The plight of African-Americans in America is steeped with moments of infamy. From being forcibly brought here on ships in chains in the early seventeenth century to the sit-ins and marches for equality and freedom of the 1950’s and 1960’s, life for blacks in America has been full of struggles. “The Black Church in the African American Experience” by C. Eric Lincoln and Lawrence H. Mamiya is the textbook for this course. It opens the gateway to one’s mind to present marvelously the encounters of African-American Christians in American society as they developed into such a diverse body of believers. This paper will be a summary of chapters nine and ten which covered the Black Church and economics, as well as the Black Church and women respectively. …show more content…
Here is a profound quote, “The American dream of upward mobility and achievement unfettered by skin color still remains a major goal and hope for the majority of African Americans. But even after several centuries that dream is still complicated by the American dilemma of racial and economic inequality (Mamiya 271, 272).” What a powerful statement, and it is absolutely so very accurate. Chapter nine magnificently depicts the struggle of African-Americans in America to attain economic equality, and shows how the fight spills over into the Black Church. As with most battles there were tough times, and through enduring those times there has been good to come of it. In past times, the church served as a fortress in the black community and provided encouragement, as well as support, politically, socially, and teaching financial accountability to its parishioners and families. That is not so much the case now. The chapter also speaks to the Black Church being a financial/economic institution itself, and spoke to how the church often reflected the economic circumstances of its members. This often leads to what may be considered the most glaring weakness of the Black Church, its lack of economics and finances. In addition to the aforementioned items, the Black Church served as the nucleus of the community during times of slavery, and the Civil Rights Movement, helping to birth banks, mortuaries, insurance companies, …show more content…
Unfortunately, through the ages women have been unfairly held back in their ability to lead churches from the pulpit. From a historical perspective this issue is pervasive in mostly all churches whether black or white. The issues of sexism and woman 's rights in the black community often take a back seat to racial issues. It was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Injustices also happen in the church. Discrimination, based on gender bias, in the pulpit is a huge injustice to women, especially black women. The success of past and present churches is largely due to the efforts of women who make up more than a majority of most church congregations. Yet the responsibility to lead those same churchgoers is reserved for a man. What a travesty. The chapter eluded to women holding positions of leadership in Christian churches under titles such as exhorters, evangelists, and missionaries, but this does not do justice to the pivotal work that African-American women perform in the church. Regrettably for the Black Church, many black women have chosen to seek ministry opportunities in white denominations as they have shown more progressive attitudes toward accepting women as leaders in the church setting. Women have shown themselves to be pivotal in the church and are more or less the backbone to the body of believers to whom they serve,
Becoming a true theologian and scholar deals with not limiting the extents of homiletics. The assumption is that the black preaching tradition is distinct and identifiable. What is interesting for any African American student of homiletics is that while many argue for a defined set of African American homiletic characteristics, there is little agreement on what these characteristics are? When people try to characterize what makes African Ame...
During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the majority of slave brought to the new world were young men who were mostly not especially religious. Very few Africans had previously obtained Christian beliefs prior to being shipped from Africa to the New World. The majority of slaves were, in fact, followers of...
Maffly-Kipp, L. (2001). The Church in the Southern Black Community: Introduction. The Church in the Southern Black Community: Introduction. Retrieved March 17, 2014, from http://docsouth.unc.edu/church/intro.html
For centuries religion has played a huge role in the black community. From slavery to freedom, religion has help black folk deal with their anger, pain, oppression, sadness, fear, and dread. Recognizing the said importance of religion in the black community, Black poets and writers like Phillis Wheatley and Richard Wright, use religion as an important motif in their literature. Wheatley uses religion as a way to convince her mostly white audience of how religious conversion validates the humanity of herself and others. Wright on the other hand, uses religion in order to demonstrate how religion, as uplifting as it is can fail the black community. Thinking through, both Wheatley and Wright’s writings it becomes apparent that religion is so complex,
Black caucuses developed in the Catholic, Presbyterian, and Episcopal churches. "The central thrust of these new groups was to redefine the meaning and role of the church and religion in the lives of black people. Out of this reexamination has come what some have called Black Theology.... ... middle of paper ...
Influential Black male ministers like Martin Luther King Jr., were regarded as pillars within the Black community. A Black women activist noted that “a lot comes from the traditions of the church and the male minister as the leader, the person whom you’re supposed to obey.” The traditional gender roles and values therefore prevented Black women from becoming ministers, deacons, or heads of the Southern Baptist church. Consequently, the accomplishments of “visible titled leaders” are credited for their activism and overall success of the Civil Rights Movement. Leadership cannot just be narrowly based on visibility, authority, and/or charisma. It is by these definitions that the contributions of Black women in the Civil Rights Movement have been ignored and overshadowed. Specifically, the overgeneralized mentality that “Men led, but women organized” relinquishes women of any leadership qualities and
Many African American men and women have been characterized as a group of significant individuals who help to exemplify the importance of the black community. They have illustrated their optimistic views and aspects in a various amount of ways contributing to the reconstruction of African Americans with desire and integrity. Though many allegations may have derived against a large amount of these individuals, Crystal Bird Fauset, Jacob Lawrence, and Mary Lucinda Dawson opportunistic actions conveys their demonstration to improve not only themselves but also their ancestors too. Throughout their marvelous journeys, they intend to garnish economic, political, and social conditions with dignity and devotion while witnessing the rise of African Americans. The objective of this research paper is to demonstrate the lives of a selected group of African American people and their attributions to the black community.
In this day and age, many people tend to not socialize daily about religion as much as before because many people simply do not believe in God as well as others do. Many people agree that our generations thinking is way different from our grandparents. Thus, every community church has its own activities for the youth to participate in outside the church and so does the African American churches. These activities expose the children about the role of religion in ones life and help them grow in it. Some activities can be volunteer work in the church where younger people help before the service. Holding activities to show that the church is not just a place to only show ones devotion to God, but for people to be involved in it as a community. Another way to be involved and show gratefulness is joining the churches choir. Also, some churches form bible study circles as well as prayer circles to teach the kids in a more exciting way. Most churches have found ways to get kids of younger age excited about religion. They hold multiple activities and field trips throughout the year so the kids can reflect what they have learned outside the church on to their daily lives. Children are usually lead by their mothers. African American mothers are one of the most religious people as a group. As Theola Labbe-DeBose stated in the article, Black Women are Among Country's Most Religious Groups, "African Americans
Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press. Print. The. 2003 Roberts, Deotis J. Black Theology in Dialogue. Philadelphia, PA: Westminster Press. Print.
Throughout history, women’s roles have increased slowly. Not until the second Great Awakening did black women begin to gain roles in Christianity and in society. Between the 19th and 20th century black women used multiple methods to gain authority. Some women preached and gave speeches while other women used nonverbal approaches like writing articles. During this time period everyone wasn’t welcoming to the idea of a woman being consider a leader of any major movement. Black women didn’t always have authority in religious settings, but as time progress women became influenced by Christianity which ultimately pushed them to become leaders even though they knew everyone wouldn’t accept them.
It has played a major role in history, persecution, church, wars and most importantly in slavery. in this essay i have focus in how hypocrisy was use in race relations using the slave narrative Equiano. In Equiano 's slave narrative examines Christianity and how it allows hypocrisy in slavery. As Equiano travels he sees and learns how whites use religion as a pocketbook, whites pretended to be holy and virtue by attending church and being thrilled of their practice when in reality they were unjustly treating African slaves and not living up to the tenets outlined in the bible. Equiano studies the bible carefully; despite of the hypocrisy Equianos faces he remains loyal to god and always kept his faith in god. Once his convince of the authenticity of his spiritual transformation and studies of the bible then Equiano convert to Methodist
In a culture where even white women were generally looked down upon within the male dominated society in which they lived, the unique story of one “mulatto” women’s journey through slavery and religious faith in America in the eighteenth century stands out, and provides a look into the origins of the black church itself. Rebecca’s Revival: Creating Black Christianity in the Atlantic World by Jon F. Sensbach aims to tell the story of Rebecca Protten, a freed slave turned evangelist, whom being neither illiterate nor invisible as many free slaves were thought to have been, traveled around sharing the love of Jesus and converting slaves from all over St. Thomas, ultimately assisting in the establishment of the
"God of the Oppressed" is brilliantly organized into ten chapters. These chapters serve as the building blocks to the true understanding of Cone’s Black Theology. This progressive movement begins with an introduction of both him and his viewpoint. He explains that his childhood in Bearden, Arkansas and his membership to Macedonia African Methodist Episcopal Church (A.M.E) has taught him about the black Church experience and the sociopolitical significance of white people. “My point is that one’s social and historical context decides not only the questions we address to God but also the mode of form of the answers given to the questions.” (14) The idea of “speaking the truth” is added at this point because to go any further the reader must understand the reason and goal for Black Theology. Through the two sources in that shape theology, experience and scripture, white theology concludes that the black situation is not a main point of focus. Cone explains the cause for this ignorance, “Theology is not a universal language; it is interested language and thus is always a reflection of the goals and aspirations of a particular people in a definite social setting.” (36) This implies that one’s social context shapes their theology and white’s do not know the life and history of blacks. As the reader completes the detailed analysis of society’s role in shaping experiences, Cone adds to the second source, scripture.
C. Eric Lincoln and Lawrence H. Mamiya, The Black Church in the African American Experience (Durham: Duke University Press, 1990), 352. Lindsay A. Arscott, "Black Theology," Evangelical Review of Theology 10 (April-June 1986):137. James H. Cone, "Black Theology in American Religion," Theology Today 43 (April 1986):13. James H. Cone, "Black Theology and Black Liberation," in Black Theology: The South African Voice, ed. Basil Moore (London: C. Hurst & Co., 1973), 92, 96.
Black Consciousness movement is “revolution in consciousness that encompasses all black institutions, including the Black Church.”(2939) This movement was a much needed awakening in the conscious minds of Black people. For years they were subjected to dehumanization tactics, which resulted in loathing of self. Collectively, Black people are thought to have an immense dislike for everything which resembled that of the African. We were a “people who hated our African characteristics.” (2931) We hated our skin, we hated our hair, we hated our features, we found ourselves feeling imprisoned in our skin. Prisoners to an unjust society merely because of the hue of their skin. They were forever in bondage; no longer were they in physical chains, but now they were in mental chains. A shift in perspective in the 1960’s and 1970’s invoked a change in the mentality of the Black community. Their consciousness was roused with a “revolution” undertone. The people wanted change. They wanted an identity that no longer made them feel hostages in a foreign land, but one which embraced their h...