The Black Church In The African American Experience Summary

Kelly Brown Douglas begins by posing a series of questions, including, “Who is the Black Christ?” and “Is the Black Christ Enough?” (6-7) For Douglas, the Black Christ, “…represents God’s urgent movement in human history to set Black captives free from the demons of White racism” (3). The question of “Who is the Black Christ?” is addressed in Chapter 3. The question of “Is the Black Christ enough?” is addressed in Chapters 4 and 5, as Douglas critically examines the relationship of the Black Christ to the Black community and ends with addressing what womanist theology is and why there is a need for it in understanding the Black Christ.

Since the arrival of African Americans in this country blacks have always had differing experiences. Consequently, African-Americans have had to forge a self-identity out of what has been passed on to them as fact about their true selves. History has wrought oppression and subjugation to this particular race of people and as a result, certain institutions were formed in order aid African-Americans, culturally, spiritually and economically. The African-American Church has served of one such institution. From the time of slavery, though outlawed, many slaves found ways to congregate and form their own "churches", away from the one-sided and bias lessons about the bible that they were being taught in the white church. The white ministers and

“Roll, Jordan, Roll”, “Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Had”, “Go Down, Moses”, and “Wade in the Water” are the titles of only a handful of what were called “Negro Spirituals”, which originated during the reign of slavery in the United States (Frey). Such spirituals used call-and-response, a method of communication that was popular with slaves who brought African traditions to America, and gave way to the gospel music and unique form of preaching characteristic to the Black Church. The history of the Black Church, which began during the slave era, demonstrates the way that African Americans found refuge in Christianity, where the church became the center for African American communities (Baer). Born out of struggle and oppression, the Black Church not only became the focus for the religious practices of African American communities, but also worked to “re-member” the community through rituals such as that of call-and-response, a core element of the Black Church which served as a powerful tool for the African American community in the fight for the exercise of true freedom in America.

The General Conference of the United Methodist Church voted in 1968 to abolish the African-American Central Jurisdiction and to merge all churches regardless of race under the new United Methodist Church. It set a goal for each Annual Conference area to merge together by 1972. South Carolina began discussions on merger as early as 1966, but it took until 1972 to accomplish the goal. The two conferences, the all-white 1785 Conference, and the African-American 1866 Conference merged at the 1972 Annual Conference meetings in Spartanburg. This paper will focus on the issues that faced the merger starting with the first Plan for Merger in 1970 until the completion of the merger in 1972.

What ministry types are present within the Black Urban Church that may not take place in the Black Rural Church setting? (Chapter 6) The present picture of black urban churches is a complicated, mixed picture of some effects of privatization among unchurched sectors of the black population, and the withdrawal of some black churches into a sphere of personal piety and religiosity; but there are also numerous signs of a continuing tradition of activism and involvement in the political, economic, educational, and cultural aspects of black life among the majority of black clergy and churches (Lincoln, C. Eric, and Lawrence H. Mamiya

It gives one a close glimpse at what exactly kept them going strong in this period of mistreatment, and just how they were so spiritually strong even at their weakest physically. It was said to be that African-Americans established this “invisible institution” through signals, passwords, and other things. It was here in Church where they mixed their African rhythms, sang, and praised God.

Such unity and self-determination was evidenced in 1801, when Richard Allen, founder of the African Methodist Episcopal Church published a hymnal by and for African Americans (Costen, 81). Hymns have served black people in their everyday lives and had and have

It is a wonderful read and very informative and enlightening. James H. Cone a mentor and advisor of Dr. Terrell's is also mentioned quite often in this textbook because of his vital role in her life. Cone offers a list of books in reference to his scholarly work. Just to name a few; For my People: Black Theology and the Black Church (Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 1984). “The Gospel of Jesus, Black People and Black Power,” Black Theology and Black Power (Minneapolis: Seabury Press, 1969; rev.ed. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 1997), pp. 31-61

The Making of the 1963 Baptist Faith and Message. A. J. Smith Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2008.

The African Methodist Episcopal Church also known as the AME Church, represents a long history of people going from struggles to success, from embarrassment to pride, from slaves to free. It is my intention to prove that the name African Methodist Episcopal represents equality and freedom to worship God, no matter what color skin a person was blessed to be born with. The thesis is this: While both Whites and Africans believed in the worship of God, whites believed in the oppression of the Africans’ freedom to serve God in their own way, blacks defended their own right to worship by the development of their own church. According to Andrew White, a well- known author for the AME denomination, “The word African means that our church was

Black theology can be traced back to when slavery times. During this time Christianity became the blacks man’s purpose of life,

Under the theme of leadership, many colleges and university taught Christianity and later Roman Catholic institutes were established as separate parochial schools in order to avoid the Protestant tone of the religion. The presence of the immigrants and people from different countries with different cultures also influenced Christianity in the United States. This is mostly raised due to the Black Americans. Upon their freedom, many of the Black American decided to take the Christianity as their missionary activity and remain active in their own churches and political and moral leadership. Under the activities of the Black American the elements of evangelical, fundamentalist and charismatic denomination grew, but it was Christianity that slowly and steadily grew into a power religion especially after the Hispanic immigration in the 1970. With the passage of time, European people rejected the teaching of Catholic and in the 20th century, American become the largest country with the larger population as Christian. Within the United States, moral position and other direction are discussed under the largest religion i.e.

These three perceptions are distinctly different, but ultimately speak to the contextual nature of Black theology—rooting worship, adoration, and discipleship within the notion a (conscious) living G-d. The first perception explored is the image G-d adored through the lens of Sister Sweet and Mother Darling. At first glance, these women appear different in life style and theology—different churches, different abilities, and different approaches to discipleship. But upon further examination, one discovers the same paradigm at work. Both have lost children to AIDS. Both have committed themselves to a praxis centered theology to process their loss. Mother Darling is street missionary and Sister Sweet is a disabled woman confined to a wheel that feeds the birds and attends to the needs of the Little piece of Heaven Church. Both have found peace in their personalized work for the Lord. Their G-d is a “shelter in a time of storm.” The second perception is the image of G-d as seen through Deacon Zee. This G-d is one of salvation and complacence for Deacon Zee. The “White Jesus” he prayed to for his assistance in finding his copy of the Wall Street Journal—a nuanced symbol for prosperity. This G-d speaks to the corporate nature and element of

A. Characteristics of Progressives- middle class white Americans (Protestant) because they felt cut off of Americans society. Didn’t become minister but became minister

Introduction to African American Studies was the class that I decided to take this summer because I am genuinely interested in learning more about the cultures and lifestyles of African Americans through out history and I want to further my knowledge beyond just learning about what was taught to me in secondary school. I do not know much about African American studies as I have not taken any courses on it or relating to it in the past but I hope that I can gain a lot of information on the topic through out this intellectual experience. I also hope to gain a better understanding of the history of Africans and African Americas and be able to dive deeper into this topic instead of just hitting the surface as I feel as though my previous experiences with this topic have covered. In just this first weeks lesson I have learned about the three great principles that characterize the “Black Intellectual Tradition” and how these three principles are used and perceived.