Church:
I think that they have moved away from what we
have understood traditionally as the Christian faith
in black communities to something more akin to
capitalism with a quasi-religious gurney. That is to
say this whole notion of prosperity has taken precedence and along with that comes a number of
things, you know, all of these conferences, the great
big buildings—the preachers being really chiefs or
kings or queens of their own little kingdoms. You
know, and they really never address the deeper
issues that affect black life in America.48
Lomax proposes countering the effects of televangelists by having African American pastors who emphasize a justice ministry to get air time via public
broadcasting stations.
While most of the preaching in black megachurches
can be criticized for a lack of focus on justice issues,
however, some of them like Bishop Blake’s West
Angeles Church of God in Christ have extensive multiple ministries such as prison ministry, rehabilitation
program for substance abusers, HIV/AIDS program,
a community development center, housing, home buyers club, Legal clinic, literacy program, and programs
for senior citizens and youth. Their youth program
also attempts to reach out to street gang leaders.
Bishop T.D. Jakes of Potter’s House is well known for
his work in prisons and with the 2.1 million incarcerated men and women, more than half of whom are
African American.
Bishop John Bryant of the Fifth Episcopal District
for the A.M.E. Church, who led the development of
the neo-Pentecostal movement among the AMEs, also
echoed the same criticism of just focusing on “praise
worship.” When he was a pastor, he developed two
megachurch congregations—St. Paul’s A.M.E.
Church in Cambridge (from 200 to over 3,000 members) and Bethel A.M.E. Church in Baltimore (from
500 to over 7,000 members). According to Bryant, the
winning formula was “an emphasis on the Holy
Spirit” and “active involvement in the community”
because “the Spirit is given to do.” The combination
of deep spirituality and activism was Biblical. “Jesus
fed folk, he delivered folk, and he led them in prayer.”
He continued,
One must ask the question, “Holy Spirit for
what?” What are we going to do? If all we are
doing is jumping up and down in the air, speaking
in other tongues, saying, “Yea, the Spirit is with
us,” that’s fine. But I preach all the time that that
is taking the gravy and leaving the Spirit. The
meat of the Holy Spirit is for our empowerment.
It’s for our liberation and development. It’s for
our strength as a people. And it has been that.49
At both St. Paul and Bethel, Bryant emphasized the
Holy Spirit and praise worship but he also developed
outreach ministries—an economic development ministry, a prison ministry, a ministry to whole persons.
“I try to think of as many needs as people have,” said
Bryant, “and try to address those.”50
Father John Bauman, a Jesuit priest and the executive
director of the Pacific Institute of Community
Organizations (PICO), said that the major problem
with the black megachurches is their isolationism from
the local community. As the largest purveyor of faithbased community organizations for social change,
PICO requires that all local churches buy into the plan
of organizing both financially and in terms of time and
leadership resources. In PICO’s experience, most black
churches and clergy are willing to participate except for
the very large megachurches. “They feel that they have
enough power as a church in the community,” said
Bauman,” and that they don’t need to participate with
or tie into a community organization....The pastor (of
the large megachurch) is often in some relationship with
the elected officials of the city and sometimes they don’t
want to be in an organization that sometimes challenges
or puts the elected officials on the spot.”51 This
48
Interview with the Rev. Mark Lomax, Ibid., p. 36.
94
Lawrence H. Mamiya, “A Social History of the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Baltimore: The House of
God and the Struggle for Freedom,” chapter Four in James P. Wind and James W. Lewis, American Congregations, Volume
1: Portraits of Twelve Religious Communities. University of Chicago Press, 1994: p. 266.
50
Ibid.
51
Interview with John Bauman, CSJ, ICAM Ford Ethics Project, p. 17
13
isolationism not only affects community organizations
but also local black clergy alliances or associations.
Finally, the Rev. Eugene Williams III, executive director
of the Los Angeles Metropolitan Churches, pointed out
that the vast majority of black churches in the United
States are smaller to medium sized congregations. He also
felt that most of the media attention went to the
megachurches while the smaller churches, which make
up the largest portion of LA Metro Churches, really carried the daily burden of the struggle for justice in most
black communities.52 He also felt that the “human capital of these congregations was not nurtured.” The media,
televangelists, and megachurches “don’t place value on
smaller churches.” This trend is “detrimental” because
there is a need for strong local churches. Megachurches
also create the “false perception that they are blessed.”
Williams was also critical of the isolation of most of the
megachurches, which made it difficult to organize politically. They do not engage with public policy and fail to
challenge the government.
In her incisive critique of televangelists and
megachurches, Marla Fredericks has argued:
The impact of televangelism is a question yet
unfolding. The ideas of individualism, prosperity
and materialism, and multiculturalism without a
critique of racism raise formidable questions for
the black church as a public sphere engaged with
America’s systemic racial problems.53
The failure of some black megachurch televanglism to
raise prophetic critiques about racism and social justice indicate that they are part of the priestly valence
of American civil religion. They tend to bless and
legitimate the social order. There is an uncritical
merging with the American flag and the nation.
THE BLACK CHURCH AND
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT:
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
GRANTS TO FAITH BASED
INSTITUTIONS, COMMUNITY
DEVELOPMENT CORPORATIONS,
AND THE COMMUNITY
REINVESTMENT ACT
In The Black Church in the African American
Experience, Lincoln and I referred to the fact that
black churches were central to the development of
economic enterprises in black communities, from
instilling the value system of economic rationality over
the pulpit (“save for a rainy day”; “buy land” etc.) and
promoting the education of its members to helping to
establish the first black owned banks and life
insurance companies in the late 19th and early 20th
centuries.54 These economic development efforts have
not disappeared but continue to the present day.
However, where the earlier efforts were often
independent ones at creating parallel institutions in a
rigidly segregated society, the current economic development projects sponsored by black churches involve
a mix of church funds, government funds, foundation
grants and money from banks and other corporations.
The trend of black churches receiving and handling
grant monies from city, state, and federal governments
has been a long term one, beginning with President
Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty programs, which
funded Head Start and Breakfast programs, including
community organizing efforts, which were often based
in many black urban churches. The trend was continued in the 1980’s and 1990’s by the U.S. Department
of Housing and Urban Development in providing
grants and matching funds to black churches interested in developing housing for senior citizens and the
poor. For example, using federal and city funds, the
Nehemiah Houses Project (named after the 5th century prophet who rebuilt Jerusalem) in Brooklyn and the
Bronx has completed more than 5,000 units of “mixed
income housing,” with 40 percent of the units dedicat-
52
Interview with the Rev. Eugene Williams, III op. cit.
53
Marla F. Frederick. Between Sundays: Black Women and Everyday Struggles of Faith. Berkeley, California: University of
California Press, 2003, pp. 157-158.
54
Lincoln and Mamiya, op. cit. See Chapter Nine, “The American Dream and the American Dilemma: The Black Church
and Economics.”
14
ed to the poor. The Rev. Johnny Youngblood headed
the community organization of 55 East Brooklyn
Congregations.55 The emphasis on mixed income housing is twofold: first, to prevent the warehousing of the
poor in large housing projects as occurred from the
1940’s to 1970’s which often socially isolated the poor;
second, to provide role models of working adults for
poor persons, especially children, to emulate. As a
result, black churches have become among the largest
builders of public housing in the country.
The Welfare Reform legislation under President
Clinton included “Charitable Choice,” which enlarged
the role for religious institutions to compete for federal funds in delivering basic social services, ranging
from food, shelter, and clothing programs to
substance abuse programs, including those for the
community reentry of incarcerated persons back to
their communities. Using the slogan “Compassionate
Conservatism,” President George W. Bush created the
White House Office of Faith-Based and Community
Initiatives to push Charitable Choice as an option for
individual churches and religious groups as service
providers. The Office has focused on the following
populations: At-Risk Youth, Ex-Offenders, Homeless,
Hungry, Substance Abusers, those with HIV/AIDS,
and Welfare to Work Families.56 The Faith-Based and
Community Initiatives proposal has generated much
controversy about the doctrine of the separation of
church and state. Among black clergy and churches
there is no unanimity about this kind of participation
in receiving federal funds. We will return to the
controversy and criticisms after elaborating two other
program trends—Community Development
Corporations and the Community Reinvestment Act.
Community Development Corporations (CDCs)
sponsored by black churches arose in the mid-1960’s
as 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations to receive funds
and grants to develop the surrounding community.
The Rev. Dr. William Holmes Borders of the Wheat
Street Baptist Church in Atlanta became one of the
pioneers in this field by establishing a CDC in 1964 to
develop housing for senior citizens. In order to meet
community needs in housing, child care,
transportation, food shopping, and other services,
black churches began to establish faith-based
nonprofit community development corporations. In
1978 under the leadership of the Rev. Floyd Flake the
Allen A.M.E. Church in St. Albans, Queens,
established the Allen Neighborhood Preservation and
Development Corporation (NCPD) and 10 other
nonprofit affiliates of the church. Allen NCPD
acquired Section 202 funding for the elderly from
HUD to build the $10.7 million Allen Senior Citizen
Complex of 300 units, which is the largest Section 202
project in the country.57
According to Michael Leo Owens, the leading
researcher on black church affiliated CDCs, there are
two types of these organizations. The first type is the
“free-standing black church-affiliated CDC,” which is
usually associated with large, urban mainline congregations such as Allen A.M.E. The second type is illustrated by the “coalition-based CDC” affiliated with a
formal or informal association of churches.58 For
example, in 1986 about 90 religious leaders, including
the Rev. Wyatt Tee Walker of the Canaan Baptist
Church, formed the Harlem Congregations for
Community Improvement, an umbrella CDC organization that aimed to develop community housing and
business projects. Construction is underway to build a
45,000 square-foot Pathmark Supermarket at 145th
Street and Frederick Douglass Boulevard in central
Harlem, which has lacked any large supermarkets for
its residents. The project also includes market rate
housing, which is attracting middle class blacks,
immigrants, and whites to the neighborhood.59
The Abyssinian Development Corporation, established
by the Abyssinian Baptist Church, is another example
of the “free standing” model, which created the
Harlem Center, a $60 million retail and office building
on West 125th Street. It also brought to the blighted
neighborhood an H&M department store, Marshalls,
CVS pharmacy, Staples and the Washington Mutual
55
Ibid. See pp. 57-58 for other examples of housing built by black churches.
56
See the website on Faith-Based and Community Initiatives: http://www.whitehouse.gov/government/fbci/
57
Michael Leo Owens, “Black Church-Affiliated Community Development Corporations and the Coproduction of
Affordable Housing in New York City,” in Nonprofits in Urban America by Richard C. Hula and Cynthia Jackson-Elmore.
Westport, CT: 2000, p. 188.
58
Ibid., p. 180.
59
Jamal E. Watson, “Black Churches Develop Congregations, Corporations,” Amsterdam News, July 24, 2003.
15
Bank. The Abyssinian CDC is also building a new
school—The Thurgood Marshall Academy for
Learning and Social Change—which will be the first
new high school built in Harlem in 50 years. It has built
and continues to build housing in Harlem. The pastor
of Abyssinian Baptist, the Rev. Dr. Calvin O. Butts III
has said, “We think things are going well. We are
involved in total community development, from
residential to commercial to educational and cultural.
We are very happy with our efforts because we have
created thousands of apartments and homes without
any displacement.” Butts’s reference to “displacement”
alludes to the usual process of gentrification that
removes the poor and working class from areas they
previously inhabited. However, mixed income housing
has prevented much of that displacement.60
While most faith-based
CDC’s have been sponsored by black
megachurches such as
Abyssinian Baptist or
Allen A.M.E., a few
have also been
established by smaller
churches. A prominent
example is the CDC
established by Apostle
Margaret McGhee,
pastor of the New
Horizon Church, an
independent
Pentecostal church, in
Fordyce, Arkansas.
Although she was raised a Baptist as the daughter of
a Baptist preacher, she became a Pentecostal when the
Baptists refused to ordain her. Her 150 member black
rural church has created a CDC that has established
the only full-time day care center in a town of 3,000
and built housing for senior citizens and the poor. Its
ministries include a food bank and feeding program, a
clothing bank, a prison ministry, and outreach to single mothers. Their youth program includes Christian
rappers. With her husband, an educator and pastor,
He feels that a
gradual erosion of
prophetic criticism of
political figures and
government policies
will set in as the clergy
begin to mute their
public voices because they
don’t want to “bite the
hand that feeds them.”
she would like to build a school. Often recognized as
“the most powerful black woman” in the state of
Arkansas even though she is only 5 feet tall, Apostle
McGhee, age 50, has been persistent in building contacts within state government, foundations, and other
funding sources. As one pastor said, “when she calls,
the governor answers”. Where she lacked knowledge
about grant writing, accounting, or creating nonprofits, she took seminars or sought professional help.61
The CDC established by her small rural church has
brought several million dollars of economic development and housing to Fordyce. She has hired a full
time grant writer and an accountant on her staff.
The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) was established by Congress in 1977 to encourage depository
institutions to help meet the credit needs of the communities in which they operate, including low- and
moderate-income neighborhoods.62 However, it was
not until the mid-1980’s that black churches and clergy began to use the economic leverage of the bank
and deposit accounts of their churches for the
economic development of their neighborhoods. In
1985 the Rev. Charles Stith, pastor of the Union
United Methodist Church in Boston, created the
Organization for a New Equality (O-N-E), a nonprofit civil rights organization that helped to spread the
word about CRAs to the Black Church community.
Stith, who became U.S. ambassador to Tanzania
under President Clinton, also pushed for reforms to
the CRA legislation in 1995, which enabled churches
to get matching funds from local banks for economic
development programs in their neighborhoods. ONE
has launched a Campaign for Economic Literacy that
involves partnerships between churches, business leaders, community organizations, and financial
institutions, including major corporations. The
Campaign for Economic Literacy has programs to
teach low income families about the value of financial
instruments. As an Annie E. Casey research report
contends, Stith is among “a new generation of leaders
who are working to create economic strategies that
will promote equal opportunity for women and people of color.”63
60
Ibid. The Malcolm Shabazz Masjid in Harlem has also sponsored a CDC to develop mixed housing in Harlem—243 apartments and 20 townhouses.
61
Interview with John Bauman, CSJ, The ICAM Ford Ethics Project, p. 12.
62
Website of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination. http://www.ffiee.gov/cra/history.htm
63
Annie E. Casey Research Brief No. 2, “The Role of Faith Based Organizations In Promoting Family Economic Success,” p. 23.
16
CRITICISMS OF BLACK CHURCHES
ACCEPTING GOVERNMENT GRANTS
Besides the usual concerns about separation of church
and state (i.e. establishing a state church), the main argument against black churches receiving government grants
comes from Bishop John Hurst Adams, the recently
retired Senior Bishop of the A.M.E. Church. He argues
that taking government money diminishes the prophetic
role of black churches and clergy. He feels that a gradual
erosion of prophetic criticism of political figures and
government policies will set in as the clergy begin to mute
their public voices because they don’t want to “bite the
hand that feeds them.” Black churches are one of the few
independent institutional areas in American society that
can raise a critical voice about social justice issues as we
have seen throughout American history. One example of
this kind of backlash by government funders involved a
heated controversy between New York City Mayor
Rudolph Giuliani and the Rev. Calvin Butts of
Abyssinian Baptist. Butts. After Butts publicly called
Giuliani a “racist,” the Mayor’s Office responded by cutting off city funding of some Abyssinian CDC’s
programs. Indeed, Abyssinian CDC staff members tremble whenever Butts takes a prophetic stance.64 However,
Butts may be an exception since many black clergy would
probably keep quiet when economic pressures are exerted
against their churches’ programs.
There is also the fear that most black churches are not
prepared to receive and handle government funds
properly. Enormous amounts of paper work and
forms are involved in the process. If government
funds are misspent or misappropriated, the clergy and
the church will be involved in a long series of legal
and criminal investigations. Dealing with government
bureaucracy is one reason why mainly large black
churches have been the primary recipients of these
funds. They have the resources to hire the appropriate
technical staff. Kevin Price and Diane Wilson, laypersons with long experience in dealing with church affiliated CDCs, have raised some critiques of them.
Kevin Price, director of the Friendship Community
Development Corporation in Charlotte, N.C., has
64
James Williams, “Radical Economic Visions,” op. cit.
65
Ibid., p. 29.
66
Ibid.
67
Ibid., p. 23.
68
See Lincoln and Mamiya, op. cit., pp. 394-95.
raised some cautionary flags about the numbers of
CDCs being created by black churches. Although his
CDC was sponsored by the Friendship Baptist Church
in Charlotte, Price feels that many black churches
should not develop them because they lack the technical expertise and experience in handling government
funds. He said that most nonprofits are in the profit
business. “The nonprofit must act, in every sense of
the word, as a business.”65 And churches shouldn’t
operate in that way because they have a different mission. There is the need to separate the CDC from the
church. The Rev. Floyd Flake of the Allen Cathedral
A.M.E. Church in St. Albans, Queens, has argued that
churches need to build “fire walls” between the church
and the nonprofit. Both Price and Flake have
cautioned against mixing church funds with
government funds, which could lead both the church
and the CDC to bankruptcy.66 Price also pointed out
that pastors should not run the CDC because they
lack the business experience. He has developed a website to advise pastors and churches about CDCs.
Diana Wilson, president of National Faith
Partnerships in Raleigh, N.C., provides technical
assistance to black churches in setting up 501(c)(3)
nonprofits. “What we are doing now is encouraging
churches,” she said, “that not every church has to do a
CDC…When you have more CDCs that are generated because people once thought that was the entity
one needed in order to do nonprofit work in the community, then that gives more competition for fewer
dollars…Some churches should be encouraged to
work in partnership with existing CDCs. Some should
come under the umbrella of CDCs that are working
in regional efforts.”67
The debate is not clear cut. On one hand, some clergy
and churches have been able to do remarkable things
with the use of government funds in transforming
their neighborhoods. On the other hand, their
prophetic independence is always at stake. However,
for most black clergy and churches there is a constant
search for program funds because the lack of
adequate financial resources in black communities has
been one of their leading concerns.68
17
THE INSTITUTE FOR CHURCH
ADMINISTRATION AND MANAGEMENT
IN ATLANTA
This section on Black Churches and Economic
Development would be incomplete without mentioning the Institute for Church Administration and
Management (ICAM) in Atlanta. ICAM was
established in 1992. Its main purpose was to strengthen one of the major weaknesses of black churches,
namely the keeping of financial records and fiscal
accountability to the congregation. In 1990 we wrote:
If the Black Church has a major weakness, it is in
the area of economics and finances. Black denominations need to be more concerned about the
poor financial and membership record keeping in
black churches. Poor record keeping has been one
of the major sources for conflict in church disputes and schisms….Most black clergy require
more training in the area of financial resources
and the wise economic uses of church resources.69
ICAM has successfully developed a curriculum of
courses, which provide the kind of training in church
administration and management needed by seminarians and clergy.
THE BLACK CHURCH AND POLITICS:
STRENGTHS IN MOBILIZATION,
VOTER REGISTRATION, AND VISITS
BY POLITICIANS BUT WEAKNESS IN
NATIONAL PUBLIC POLICY
CONCERNS
As the dominant central institutional in black
communities, black churches and clergy have always
engaged the political arena from slavery to the
present. As E. Franklin Frazier and Gayraud
Wilmore have pointed out, when the right to vote was
rescinded in Southern states after the failure of
Reconstruction, black churches kept the democratic
tradition alive by allowing their members to vote in
church elections, selecting denominational leaders,
pastors, deacons and trustees.70 The phenomenon of
the preacher-politician is also a long standing
tradition, from the Rev. Hiram Revels, elected as the
first black senator after the Civil War, to 20th century
figures such as Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. , Jesse
Jackson, John Lewis, Walter Faunteroy, Floyd Flake,
William Gray, Al Sharpton, J. C. Watts etc.
The great strength of black churches in politics is
found in their ability to mobilize their constituencies.
As Aldon Morris has pointed out, black churches
served as the “mobilizing foreground” of the Civil
Rights movement. In the severely segregated South,
black churches were the only places large enough to
accommodate the mass meetings of the movement in
both urban and rural areas.71 In their survey of black
and white congregations, Beyerlein and Chaves (2003)
have noted that relative to other religious traditions,
black Protestant congregations were more likely to
engage in two political practices: bringing political
candidates to speak and having a group to get people
registered to vote.72
Historian Barbara Savage has illustrated the mobilization strength of black churches and clergy in her
69
Ibid., p. 273.
70
See E. Franklin Frazier. The Negro Church in America. Schoken Books, 1964. Also see Gayraud Wilmore. Black Religion
and Black Radicalism. Orbis, 1983 (second edition).
71
Aldon Morris. The Origins of the Civil Rights Movement: Black Communities Organizing for Change. New York: Free Press,
1984.
72
Kraig Beyerlein and Mark Chaves. “The Political Activities of Congregations in the United States.” Journal for the Scientific
Study of Religion (JSSR hereafter) 42:2 (2003), 229-246.
18
recent study of their campaign against the “One
Florida Plan.”73 Revived by his successful antiaffirmative action campaigns of 1996 in California
(Proposition 209 which bans affirmative action in
government hiring and higher education) and in 1998
in Washington State, Ward Connerly, a black
businessman and member of the board of trustees of
the University of California, headed to Florida to
work on a similar anti-affirmative action plan in that
State, called “One Florida.” The plan was to hold a
statewide referendum against affirmative action in
higher education and government jobs as part of the
2000 Presidential election. Although Governor Jeb
Bush initially did not like Connerly’s interference with
a controversial issue in his first term as governor, he
and Florida’s Republicans threw their support behind
the campaign in order to mobilize voters around it for
the coming Presidential contest. In 1999 African
American clergy and their churches quickly mobilized
against “One Florida,” employing issue-based organizing and other mobilization strategies. The churches
formed coalitions across denominations with labor
unions, the NAACP, People for the American Way,
and women’s groups such as the National
Organization for Women (NOW). Black churches and
clergy were successful in this mobilization in defeating
the One Florida plan. However, Savage raises
questions about how permanent this kind of opposition can be. She writes, ”And while organizing to
protest Governor Bush’s proposal was masterfully
executed, translating that activism into a more permanent oppositional presence remains a concern.”74
In the first volume of the Morehouse-sponsored study
of black churches and politics, New Day Begun: Black
Churches, Public Influences, and American Civic
Culture, project editor R. Drew Smith indicated that
black churches have also done very well in pushing
voter registration among its constituents and in
providing a place where electoral candidates can
speak to and meet large numbers of the black
community. He points out that Jesse Jackson’s presidential campaigns of 1984 and 1988 showed successful voter registration and voter turnout, especially in
the 1984 campaign which had 2 million more black
voters than in 1980.75 It is also not unusual to see in
the media black or white politicians attending a worship service at a prominent black church in an area.
According to Smith, the Democratic Party campaigns
in the 1990s and 2000 drew upon the electoral potential of black churches. In his presidential campaigns,
Bill Clinton made great use of his frequent
appearances in black churches, from speaking to playing music. Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison once called
him “America’s first black president,” referring to his
family background of being raised by a single mother
and his virtuousity in playing jazz with his saxophone.
As the campaign against the “One Florida” plan indicates, black churches are most effective at mobilizing
at the local level on issues of racial justice. A survey
and study by R. Drew Smith of “Black Churches and
Public Policy,” funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts at
Morehouse College, indicates that black churches
have been more strongly engaged in public policy
activism on the issues of racial justice and community
economic development, which have been their historic
concerns. There is also some growing concern about
women’s rights and policies towards Africa.76
However, as Smith and other authors in Long March
Ahead: African American Churches and Public Policy
in Post-Civil Rights America point out, there is a
major weakness in public policy analysis advocacy at
the national level by black church denominations:
Although African American congregations within
mainline denominations (including the Presbyterians, Episcopalians, United Methodists, American
Baptists, Lutherans, Disciples of Christ, United
Churches of Christ, and Roman Catholics) have
been able to draw upon their respective denominational lobbyists on Capitol Hill and on denominational offices and divisions devoted to public
73
See Barbara Savage’s Chapter 2 , “African American Churches, Affirmative Action, and the Campaign Against the ‘One
Florida Plan’,”In R. Drew Smith, editor, Long March Ahead: African American Churches and Public Policy in Post-Civil
Rights America. Volume Two. Duke University Press, 2004
74
Savage, Ibid., p. 44.
75
R. Drew Smith, “Introduction: Black Churches Within A Changing Civic Culture in America” in New Day Begun: Black
Churches, Public Influences, and American Civic Culture, edited by R. Drew Smith. Volume One. Duke University Press,
2003: p.5.
76
R. Drew Smith, “Assessing the Public Policy Practices of African American Churches,” in Smith, editor, Long March Ahead
op.cit., pp. 9-27.
19
affairs, this kind of advocacy has generally not
existed within the historical black denominations.
Two of the historically black church bodies (the
A.M.E. denomination and the Progressive
National Baptist Convention), however, have had
Washington lobbyists off and on during the last
twenty years.77
The essays by Megan E. McLaughlin and Cathy J.
Cohen in Long March Ahead point to the weakness in
public policy analysis and the lack of a strong, coherent voice by black clergy and churches during the
1993-1996 debate on Welfare Reform. This was a critical national debate since it meant moving from welfare as an entitlement and safety net under FDR’s
New Deal to welfare as “temporary” with no safety
net for poor families. As McLaughlin points out,
through 17 legislative hearings during the three year
period over a broad range of issues from welfare
hotels to child welfare programs, among the 285 witnesses identified, “not a single witness specially representing an African American denomination, religious
coalition or congregation was found.”78 She also interviewed the Rev. Dr. Calvin Butts of the Abyssinian
Baptist Church who said, “public policy debate and
how you do that is one of the greatest challenges we
(the Black Church) have.”79 His view was echoed by
James Ferguson, former policy director of the
Congress of National Black Churches, who pointed
out that “Most churches don’t have the resources or
the expertise to effectively engage in, and influence,
complex policy discussions.”80 McLaughlin concludes
her study with the following observations:
Nonetheless, there is also acknowledgement that
times have changed, that the current public policy
context requires resources and a high degree of
strategic organization, and that African American
churches cannot successfully engage in public advocacy without the necessary resources and structure…..In the case of African American churches, it
is recognized that their role in the shaping of public
policy is greatly limited by the lack of resources and
the high demand placed on them by a population
that still is largely poor and disenfranchised.81
The Rev. Eugene Williams III, executive director of the
Los Angeles Metropolitan Churches, emphatically
argued for the need of black clergy to receive some
training in public policy analysis. He pointed out that in
the mayoral race in Los Angeles in 2000, the black clergy association supported James K. Hahn, largely
because Hahn’s father had a good track record in the
black community, instead of strategically backing the
Latino candidate, Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa.
“They missed the opportunity to start building a political coalition with the Latino community, which is the
largest minority group in California and in the
nation.”82 A year later, the black clergy and community
were angry with Mayor Hahn for dismissing the popular African American police chief, Willie Williams.
The majority of clergy in the U.S. do not receive any
training in public policy analysis as part of their education in divinity schools. For African American clergy, whose role as religious and community leaders
often intersects with politics, that kind of training in
public policy is imperative. However, the complexity
of public policy issues in the 21st century will also
require the establishment of a Black Church Public
Policy Institute, which can help denominational and
church leaders to analyze the policy options, mobilize
public opinion in black communities, and organize
lobbying groups. This kind of Institute can be part of
a broader coalition of denominations in a resurrected
Congress of National Black Churches. As far back as
1979, Lawrence N. Jones, then dean of the Howard
University Divinity School, pointed out that black
church members receive limited guidance from their
national judicatories on such important public policy
issues as abortion, homosexuality, capital punishment,
women’s rights, etc. “The absence of consensus on
important public policy issues,” wrote Jones, “means
that the power of the churches to influence public
77
Ibid., p. 22.
78
Megan E. McLaughlin, “The Role of African American Churches in Crafting the 1996 Welfare Reform Policy,” Chapter 3
in Long March Ahead, p. 58. Also see Cathy J. Cohen’s essay, “Service Provider or Policy Maker? Black Churches and the
Health of African Americans,” Chapter 5 in the same volume.
79
McLaughlin, Ibid., p. 59.
80
Ibid., p. 61.
81
Ibid., p. 65.
82
Interview with Rev. Eugene Williams, III, op. cit.
20
policy tends to be proportional to the charisma and
prestige of individual church leaders.”83
The arena of public policy not only encompasses
domestic and national issues but also international
ones. Over the past two decades black churches have
paid more attention to issues affecting African and
Caribbean countries. For example the defeat of
apartheid in South Africa in the 1990’s had a major
impact in black communities in the U.S. In 2004 the
A.M.E. Church elected three indigenous African bishops to oversee their churches in Africa. Prior to that,
American bishops were sent to Africa for that purpose.
BLACK WOMEN IN THE MINISTRY
In June 2001 at an informal afternoon session of the
Hampton Ministers Conference, an annual gathering of
5,000 to 8,000 black clergy and choir directors, a recent
black male graduate of the Interdenominational
Theological Center said, “While we were all happy to
finally complete our M.Div. studies, our Baptist sisters
from the Morehouse School of Theology were in tears
because most of them realized that there were no jobs
for them. Getting a pastorate in the black Baptist
churches is a very difficult struggle.”84 He then went on
to make an appeal for the Conference to make this issue
of black women in ministry a priority for discussion.
Although no follow-up discussion took place at that
year’s Conference, the leaders of the Hampton conclave
have attempted to approach the issue by allowing
outstanding black women preachers share the pulpit
and stage. At the conference in June 2005 the program
indicates that a formal panel of women preachers
addressed the topic of “Black Women in Ministry.”
One of the unintended consequences of the Civil
Rights movement was to focus on the issues of gender
discrimination and to begin the process of opening
the doors of churches and seminaries to all women
clergy. African American women have a long history
of attempts to become religious leaders, preachers
and pastors, beginning with African priestesses and
healers on the plantations to the stories of preaching
women like Elizabeth in Virginia and Jarena Lee in
Philadelphia.85 Since the 1970’s the issue of black
women in ministry has become a significant trend.
Dr. Delores Carpenter of the Howard Divinity
School, the leading scholar of trends among black
women in ministry, pointed out that the movement of
black and white women into the professional ministry
increased 240 percent from 1930 to 1980. However,
she pointed out that the number of black women
graduates from accredited theological seminaries
increased 676 percent from 1972 to 1984.86 Her study
also indicated that there was a trend among black
preaching women to seek ordination and employment
in the mainline, predominantly white denominations
such as the United Church of Christ, the United
Methodist Church, the American Baptists,
Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Lutherans and others.
More than half of the 380 ordained black women in
the study turned to white denominations, partly
because of the increased opportunity for ordination
and employment, and the more rigid resistance and
obstacles they experienced with the mainline black
churches.87 However, Carpenter raised doubts about
how long this trend of black women moving into
white denominations could be sustained because most
of them were assigned to the black parishes in these
denominations and it may only be a matter of time
before these limited options will be filled and “the
doors will shut.”88
In her more recent study, A Time for Honor: A Portrait
of African American Clergywomen, Carpenter presented longitudinal data over time on the issue of denominational switching of black women clergy from black to
white denominations. In her 1985 dissertation, 51 per-
83
Lawrence N. Jones, “The Black Churches: A New Agenda,” op. cit., p. 3.
84
Mamiya was a participant observer at the Hampton Ministers Conference, June 3 to June 8, 2001. Between 5,000 to 8,000
clergy and choir directors were in attendance.
85
For an overview of the attempts of black women to become preachers and pastors, see Lincoln and Mamiya, Chapter 10,
“The Pulpit and the Pew: The Black Church and Women.”
86
Delores Carpenter, “The Effects of Sect-Types Upon the Professionalization of Black Female Masters of Divinity
Graduates, 1972-1984.’ Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Sociology, Rutgers University, 1986, mimeo: 136 ff.
87
Ibid. Also see Lincoln and Mamiya, p. 298.
88
See Marjorie Hyer’s interview with Dr. Delores Carpenter. “Black Women, White Pulpits,” in The Washington Post, October
12, 1985.
21
cent of the black women switched to white denominations. In a 1992 study, she indicated that 52 percent had
switched. However, in 1999, only 45 percent had
switched, indicating a significant decrease. She
attributes this decline to opportunities opening up
among some black denominations, especially the
A.M.E. Church. However, denominational switching
still remains a significant factor for black women in
ministry and black church denominations are losing
out on the talent and potential they represent. For
example, the black Baptists have lost 22 percent of
their women clergy to predominantly white denominations: “The number of black women increased in the
United Methodists by 9 percent, the American Baptists
by 4 percent, and the Lutherans by 4 percent.”89
Carpenter also points out that employment opportunities for black clergywomen are not keeping pace with
the growing numbers of
women who are
completing seminary.
Forty nine percent of
black men received full
time jobs as pastors
compared to 21 percent
of black women in the
1999 study.90 Moreover,
women clergy are paid
less than their male
counterparts at almost
every level.91 She argues
that this is due to a “resistance to social change in an
environment that does not seriously advocate career
opportunities, equity in job placement, and salaries for
black clergywomen.”92 The separation between church
and state also prevents government scrutiny so that this
situation has never become a public policy issue. The
types of nonchurch jobs also illuminated the difficulty
of being placed after seminary that some of the women
held. “Some ordained, professionally trained women in
However, denominational
switching still remains a
significant factor for black
women in ministry and
black church denominations
are losing out on the talent
and potential they represent.
the study,” writes Carpenter,”are working as secretaries
and office managers. Many work in nonchurch educational settings, and some work for government
agencies.”93
Historically, the A.M.E. Zion Church was the first
denomination, black or white, to fully ordain women
in the late 19th century.94 It took a half century before
the other black denominations and the United
Methodist Church allowed the ordination of women.
In recent years, the A.M.E. Church, as mentioned
above, has been the most progressive on this issue,
including the elevation of women to the episcopacy.
In 2000, the Rev. Dr. Vashti Murphy Mckenzie,
pastor of the Payne Memorial A.M.E. Church was
elected as the first woman bishop of the A.M.E.
Church. In 2004 two other women were elected bishops: the Rev. Carolyn Tyler Guidry, presiding elder of
the Los Angeles/Pasadena area of the Fifth Episcopal
District, and the Rev. Sarah Frances Davis, pastor of
the Bethel AME Church in San Antonio, Texas.95 The
three African American women elected as bishops in
the A.M.E. Church are more than in any other historically black denomination and equal to the total elected by the United Methodist Church.
The Church of God in Christ, which has had an official
doctrinal stance against women as pastors of churches,
may also be in the process of changing its historic position. While a few women, largely the wives of deceased
popular pastors, have become pastors of some COGIC
churches, the denomination has been opposed to women
as pastors. Women have occupied leadership positions as
evangelists, missionaries, teachers, and leaders of
women’s organizations but not as pastors. However,
according to Bishop Charles Blake, that historic opposition is gradually changing with the increasing levels of
educated clergy and laity. He feels that pressures building
within the denomination will lead to change soon.96
About 22 percent of COGIC clergy are women and a
much smaller number are pastors of churches.
89
Carpenter, A Time for Honor, pp. 138-139.
90
Ibid., p. 149.
91
Ibid., pp. 151-154.
92
Ibid., p. 147-148.
93
Ibid., p. 148.
94
See Lincoln and Mamiya, p. 285.
95
Three African clergy were also selected as bishops of the AME Church along with the women.
96
Interview with Bishop Kenneth Blake, op. cit.
22
DENOMINATIONAL SWITCHING AMONG
AFRICAN AMERICAN LAITY
While African American women clergy have been
switching to predominantly white denominations for
increased occupational opportunities, the
phenomenon of denominational switching among
African American laity has been different.
Sociological studies since the Civil Rights period have
pointed to a growing trend of denominational switching among African American Christians. While it has
always been an anecdotal truism that black folk like
to “church hop,” to hear different preachers or musical programs in various churches in a community, the
phenomenon of denominational switching is of a different order. While “church hoppers” usually go back
to their original church, denominational switchers do
not go back to their original denomination but join
another one. Using data from the General Social
Survey (1972-1988) and the National Survey of Black
Americans (1980; 1989), Ellison and Sherkat (1990)
analyzed patterns of religious affiliation among
African Americans and changes in religious
preference. They found small declines in percentages
of persons who identified as either Baptist,
Methodist, or Catholic or affiliated with white
denominations. For those who did change, Baptists
switched to small Conservative Protestant groups and
Methodists were more likely to become Baptists.97
In his 2002 study, Darren E. Sherkat, who analyzed
religious affiliations of African Americans across
three age cohorts in relation to the Civil Rights movement (those who were adults when the movement
occurred, those who were young adults, and those
who did not experience it at all), found that African
American Methodists (A.M.E., A.M.E. Zion,
C.M.E., and UMC) have lost an average of 20.4 percent of their original membership because of unequal
switching exchanges. Baptists have lost about 12.2
percent due to switching. Sects and
nondenominational groups made huge gains over
their original totals, as did other religion and nonreligion. Sectarian groups claimed nearly 11 percent of
97
98
99
the market among the older cohort and almost 13
percent in the younger cohort. It is important to note
that for Sherkat, “sectarian groups” include the
growth of Pentecostalism like the Church of God in
Christ, a trend that was elaborated earlier.
Nondenominational affiliation has also grown from
less that 1 percent in the older cohort to 3 percent in
the younger group.98
The proportion of African Americans who have no
religious affiliation is increasing rapidly across age
cohorts. For example, nonaffiliation is 1 percent in the
oldest age group to 8 percent of respondents in the
youngest cohort. However, it is important to
recognize, says Sherkat, that nonaffiliation is transitory; it changes over the course of a person’s life.
In comparison to African American clergy women,
about half of whom have switched to white denominations, the majority of African American lay members
have remained within the historically black denominations or within predominantly black sectarian or nondenominational churches. As Sherkat points out,
“Traditionally white mainline denominations have largely failed to attract African Americans and are losing
substantial proportions of their younger cohorts.”99
See C. G. Elllison and D.E. Sherkat (1990). Patterns of religious mobility among Black Americans.” The Sociological
Quarterly, 31, 551-568. Also see Robert Joseph Taylor, Linda M. Chatters and Jeff Levin, Religion in the Lives of African
Americans: Social, Psychological and Health Perspectives. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2004, p. 26.
Darren E. Sherkat. (2002). African American Religious Affiliation in the Late 20th century: Cohort Variations and Patterns
of Switching, 1973-1998. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 41: 3, 485-493.
Ibid., p. 492.
23
SECTION II: PROFILES AND STUDIES OF
AFRICAN AMERICAN LAITY
RELIGIOUS PARTICIPATION OF
AFRICAN AMERICANS AND THE
UNCHURCHED
One of the most important studies produced in recent
years is Religion in the Lives of African Americans:
Social, Psychological, and Health Perspectives by
Robert J. Taylor, Linda M. Chatters, and Jeff Levin.100
This section and the following ones will provide a summary overview of their fine comprehensive study.101
A profile of religious participation of African
Americans indicates that fewer than 10 percent report
that they have not attended religious services as an
adult except for weddings and funerals. Of those who
attended churches, 70 percent stated that they attended religious services at least a few times a month, and
two thirds reported that they are church members. In
terms of non-organizational religious participation,
close to 80 percent of black Americans report that
they pray nearly every day, 27 percent report that they
read religious books, and 21 percent watch or listen to
religious programming on television or radio daily.
About 80 percent of the respondents considered
themselves to be either very or fairly religious. In a
survey of three generations: 67.3 percent in the
Grandparent generation reported that they are very
religious; 38.2 percent of the Parent generation; and
15.7 percent of the Child generation.102
In terms of Black-White comparisons, data from the
General Social Surveys confirm a higher level of
religiosity among blacks. The authors conclude: “As
compared to whites, black respondents demonstrated
higher levels of both public (e.g. religious attendance)
and private (e.g. reading religious materials) religious
behaviors and were more likely to endorse positive statements or attitudes that reflected the strength of personal
religious commitment (e.g. religious minded, importance
of religion, religious comfort).”103 In his 1994 study, Jeff
Levin, a Duke graduate who had studied Black Religion
with Professor C. Eric Lincoln, concluded that elderly
black adults had significantly higher levels of religious
participation than the white elderly.104
In disconfirming the deprivation-compensation theory that poor blacks tend to be more “other-worldly”
in religious orientation which compensates for their
deprived status, studies on social status of African
Americans do not support this view. One study has
shown the poor urban blacks were less likely to attend
religious services and less likely to be church members
(Chatters et al., 1999; Taylor, 1988b). Recent research
has also found that there were no significant income
differences in religious service attendance, church
membership, frequency of prayer, frequency of reading religious materials, and frequency of watching/listening to religious programming (Chatters et al.,
1999).105 The socioeconomic situation of African
Americans requires a more complex explanation.
Examining gender and age differences among black
Americans, the studies showed that 84 percent of
black women prayed every day, which was significantly higher than the 68 percent of black men. Only 6
percent of black men say they never pray compared
to 1.5 percent of black women.106 Age also has
“strong positive effects” on religious involvement with
100
Robert Joseph Taylor, Linda M. Chatters, and Jeff Levin. Religion in the Lives of African Americans.
101
The data sources for their own analyses include the following: National Survey of Black Americans, the most
comprehensive nationally representative study of black Americans in 1979 and 1980; Three Generation Family Study, a subsection of the NSBA survey; National Survey of Black Americans Panel Study, 1987-1988 and 1988-1989, consisting of
Waves or Age Cohorts; 1984 National Black Election Survey; National Survey of American Life: Coping with Stress in the
21st Century, 2001-2003; Americans’ Changing Lives Study; NORC General Social Surveys since 1972 to the present.
102
Religion in the Lives of African Americans,pp. 27-33. Hereafter, the pages in the endnotes will refer to this book, followed by
the journal article(s) which the book refers to. The Three Generation Family Study was conducted in conjunction with the
National Survey of Black Americans in 1979-1980.
103
Ibid., p. 36. See J.S. Levin, editor. Religion in Aging and Health: Theoretical Foundations and Methodological Frontiers.
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1994.
104
Ibid., p. 37. Chatters, L.M., Taylor, R.J., Lincoln, K.D. (1999). African American religious participation: A multi-sample
comparison. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 38, 132-145.
105
Ibid., pp. 40-41. Chatters, L.M., Taylor, R.J., & Lincoln, K.D. (1999), Ibid. Taylor, R.J. (1988b). Structural determinants of
religious participation among black Americans. Review of Religious Research, 30, 126-139.
106
Ibid., p. 37. National Survey of Black Americans, 1987-1988, 1988-1989.
24
older black Americans reporting high levels of
religious participation than younger blacks.107
For Regional and Urban/Rural Differences, the studies show that Southern blacks had significantly higher
levels of religious participation than blacks from
other regions of the country.108 A number of studies,
including the NSBA, found that African Americans
who resided in rural settings were more likely to be
church members (Taylor, 1998b) and be involved in
organizational religious activities than those who lived
in urban areas (Ellison and Sherkat, 1995; Levin,
Taylor and Chatters, 1995).109
In studies of religious participation among black adolescents, the authors point out that, “The majority of
research on religion within adolescents samples investigates the preventive role of religious beliefs on a whole
range of negative behavioral and health outcomes such
as criminal behavior, drug use, binge drinking, drunk
driving, cigarette smoking, sexual activity, and dietary
patterns.” The overall finding is that black adolescents
who report higher levels of religious involvement are
less likely to participate in risky behaviors.110 Black adolescents also have a higher rate of participation in religion than their white counterparts.
National studies indicate that about 10 percent of
African Americans are “religiously noninvolved” or
“unchurched.” Their profile indicates that the majority of
them are male, younger, lived in urban areas, had low levels of income and education and resided outside of the
South.111 According to some observers, the studies on
African American youth do not deal with the depth of
alienation from black churches and mainstream culture
that some of these young people feel. Many rap songs
and hip hop culture speak of the “nihilism” among black
urban youth. In his book, Race Matters, Cornel West has
been deeply concerned about this nihilistic attitude which
most black churches have not paid attention to.112
PRAYER: ITS FREQUENCY, IMPORTANCE,
AND AS A SOURCE OF COPING
One of the values of Religion in the Lives of African
Americans is the focus that the authors have on prayer
among African Americans, devoting two chapters to it.
Survey data indicate that 9 out of 10 Americans engage
in prayer. Margaret Poloma and George Gallup have
identified four types of prayer: 1.) Ritual prayer involves
reading from a book of prayers or reciting memorized
prayers 2.) Conversational prayer is characterized as an
informal conversation with God 3.) Petitionary prayer is
requesting spiritual or material things in response to perceived needs 4.) Meditative prayer includes quietly thinking about, experiencing, or worshipping God or listening
for God’s voice. One study has found that African
Americans were more likely than whites to engage in ritual prayer and petitionary prayer. The black-white
difference in petitionary prayer is highly significant with
38 percent of whites engaging in petitionary prayer as
compared with 66 percent of blacks.113
Data from the 1998 General Social Survey indicated that
3 out of 10 African Americans pray at least once a day,
and 4 out of 10 say that they pray more than once a day.
These results are consistent with findings of the
National Survey of Americans, which indicates that 8
out of 10 black adults say they pray nearly every day.114
107
Ibid., p. 44-45. Taylor, R.J. (1986). Religious participation among elderly Blacks. The Gerontologist, 26, 630-636.
108
Ibid., p. 41. Taylor, R.J. (1988b).
109
Ibid., pp. 41-42. Ellison, C.G., & Sherkat, D.E. (1995). The “semi-involuntary institution” revisited: Regional variations in
church participation among black Americans. Social Forces, 73, 1415-1437. Also see Levin, J.S., Taylor, R.J., & chatters, L.M.
(1995). A multidimensional measure of religious involvement for African Americans. The Sociological Quarterly, 36, 157-173.
110
Ibid., p. 46. Wallace, J.M., & Forman, T.A. (1998). Religion’s role in promoting health and reducing risk among American
youth. In Public health and health education in faith communities [Special issue]. Health Education and Behavior, 25 (6),
721-741. Wallace, J.M., Jr. & Williams, D.R. (1998). Religion and adolescent health-compromising behavior. In J.
Schulenberg, J. L. Maggs, & K. Hurrelmann (Eds.), Health risks and developmental transitions during adolescence (pp. 444468). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
111
Ibid., p. 47. Taylor, R.J. (1988a). Correlates of religious non-involvement among black Americans. Review of Religious
Research, 30, 126-139.
112
Cornel West. Race Matters. Beacon Press, 1993; revised 2001. .
113
Ibid., p. 64.
114
Ibid., pp. 65-66. 1998 General Social Survey.
25
Consistent with other forms of religious participation,
Mattis and his colleagues found that blacks prayed more
frequently than whites even when the variables of socioeconomic status, region, religious affiliation, etc. were
controlled for. It was also found that age and gender are
strong correlates of prayer among African Americans.
Black women prayed more frequently than men and
older respondents and Southern residents also prayed
more frequently. Even among unchurched blacks and
those who are unaffiliated with churches studies indicate
that between 40 percent to about 50 percent of them
reported that they prayed nearly every day.115
In their focus group findings, Taylor, Chatters and Levin
found that many participants felt that through prayer
they had a “direct link” with God. As one person said:
Sometimes you just want to sit back and say,
“What’s up?” Just chill with him. I don’t think
that you have to have any type of ritual or any
specific way that you have to go to him. I think
that just be yourself and just tap into him and he
hears you. He’s a loving kind of God.116
Although African Americans have had a significantly
higher rate of petitionary prayers than whites, most of
the focus group respondents used petitionary prayer to
ask for “nonmaterial things or personal traits and characteristics such as strength, wisdom, and guidance” or
to address a “problematic life situation” or “to request
God’s blessing and assurance of positive outcome (e.g.
good health, safe travels).” One group member said,
I see prayer as a petition, you know, like you’re
not necessarily asking but you’re stating, just
bring it to His attention that you’re in agreement
with some things that maybe are happening in
your life or some things that you want, to let him
know that, Yeah, I’m aware of it Lord.117
Studies over the past 20 years indicate that African
Americans have used prayer as a source for coping
with adverse and stressful life events and conditions
from illness, death, and disability to dealing with
chronic poverty and racial exclusion. Scholars like
Cheryl Gilkes have noted that throughout history,
black churches have shielded African Americans from
the harmful effects of personal and structural racism
and that their worship services have also functioned
as a therapeutic community where people can sing
with joy and exuberance or cry out in pain among
those who care and understand.118 Ellison and Taylor
(1996) have done one of the most extensive studies of
prayer as a source of coping among African
Americans. The five major findings from their study
include:
1. When confronted with a personal problem, many
African Americans use prayer as a source for coping and also ask others to pray on their behalf;
2. Women were more likely to use prayer as a coping
mechanism for personal problems;
3. Those who are dealing with the death of a loved one
or their own health problems, including those of
loved ones, turn to prayer as a method of coping;
4. Those with lower levels of mastery or feelings of
control over personal problems also use prayer to
cope; and
5. African Americans who are highly religious overall
tend to use prayer as their coping mechanism.119
A male focus group member said:
And I’ve learned that we, as black men, probably
are the last ones that will run to a psychologist, a
social worker, so in those instances, and I am
counted in the number as well, I tend to rely on
God to take care of a whole lot of issues that I
have, and to relieve a lot of the stress that I have
to deal with on a daily basis and just to get me
started and keep in going, keep me motivated.120
115
Ibid., p. 67. Mattis, J.S., Taylor, R.J., & Chatters, L. M. (2001). Are they truly not religious? A multi-method analysis of the
attitudes of religiously noninvolved African American women. African American Research Perspectives, 7 (1), 90-103.
116
Ibid., p. 69. Ellison, C.F., & Taylor, R.J. (1996). Turning to prayer: Religious coping among black Americans. Review of
Religious Research, 38, 111-131.
117
Ibid., p. 75.
118
Ibid., p. 83. Gilkes, Cheryl Townsend. (1980). The Black Church as a therapeutic community: Suggested area for research
into the black religious experience. Journal of the Interdenominational Theological Center, 8, 29-44.
119
Ibid., p. 93. Ellison, C.F., & Taylor, R.J. (1996).
120
Ibid., p. 96.
26
THE USE OF MINISTERS
FOR PERSONAL PROBLEMS
In doing field interviews for The Black Church in the
African American Experience, Dr. Larry Murphy of
Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary and I were
talking to the famous preacher and economic genius,
the Rev. Dr. William Holmes Borders, on a street next
to the Wheat Street Baptist Church. With one foot on
the bumper of his Cadillac, Borders was expounding
on how he was able to set up the first federal credit
union in a church, acquire 15 acres of downtown
Atlanta, own most of the storefronts along Auburn
Avenue, and build a 22 story apartment building across
the street from the church. A poor woman from the
neighborhood interrupted his exposition and sought
his help. She told him that her son was just arrested
and was at the local police precinct. He took down her
son’s name and her phone number. After finishing his
conversation with us, he got in his car and went to the
precinct. I was impressed that this famed preacher, who
Martin Luther King Jr. used to sneak away from his
daddy’s church to hear preach, took the time from his
busy schedule to respond to this woman’s plea even
though she was not a member of his church.121
This personal incident illustrates the major role that
black clergy have played in helping African
Americans cope with personal problems as well as
crises throughout history. Studies tend to confirm that
role in the contemporary period. Mollica et al’s comprehensive 1986 study of 214 black and white clergy
found that black ministers were more heavily involved
in counseling, with nearly 70 percent spending more
than 10 percent of their time in counseling activities.
Black clergy were also more involved in crisis
intervention and in counseling persons with
diagnosed mental illness than their white
counterparts.122 They also were more likely to make
referrals to community mental health centers. It was
also found that black clergy placed greater emphasis
on the use of religious practices such as church attendance as a strategy to treat emotional problems.123
Gottlieb and Olson (1987) found that the educational
level of the clergy was an important predictor of their
level of knowledge regarding mental health issues and
services. Those with higher levels of education were able
to interact with mental health professionals more confidently and to make more use of referrals.124 In their
analysis of generational data from the National Survey
of Black Americans, Taylor, Chatters, and Levin found
that private doctors and ministers were most frequently
cited as sources of aid across three generations.125
CHURCH MEMBERS AS
A SOURCE OF SOCIAL SUPPORT
The Black Church has been noted for its involvement
in providing for the spiritual and physical well-being
of African Americans. Andrew Billingsley and his colleagues have found more than 1,700 church-sponsored
outreach programs.126 These programs cover a broad
range of activities including basic needs such as food,
clothing, and shelter; financial aid and counseling for
personal problems; health related ones such as
HIV/AIDS and substance abuse; and recreation and
fellowship for youth and families. While many of
these formal church supported programs have been
121
Interview with the Rev. Dr. William Holmes Borders of the Wheat Street Baptist Church in Atlanta, July 1981.
122
Religion in the Lives of African Americans, p. 116. See Mollica, R.R., Streets, F.J., Boscarino, J., & Redlich, F.C. (1986). A
community study of formal pastoral counseling activities of the clergy. American Journal of Psychiatry, 14, 323-328.
123
Ibid.
124
Ibid., p. 114. Gottlieb, J.F., & Olfson, M. (1987). Current referral practices of mental health care providers. Hospital and
Community Psychiatry, 38,1171-1181.
125
Ibid., p. 118-119.
126
Andrew Billingsley, Mighty Like A River: The Black Church and Social Reform. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.
Also see Religion in the Lives of African Americans, p. 139.
27
recognized by social surveys, the informal social support and social networks formed in church have not
received much attention.
Studies by Taylor and Chatters among older (1986a,
1986b) and adult blacks (1988) indicate that church
members are an important source of informal
assistance, with two thirds of the respondents in these
studies saying that church members provided some
level of assistance to them.127 Their studies show that
this assistance is also dependent upon a person’s “tangible investment in the life of the church and past
record of participation in church activities” (1988).128
In a similar study, Krause (2002a) found that older
blacks were significantly more likely than older whites
to report receiving “emotional support and spiritual
support from their church members.”129
In the 1998 General
Social Survey, in
response to two questions about how much
their congregational
members would
provide help in times of
illness and in dealing
with a problem, 48 percent of the black
respondents said that
they would receive “a
great deal of help” during illness from members of
their church, 36 percent replied “some help”, 10 percent “a little help,” and 6 percent “no help.” In
regards to a personal problem, 58 percent said “a
great deal of help,” 26 percent “some help,’” 11
percent “a little help,” and 5 percent “no help.”130
Older blacks were
significantly more likely
than older whites to
report receiving
“emotional support and
spiritual support from
their church members.”
While many of the studies of black church members
discussed above show how social networks and
support within churches have contributed greatly to
their social and physical well-being, there are a few
studies about the negative impact of some
interactions. Ellison (1994) pointed out that church
congregations can still exercise powerful negative
social sanctions among its members when behavior is
deemed inappropriate (e.g. criticism, shunning, and
public censure).131 Krause, Ellison and Wulff (1998)
have shown that negative interaction among church
members can also adversely impact their psychological well-being.132 Three major areas of conflict among
church members were identified as (1) conflict
between church members; (2) conflict between church
members and pastors, and (3) conflict over church
doctrine, especially in the areas of abortion, religious
teachings about the role of women in the family, the
use of alcohol, and whether homosexuals should be
welcome in the church.133 Church gossip among members can also negatively affect the psyche of the
person(s) who are the subject of the gossip.
THE BLACK CHURCH AS A THERAPEUTIC
COMMUNITY: THE IMPACT OF RELIGION
ON PHYSICAL HEALTH AND MENTAL
HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
There has been growing empirical evidence in recent
years of the general beneficial influence of religion on
the physical and mental well being of its members. In
the epidemiology of religion, studies show how
religion can affect the health status of people in two
ways: first, rates of morbidity and religious affiliation,
127
Religion in the Lives of African Americans, p. 140-141. Also see Taylor, R.J., & Chatters, L.M. (1986a). Church-based informal support among elderly blacks. The Gerontologist, 26, 637-642. Taylor, R.J. , & Chatters, L.M. (1986b). Patterns of informal support to elderly black adults: Family, friends, and church members. Social Work, 31, 432-438. Taylor, R.J., &
Chatters, L.M. (1988). Church members as a source of informal social support. Review of Religious Research, 30, 193-203.
128
Ibid., p. 141. Taylor, R.J. & Chatters, L.M. (1988).
129
Ibid. Krause, N. (2002a). Church-based social support and health in old age: Variations by race. Journal of Gerontology:
Social Sciences, 57B, S332-S347.
130
Ibid., p. 148. See Ellison, C.G. (1994). Religion, the life-stress paradigm, and the study of depression. In J.S. Levin (Ed.),
Religion in aging and health: Theoretical foundations and methodological frontiers (pp. 78-121). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
131
Ibid., p. 168. Krause, N., Ellison, C.G., & Wulff, K., (1998). Emotional support, negative interaction and psychological wellbeing in the church. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 37. 726-742.
132
Ibid., pp. 170-171.
133
Ibid.
134
Ibid., pp. 187-188.
28
especially among denominations or religions that
make “strict behavioral demands” (e.g. Mormons,
Seventh Day Adventists, Jehovah Witnesses,
Orthodox Jews and Muslims, etc.); second, higher
rates of active participation or observance are associated with “less illness and with better health across of
variety of indices.”134
beneficial effect of religion (Poloma and Pendelton,
1990; Levin, Chatters, and Taylor, 1995).139 Ellison
(1995) found an interesting black-white comparison in
regards to religious affiliation. He concluded that
“Among African Americans only, absence of a
religious affiliation was strongly associated with more
depressive symptoms.”140
In their Program of Research on Black Americans,
Taylor, Thornton, and Chatters (1987a) have pointed
to the “pervasive and generally positive influence of
religion on the welfare of African Americans.”135
Studies have shown that African Americans describe
the church as having a “generally beneficial impact on
their lives.” Close to two-thirds of African Americans
say that church members are integral members of
their social support networks (Taylor and Chatters,
1988).136 As the authors of Religion in the Lives of
African Americans argue, “This salience of religion in
the lives of African Americans is distinctive and not
characteristic of the general population.”137
In their exhaustive summary of 20 years of empirical
research on the significant influence of religiousness
on indicators of mental health and psychological
well-being, Taylor, Chatters, and Levin concluded
that, “Whether or not religion is more salient a
preventive resource among African Americans than
whites is still an open question. But its importance as
a generally protective factor for psychological distress
and well-being among African Americans is strongly
supported.”141
Throughout its history, the Black Church as a therapeutic community has emphasized strong
commitment to religious beliefs that can lead to
healthy behaviors and thus cut rates of morbidity due
to chronic illness (e.g. smoking, drinking, substance
abuse, diet, sexuality, and hygiene). In their Religion
and Morbidity studies, Hummer, Rogers, Nam and
Ellison (1999) provided striking evidence among
African Americans on the relationship between
church attendance and morbidity rates: “nonattenders
had an estimated life expectancy at age 20 of 46.4
years; for more than weekly attenders, the estimate
was 60.1 years.”138
In regard to the impact of religion on mental health
and well-being, studies generally indicate the
135
Ibid., p. 188. Taylor, R.J., Thornton, M.C., & Chatters, L.M. (1987). Black Americans’ perceptions of the socio-historical
role of the church. Journal of Black Studies, 18, 123-138.
136
Ibid., pp. 188-189. Taylor, R.J., & Chatters, L.M. (1988). Church members as a source of informal social support. Review of
Religious Research, 30, 193-203.
137
Ibid., p. 190.
138
Ibid., p. 199. Hummer, R.A., Rogers, R.G., Nam, C.B., & Ellision, C.G. (1999). Religious involvement and U.S. adult mortality. Demography, 36, 273-285.
139
Ibid., pp. 207 and 215. See Poloma, M.M., & Pendleton, B.F. (1990). Religious domains and general well-being. Social
Indicators Research, 22, 255-276. Also, Levin, J.S., Chatters, L.M., & Taylor, R.J, (1995). Religious effects on health status
and life satisfaction among black Americans. Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 50B, S154-S163.
140
Ibid., p. 217. See Ellison, C.G. (1995). Race, religious involvement and depressive sympomatology in a southeastern community. Social Science and Medicine, 40, 1561-1572.
141
Ibid.,p. 223.
29
SECTION III: RECENT PROFILES OF BLACK
CLERGY
T
he profiles of black clergy in this section are drawn
from data gathered by two national surveys: the
Pulpit and Pew Research on Pastoral Leadership at
Duke Divinity School and the ITC/Faith Factor Project
2000, which was based at the Interdenominational
Theological Center. Both surveys used different
methodologies and questions. The Pulpit and Pew
research used telephone interviews with a sample of
pastors, and most of its questions focused on the clergy
themselves, assessing personal attitudes as well as leadership styles. Its national sample included 674 white and
130 black clergy. The data were weighted to correct for
congregational size. Pulpit and Pew staff made available
the national data set analyzed by race, comparing black
and white clergy.142 The data were weighted to take congregational size into account. The Project 2000 survey
at ITC consisted of 1,863 telephone interviews of black
clergy conducted by the Gallup Organization’s Call
Center in Atlanta, whose interviewers were all African
Americans with a background of familiarity with black
church culture. Tri-Media Inc., which tracks the
purchase of Sunday school materials nationwide,
provided lists of black churches and clergy. The sample
also included lists of clergy provided by black denominational leaders who were contacted by the denominational Deans of ITC. The survey data were also
weighted to reflect the latest available estimates of the
number of congregations within each denomination
interviewed. The Project 2000 questions were broader,
eliciting some personal attitudes of the clergy but also
information about their congregations and ministry.
142
DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILES OF BLACK
CLERGY: AGE, EDUCATION, INCOME,
AND BENEFITS
In the 1990 Lincoln and Mamiya study, the median
age of all black clergy, urban and rural, was 52 years
old. In the 2001 Pulpit and Pew survey, the median
for black pastors was 53. Table 1 shows the
percentage of black and white clergy in various age
groups. We see that 61 percent of all black clergy are
51 years of age and older. In contrast only 49 percent
of white clergy are in that age category. Black clergy
who are less than 50 years of age constitute 38
percent of the sample, while white clergy who are in
the same age cohort are 51 percent.
TABLE 1: AGE OF BLACK AND WHITE CLERGY
AGE GROUP
Less than 45
Age 45-50
Age 51-60
Age 61+
RACE
WHITE
BLACK:
COL %
COL %
30%
20%
31%
19%
12%
28%
31%
30%
As we will attempt to show in this section, the skewed
age distribution of black clergy towards the older age
categories is largely due to the lack of or inadequate
pension and retirement benefits provided by black
churches and denominations. As we pointed out in
1990, the continued lack of pension and retirement ben-
Becky R. McMillan, National Survey Results—By Race. Pulpit and Pew Research on Pastoral Leadership, Duke Divinity
School. February 19, 2003. All references in this paper to Pulpit and Pew concerns this data set. According to Jackson
Caroll, the Pulpit and Pew survey utilized the General Social Survey of 1998, which claims a national random sample, and
traced the individual respondents back to their churches for interviews conducted by the National Opinion Research Center
at the University of Chicago. Sociologist Mark Chaves first used this methodology. However, the GSS has been known to
have some problems with its sample of African Americans. Taylor, Chatters and Levin comment about this sampling problem in Religion in the Lives of African Americans: “Unfortunately, one of the limitations of the GSS is that only about 150
black respondents are typically included in each year of the study. Prior experience in conducting research on the black
populations has demonstrated that it is extremely expensive to reach some segments of this group, particularly respondents
who reside in inner-city neighborhoods in large urban areas and large-scale housing projects. Typically, surveys of the general population [including the federal census] fail to spend the necessary resources to obtain interviews from this group. As a
result the black respondents who participate in the GSS (and most surveys of the general population) are those who are
more accessible and easier to interview. This is somewhat understandable given that the costs associated with interviewing a
black respondent in larger urban areas (e.g. New York, Chicago) are 3 to 10 times more than an interview with a white middle-class respondent. GSS data from several years can be pooled to create a combined data set with larger numbers of black
respondents. However, this does not correct the aforementioned problems with respect to sample representativeness. Bearing
these limitations in mind, however, the GSS remains an important source of data for examining religious participation.” Pp.
243-244. Besides the problems of surveying the black urban poor, I would also add the problems of interviewing the black
rural poor. The GSS national random sample is skewed towards the black working and middle classes and tends to miss
poor African Americans. Thus, the black clergy sample obtained via the GSS tends to miss the churches and clergy of the
black urban and rural poor. It should be noted that even the Federal Census has a well-known undercount of the black
population, usually averaging about 10%.
30
efits “compounds the age and generational problems of
succession in these denominations when black clergy
must continue to work long past retirement age in order
to survive economically.”143 As is evident in Table 1, 30
percent of black clergy are age 61 or older, compared to
19 percent of white clergy.
The data in Table 2 indicates that the provision of pensions varies by church size. However, black churches
still lag behind their white counterparts even when size
is considered. For example, while 90 percent of large
white churches provide a pension to their pastor, only
80 percent of large black churches do the same.
TABLE 2: CONGREGATION PROVIDES PENSION BY
CHURCH SIZE (AVERAGE ATTENDANCE) AND RACE
RACE
PENSION
AVERAGE ATTENDANCE
SMALL
MID-SIZE LARGE/MEGA
(101-350)
(351+)
(<100)
COL %
COL %
COL %
White
YES
NO
56%
44%
83%
17%
90%
10%
Black
YES
14%
47%
80%
NO
86%
53%
20%
In examining the education of black clergy, Dr. James
Costen, who was at the time the president of the
Interdenominational Theological Center, estimated that
only 20 percent of black clergy were seminary educated
with the completion of a Masters of Divinity degree.144
His colleague, Dr. Lawrence Jones, dean of the Howard
University Divinity School, said that approximately 20
percent to 30 percent of all black clergy had completed
a M.Div. degree.145 In the Pulpit and Pew study, 29 percent of black clergy responded that they had completed
the Master of Divinity or Bachelor of Divinity (for clergy trained before the late 1960’s). If more advanced
degrees are considered, such as an advanced Masters,
Doctor of Ministry or Ph.D. degree, the black clergy
rate goes up to 49 percent. In contrast 52 percent of
white clergy had received the M.Div. or its equivalent
and advanced degrees total 72 percent. Also, a higher
percentage of black clergy (31 percent) received their
education through “Certificate from training program”
than did white clergy (8 percent). What is missing from
most surveys of black clergy education is information
on the “apprenticeship training” with a senior pastor
that most of the black clergy receive, even those with
seminary degrees. For the majority of black Baptist and
Pentecostal clergy, this apprenticeship period is often
the only educational requirement for ordination, other
than “a call from God.” We get a little sense of its
importance in the Pulpit and Pew data when clergy
were asked how many from their congregation had they
encouraged to consider ordained ministry. The average
number for white clergy was four. For black clergy, the
average was ten.
For black churches and denominations, the education
of clergy is one of the most significant factors for ministry in the 21st century. Studies have shown that community outreach programs of black churches, working
with government and foundation funds, and advancement on the issue of supporting women as pastors are
highly correlated with the level of clergy education.
Further, only educated black clergy know about community resources to refer their most troubled members
to for psychological counseling. The complex issues of
public policy such as welfare reform, gay marriage,
abortion, war, affirmative action, human rights, etc.
demand a critical level of intelligence on the part of
the clergy. At the present time, the clergy is the only
profession in black communities where the majority of
professionals have not received accredited degrees. The
continuing growth of the black middle class and
young urban professionals will demand that kind of
training. Among the historic black denominations,
only the A.M.E. Church has recently made the Master
of Divinity a requirement for pastoring churches.
Pulpit and Pew’s income data by race are presented in
Table 3. The table shows the median salary, housing
allowance or fair market value of the parsonage, total
compensation (salary plus housing), and total family
income by race and church size. The total income figure
includes compensation from the church plus income
from a second job, spouses’ income, and/or from other
sources. In the table, we see that, overall, black clergy
salaries are about two-thirds of white clergy salaries. Only
in large congregations, do black and white pastors receive
comparable compensation. It should be noted that some
black pastors receive a benefit that is not reflected in the
figures of Table 3: Black churches often give their pastor
a significant annual “love” offering on the anniversary of
the pastor’s start of service to the congregation.
143
Lincoln and Mamiya, p. 134.
144
Lincoln and Mamiya, p. 129.
145
Lawrence Jones, “The Black Churches: A New Agenda,” op. cit., p. 2.
31
TABLE 3: MEDIAN SALARY IN 2000, HOUSING, TOTAL COMPENSATION,
& TOTAL FAMILY INCOME BY RACE AND CHURCH SIZE
RACE
CHURCH SIZE
(AVG. ATTENDANCE)
ANNUAL SALARY
IN 2000
HOUSING ALLOWANCE
OR FMV
SALARY+
HOUSING
TOTAL FAMILY
INCOME
White
Small (<100)
Medium (101-350)
Large or Mega (351+)
$24,000
$34,000
$35,000
$6,000
$10,000
$12,209
$31,000
$46,500
$50,848
$54,000
$60,011
$60,045
Black
Small (<100)
Medium (101-350)
$12,000
$22,016
$42,523
$0
$5,273
$11,235
$13,970
$25,830
$50,074
$52,000
$52,000
$72,334
Total
Small (<100)
Medium (101-350)
$22,000
$32,218
$35,048
$5,400
$10,000
$12,000
$28,777
$45,400
$50,063
$52,000
$60,000
$61,731
In the 1990 Lincoln and Mamiya study, only 34.3 percent of all clergy replied that they received a housing
allowance or residence or parsonage as part of their
benefits. The vast majority (63.9 percent) said that
they did not receive housing support. The Pulpit and
Pew data also provides confirmation of the lack of
housing benefits for black pastors. Ninety-three
percent of black pastors serving small churches; 81
percent in mid-sized churches, and 65 percent in large
or mega congregations reported that they receive no
parsonage or housing allowance. The housing benefits
for lack pastors of large congregations who do receive
a housing allowance or are provided a parsonage are
roughly comparable to those of white pastors.
In examining the lower rates of income paid to black
clergy, Becky R. McMillan and Matthew J. Price in
their Pulpit and Pew Working Paper, “Harnessing the
Market: Clergy Salaries in the 21st Century,” raise
questions about why this is so.146 They indicate that
bivocationalism is fairly widespread among black clergy, not only among those making salaries below
$13,000. Their data suggest that 43 percent of all
black clergy are bivocational and the types of second
jobs they held has shifted from blue collar or farm
workers to white collar or clerical work.147 However,
what they do not indicate is that the major reason for
clergy taking second jobs is not only the boost in
salary but also the lack of adequate health and
pension benefits provided by the churches or denominations. The lack of centralization among the historic
black denominations has made it difficult for them to
organize health and pension benefits.
McMillan and Price pointed out that most of the factors that affect salaries “would suggest AfricanAmerican salaries should be more comparable to
white salaries.” They also point out that black churches have a slightly larger attendance, a median of 100
versus 85 persons and the percent of black clergy who
serve small churches is 56 percent vs. 61 percent for
white. Also the percentage of members who tithe to
the church is much higher among African-Americans
(57 percent) than whites (38 percent). While the
authors recognize that African-American incomes are
lower than those of whites in national averages, the
“distribution of self-reported income levels in the congregations of African-American clergy and white clergy are remarkably close. On average, 36 percent of
both African-American and white congregations earn
less than $25,000; 34 percent of African-American
laity and 30 percent of white laity earn $25,000$50,000; and 30 percent of African-American laity
and 34 percent of white laity earn over $50,000.”148
146
Becky R. McMillan and Matthew J. Price, “Harnessing the Market: Clergy Salaries in the 21st Century.” Pulpit and Pew
Working Paper, Duke Divinity School, August 2002.
147
Ibid., p. 30.
148
Ibid., p. 31.
32
ATTITUDES OF BLACK CLERGY TOWARDS
TIME SPENT IN ACTIVITIES RELATED TO
THEIR MINISTRY; FACTORS SUSTAINING
COMMITMENT TO MINISTRY; AND
CONFLICT IN THE CONGREGATION
After reviewing the main points of their analysis, that is,
that black clergy serve larger churches, that the average
income of lay members of black and white churches is
similar, and that a higher percentage of laity in black
churches who tithe, McMillan and Price conclude: “The
difference in salary is possibly best explained by tradition.
It is common, and continues to be expected, that
African-American pastors take lower salaries and work
second jobs to supplement their clergy salaries.”149 While
their explanation is reasonable given their data,
McMillan and Price repeat the same mistake of most
sociologists who compare income data of blacks and
whites and fail to account for the influence of the differences in family wealth. As Thomas Shapiro has argued in
The Hidden Cost of Being African American: How
Wealth Perpetuates Inequality, family wealth among
whites is ten times more than that of blacks.150
Accumulated family wealth over the generations includes
property, money, home ownership, etc. It can also include
social and political connections developed over the years
that lead to better jobs (i.e. who you know), better education such as prep schools or college legacies for
admissions (the affirmative action program for the
wealthy or well connected), and as we have seen recently
among national politicians, better chances of evading the
draft or dangerous assignments in the military. As the
National Urban League has pointed out, income
comparisons between races, which fail to take into
account the family wealth differential, are flawed and
lead to false expectations.151 No one has yet done a study
that shows how family wealth has influenced the historical development of black churches and denominations or
their salary scales and their consequent inequality in
comparisons to white churches and denominations. Thus,
the salary inequalities of black clergy may be more due
to the overall perpetuated inequalities of the wealth base
of black churches than to “tradition.”
Table 4 presents comparative racial data on how clergy
spend their time in activities related to ministry and the
median total hours worked per week by clergy. Perhaps
the most startling difference is the time differential in
median total hours worked per week by clergy. White
clergy reported an average of 49 hours per week at
their various activities, while black clergy averaged 72
hours per week. The differential is 23 hours more per
week spent at work by black clergy, who also received a
lower salary and fewer benefits overall in comparison
to their white colleagues. In view of the salary and time
differentials, the level of commitment by black clergy
to their ministry is astounding and remarkable.
TABLE 4: HOW CLERGY SPEND THEIR TIME IN
ACTIVITIES DIRECTLY RELATED TO MINISTRY
RACE
WHITE
BLACK
MEDIAN MEDIAN
HOURS
HOURS
PER WEEK PER WEEK
Preaching (incl. preparation)
10
Worship Leadership (incl. preparation) 3
10
5
Teaching (inc. preparation)
4
6
Prayer & Meditation
Training People for Ministry
Working to Convert Others
7
1
2
10
2
3
Pastoral Counseling
Visiting Members, Sick & Shut-ins
Visiting Prospective Members
3
3
6
4
1
1
Administering Congregation’s Work
Attending Congregation Meetings
Involvement in Denominational Affairs
Involvement in Community Affairs
Total Hours Spent per Week
4
2
6
2
1
1
49
2
2
72
149
Ibid., p. 32.
150
Daniel Lee, editor, The State of Black America 2004. See the essay by Samuel J. Myers, “African American Economic WellBeing during the Boom and the Bust.” National Urban League Publication.
151
Thomas M. Shapiro, The Hidden Cost of Being African American: How Wealth Perpetuates Inequality. Oxford University
Press, 2004.
33
While much of the time spent per week on each activity of ministry is similar between black and white
clergy, the results indicate that black clergy report that
they spend three more hours in prayer and
meditation, three more hours in worship leadership,
two more hours in teaching, and three more hours in
pastoral counseling. The longer time spent in pastoral
counseling by black clergy is supported by Mollica et
al’s 1986 study of black and white clergy.152
In examining the amount of conflict experienced by
both black and white clergy during the previous two
years, the responses are similar with no significant differences between them. For example, 32 percent of
white clergy said that there was “no conflict that I’m
aware of” and the black clergy response was 36
percent. The white rate was 46 percent for “some
minor conflict” and 41 percent for blacks. “Significant
conflicts,” were at 5 percent and 4 percent respectively.
Similarly, 17 percent of white clergy indicated that
there was a “major conflict—leaders or people
leaving” and 19 percent of black clergy said the same.
However, as it is indicated in Table 6, there is some difference in the type of conflict in the congregation. For
white clergy 11 percent said that there was conflict
over pastoral leadership, while the rate for black clergy
was 14 percent. The biggest difference was on the conflict over lay leadership in the congregation: 7 percent
of white clergy pointed to that issue while 29 percent
of black clergy said that was so. There are no easy
explanations for this difference, since black clergy tend
to have overall more authority in their churches than
their white counterparts. Any challenges to that level
of authority by lay leaders is probably perceived to be
a conflictual matter by the clergy involved.
Table 5 examines factors of great importance to sustaining a minister’s commitment to ministry. There are
significant differences in the responses of black and
white clergy to the factors. On the first factor, “Feeling
gifts for ministry are right for the congregation clergy are
serving,” white clergy rate it of “Great Importance”
(82.3 percent), while the black clergy response was 12
percent higher at (94 percent). For the second factor,
“Serving a congregation that offers challenges to creativity,” white clergy considered it of “Great Importance” at
(53.3%) and the black clergy view was higher at (66 percent). White clergy said that the third factor of “Having
close relationships with congregation members” was of
“Great Importance” (62 percent) while black clergy felt
TABLE 5: FACTORS OF IMPORTANCE TO SUSTAINING A MINISTER’S COMMITMENT TO MINISTRY
RACE
White
Black
Feeling gifts for ministry are right
for the congregation clergy are serving
Serving a congregation that offers
challenges to your creativity
Having close relationships with
your congregation’s members
Financial well-being
Opportunity to own housing
Feeling gifts for ministry are right
for the congregation clergy are serving
Serving a congregation that offers
challenges to your creativity
Having close relationships with
your congregation’s members
Financial well-being
Opportunity to own housing
152
LITTLE
SOMEWHAT
SOMEWHAT
GREAT
IMPORTANCE
UNIMPORTANT
IMPORTANT
IMPORTANCE
%
%
%
%
0
1
18
81
1
4
43
52
1
12
31
4
13
13
35
57
27
61
18
30
5
94
28
65
0
7
1
0
22
76
12
9
3
2
40
18
44
71
See Mollica et al in Section II of this paper.
34
0
TABLE 6: SUMMARY TABLE ON FOCUS OF SERMON
HOW OFTEN DOES THE SERMON
FOCUS ON… (100% = “ALWAYS”)
God’s love and care
Practical advice for daily living
Personal spiritual growth
Social justice or social action
Reference to racial situation
in society
Liberation theology or
womanistic theology
BLACK
TOTAL
BAPTIST
COGIC
AME
CME
AMEZ
UMC
PRESBY.
83
66
74
25
84
66
74
24
85
68
76
27
80
61
75
26
85
66
73
32
87
72
74
26
80
57
64
23
70
46
55
14
17
17
17
18
23
22
14
9
12
10
11
14
19
18
13
7
Source: ITC/FaithFactor Project 2000
that it was of “Great Importance” at a higher rate (76
percent). On the fourth factor of “Financial well-being,”
the response rates of “Great Importance” were similar
for both black (11 percent of each). However, the differences in the “Little Importance” category for this item
was great, with the black clergy response at (45 percent)
and the white clergy rate at 19 percent. Similarly, on the
fifth factor of “Opportunity to own housing,” there are
significant differences in the response rates with black
clergy saying that it was of “Great Importance” (8 percent), while white clergy felt stronger about the item at
28 percent.
The great differences in responses to the material factors of the third and fourth items of Table 5—financial well-being and opportunity to own housing—may
indicate that most black clergy are significantly less
motivated in their commitment to ministry by the
materialism of financial well-being and owning their
own housing. The data on clergy salaries and housing
benefits tend to support this view. Overall, as we saw,
black clergy earn significantly less than white clergy,
and there is a lack of housing benefits provided by
black churches.
Turning now to the data from the ITC/FaithFactor
Project 2000, the tables present the results somewhat
differently since all the respondents were black
pastors. The three tables (6-8) show responses for each
of the seven denominations represented in the study.
Since the sermon is often the highlight of a black
worship service and black clergy are often judged by
their preaching ability, the categories of Table 6 are in
response to the question, “How often does the
sermon focus on……?” The totals of the top three
items were “God’s love and care” (83 percent);
“personal spiritual growth” (74 percent); and “practical advice for daily living” (66 percent). All of these
topics refer to the “spiritual and individual”
dimensions of ministry. The next three items can be
called the “prophetic dimensions” of ministry,
encouraging engagement with society and criticisms
of racial and gender injustices. Each of them has significantly lower scores: Social justice or social action
(25 percent); Reference to racial situation in society
(17 percent); and liberation theology or womanist theology (12 percent). As we indicated in the 1990
Lincoln and Mamiya study of the Black Church,
liberation theology and womanist theology, while
popular courses in divinity schools, have not made
much of an impact among the majority of black
clergy and congregations. It is curious to see that the
responses of Black Presbyterian clergy tend to be 5
percent to 20 percent lower than the total responses
on each item. At the present time, there is no
adequate explanation for these lower rates.
Table 7 presents a summary of Participation in Social
Services/Community Programs in the Past 12 Months
by black congregations. The clergy were asked, “In the
past 12 months, did your congregation provide or cooperate in providing for any of the social services or community outreach programs for your own congregation’s
members or for people in the community?” The
percentages given are total responses by all denominations in the survey. Youth programs (92 percent) led the
35
TABLE 7: SUMMARY TABLE OF PARTICIPATION IN SOCIAL SERVICES/COMMUNITY PROGRAMS
IN THE PAST 12 MONTHS
% Saying “yes,” congregation provided or cooperated in providing any of the following social services or
community outreach programs for congregation’s own members or for people in the community?
BLACK
TOTAL
BAPTIST
COGIC
AME
CME
AMEZ
UMC
PRESBY.
Food pantry or soup kitchen
75
76
71
80
68
84
84
78
Cash assistance to families or individuals
86
89
82
84
84
92
87
84
Thrift store or thrift store donations
52
51
51
53
45
66
57
50
Elderly emergency or affordable housing
Counseling services or “hot lines”
Substance abuse programs
36
66
52
38
70
52
29
64
52
39
63
51
36
50
43
50
66
66
41
59
52
34
56
39
Youth programs
Tutoring or literacy programs—
teens or children
Voter registration or education
Organized social issue advocacy
Employment counseling: placement or training
Health program clinics or education
Senior citizen programs other than housing
Prison or jail ministry
Credit unions
Computer training
92
93
90
94
89
94
90
89
65
76
45
46
62
57
62
6
42
68
79
47
47
66
62
66
5
47
59
64
32
47
51
42
65
7
33
67
86
56
46
69
63
56
9
46
60
78
43
34
56
58
55
7
38
66
86
62
54
74
68
66
6
41
70
73
63
40
76
67
42
6
52
78
74
56
37
70
60
35
6
50
list, which is not surprising since most congregations
consider the youth as part of their future. Other top
programs over 50 percent participation include the following: “cash assistance to families or Individuals” (86
percent); “voter registration or voter education” (76 percent); food pantry or soup kitchen (75 percent); “counseling services or ‘hot lines’” (66 percent); “tutoring or
literary programs—teens or children” (65 percent);
“health program clinics or health education” (62
percent); “prison or jail ministry” (62 percent); “senior
citizen programs other than housing” (57 percent);
“thrift store or thrift store donations” (52 percent); and
“substance abuse programs (52 percent). The lower participation items included: “employment counselors—
placement or training” (46 percent); “organized social
Issue advocacy” (45 percent); “computer training” (42
percent); and “credit unions” (6 percent).
153
Mark Chaves in his recent book, Congregations in
America, argues that
Predominantly African American congregations
do not, on average, perform more social services
than predominantly white congregations. African
American congregations are, however, more likely
than white congregations to engage in certain
important types of activities, such as education,
mentoring, substance abuse prevention, and job
training or employment assistance programs.153
While Chaves is correct in contending that black congregations have engaged more intensively in certain
types of social services, particularly those serving the
poor and needy and civil rights activities, the range of
their social service activities is broader than those of
white congregations when viewed historically. For
Mark Chaves, Congregations in America. Harvard University Press, 2004: p. 54.
36
example, in the late 19th century, black churches with
the cooperation of fraternal lodges helped to establish
the first black owned banks and life insurance companies. As the most independent black institution, black
churches had to take on more burdens and activities
than their white counterparts
compare data over a ten year period. On item A, on the
approval or disapproval of “clergy from your own
church taking part in a protest march on civil rights
issues,” the “strongly approved” rate is 54 percent for all
the denominations. This rate is similar to the 52 percent
in the 1990 study. However, there are important
variations between the denominations with the black
Methodist denominations (A.M.E., A.M.E. Zion, and
C.M.E.) and the United Methodists and Black
Presbyterians strongly approving (65 percent to 73 percent) at a rate of 10 percent or higher than the Baptists
(55 percent) and COGIC (35 percent). A similar result is
found on item B, approval or disapproval of “Churches
expressing their views and day to day social and political
issues.” The black Methodist denominations, United
Methodists, and Black Presbyterians are in the 70
percent range, and the Baptists are at 64 percent.
COGIC again has the lowest rating at 54 percent.
Chaves also contends that
For the vast majority of congregations, social
services constitute a minor and peripheral aspect
of their organizational activities, taking up only
small amounts of their resources and involving
only small numbers of people. We fundamentally
misunderstand congregations if we imagine that
this sort of activity is now, was ever, or will ever
be central to their activities.154
For the majority of black clergy and congregations
these are harsh words of judgment that challenge their
raison d’etre and their Christian theologies and beliefs.
While worship activities have always been central to the
ministry of the black clergy, so have the provision of
social service activities. Jesus’ words, “Have you fed the
hungry, clothed the naked, visited those who are
imprisoned?,” put those activities at the center of ministry. Furthermore, the high percentages of the 1,863
clergy and congregations participating in social services
and community outreach programs in Table 8 do not
make them “minor and peripheral.” It is true that most
social service ministries involve a small number of people, however, when the activities are enumerated as in
Table 8, the small numbers can add up to quite a few.
No adequate study of black churches and social service
programs has been done to determine how much of
their financial resources are devoted to these programs.
On the more controversial question of approving or disapproving of “a woman as a pastor of a church,” the 40
percent that strongly approve total is higher than it was
ten years ago (16 percent). All of the responses by clergy
of the historic black denominations had higher rates of
strongly approve than in the 1990 study: Baptists 27 percent now vs. 20 percent 10 years ago; COGIC 22 percent
now vs. 7 percent; A.M.E. 72 percent now vs. 30 percent;
A.M.E. Zion 78 percent now vs. 33.6 percent; and
C.M.E. 75 percent now vs. 30.9 percent. Apparently, the
experiences with black women pastors as classmates or
colleagues as well as pressures from the Womanist movement among black women clergy and seminarians have
led to a broadening of views on this issue. The black
Methodists have doubled their strongly approved rating
and COGIC has tripled the earlier result. The black
Baptists have the smallest gain. Overall there has been
some momentum and progress in changing the views of
black male clergy towards their female counterparts.
Table 8 on Approval of Church Practices of the Project
2000 survey repeats some of the questions that were
used in the 1990 study of the Black Church in order to
TABLE 8: APPROVAL OF SELECTED CHURCH PRACTICES (% STRONGLY APPROVE)
BLACK
TOTAL
BAPTIST
COGIC
AME
CME
AMEZ
UMC
PRESBY.
A. Clergy from your own church taking part
in a protest march on civil rights
54
55
35
72
65
72
73
73
B. Churches expressing their views on
day-to-day social & political issues
64
64
54
73
71
74
75
77
C. A woman as pastor of a church
40
27
22
77
75
78
88
85
154
Ibid., p. 93.
37
CONCLUSION
I
n the Introduction we used Vincent Harding’s
metaphor of the river of black history, coursing its
way through the rough landscape of North
America. Black churches were the vessels or ships on
this river, often built by the voyagers themselves, while
the black clergy were the captains navigating their vessels through sometimes smooth but many times rough
waters. This overview of trends in black churches and
black pastoral leadership confirms these images. The
future of black churches looks promising and bright,
especially with the growing reverse migrations to the
Southern Bible Belt where the environment at least
encourages membership in religious institutions. As
far as it is known, the historic Black Church denominations have not suffered the kinds of membership
losses and declines that the mainline white Protestant
denominations have endured over the past 30 years.
Some of the trends such as neo-Pentecostalism and
the development of black megachurches have led to
growth in membership rather than decline. These
black megachurches have emerged as important
recruiting grounds for candidates to the ministry.
The cutting edge trends of Black Church related
Community Development Corporations, the building
of mixed income housing, and local economic development through the Community Reinvestment Act are
harbingers of hope in rebuilding devastated inner city
areas. However, the greater involvement of black
churches with government funding raises questions and
criticisms about the loss of their independence and
prophetic role. The weakness of black churches in the
complex arena of public policy was also pointed out.
The Rev. John Perkins, civil rights activist and
founder of the Mendenhall Ministries in Mississippi,
has reiterated the need to begin the consolidation of
black rural churches. Rather than perpetuating the
tradition of rural clergy pastoring three or four
churches with small congregations and not living in
the neighborhood of the churches, Perkins has recommended the need to return to the time when black
churches provided a parsonage for the pastor.155 By
emphasizing the parsonage model, the pastor would
be more connected to issues of the neighborhood in
rural areas. However, denominational leaders who
155
plan to consolidate rural churches need to deal sensitively with the graveyards of many of these churches,
where generation of relatives are buried. Reburial ceremonies need to be considered.
The studies of the roles of black churches in the lives
of its members reveal a loyalty and depth of commitment to this institutional area that is not found in
other sectors of society, even among white churches.
Time and again, different studies point to the higher
levels of religious commitment found among black
people across all age cohorts from youth to middle
age to elderly. Black churches provide important
social networks for its members and for their communities. The disciplined lifestyles and the social support
in times of crises have improved the physical and psychological health of its members, who live longer and
have fewer psychological problems than nonmembers.
The data from the Pulpit and Pew survey of black
and white clergy nationwide show the remarkable
resilience of black pastors in serving their churches
and communities, even though they work more hours
each week and receive less salary and benefits than
their white counterparts. Yet, in spite of the lesser
material benefits, black clergy have shown higher
motivational commitments to ministry than white
clergy. The data from Project 2000 indicate that black
clergy have tried to strike a balance between emphasis
on the spiritual life of members and outreach to the
community through social service programs.
In conclusion, 35 million African Americans are still
trying to find a more comfortable place in their native
land, a place they feel to be consistent with the expectations other Americans take for granted. The enduring
search for respect and respectability, for acceptance and
acceptability takes many forms, and the fall-out of the
effort is not always predictable. Black churches became
the first institutions to carry the hopes and dreams of
an outcast people. If they were not always heroic institutions, they at least contributed to the survival of their
people in the most extreme and violent circumstances.
This study is but a small contribution to the continuing
saga and history of a neglected but remarkable institutional sector in the black community.
Interview with the Rev. John Perkins in Jackson Mississippi, January 24, 2004. ICAM Ford Ethics Project.
38
ABOUT PULPIT & PEW
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
P
awrence A Mamiya is professor of religion and
Africana studies at Vassar College in
Poughkeepsie, N.Y. He is the co-author, with C.
Eric Lincoln, of The Black Church in the African
American Experience (Duke University Press, 1990)
and the author of numerous articles and chapters on
such topics as Minister Louis Farrakhan and the
Nation of Islam, Christianity and Civil Society, Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr., Black Militant and
separatists movements and rural clergy and churches
in the Black Belt. He is currently at work on a study
of Islam in the African American Experience.
ulpit & Pew is a research initiative of the Duke
Divinity School funded by Lilly Endowment,
Inc., and aimed at strengthening the quality of
pastoral leadership (clergy and lay) in churches across
America. The goal of the research is to strengthen the
quality of pastoral leaders, especially those in ordained
ministry, through (1) understanding how changes in the
social, cultural, economic, and religious context in
recent years have affected ministry, (2) forming pastoral
leaders with the capacity for continual learning and
growth in response to these changes, and (3) identifying
policies and practices that will support creative pastoral
leadership and vital congregations as they respond to a
changing environment.
L
RIVER OF STRUGGLE, RIVER OF FREEDOM 39

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