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,
This book causes the reader to learn more about an otherwise relatively unknown woman in history, and the tenacity she showed in order to obtain rights that many Americans so often take for granted. Not only did Rebecca gain her freedom from slavery, rise in the religious ranks of the Moravian church, and achieve monumental religious status, as she was among the first women to be ordained as a deaconess, be administered Communion, and become ordained in western Christianity, she was also willing to face the consequences of sharing her beliefs knowing full well the extent of her decision. Sensbach also shares information about how the Protestant church developed as a result of Christianity being blended with African American religions and cultures. Although Sensbach does not make a direct connection between Rebecca and the development of the first black church, through Rebecca’s trials one is able to get a glimpse at what African Americans may have faced as a result of their faith. Additionally, her efforts and willingness to risk her freedom helps to show just how far people were willing to go for their religious liberty. Lastly, Rebecca set a precedent not only for African American women, but for African Americans and women in general as her efforts helped to inspire others and change the way that African Americans and women were viewed in the religious
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...
David Walker was “born a free black in late eighteenth century Wilmington,” however, not much more information is known about his early life. During his childhood years, Walker was likely exposed to the Methodist church. During the nineteenth century, the Methodist church appealed directly to blacks because they, in particular, “provided educational resources for blacks in the Wilmington region.” Because his education and religion is based in the Methodist theology, Methodism set the tone and helped to shape the messages Walker conveys through his Appeal to the black people of the United States of America. As evident in his book, Walker’s “later deep devotion to the African Methodist Episcopal faith could surely argue for an earlier exposure to a black-dominated church” because it was here he would have been exposed to blacks managing their own dealings, leading classes, and preaching. His respect and high opinion of the potential of the black community is made clear when Walker says, “Surely the Americans must think...
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
"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.
Kroll, P. (2006). The African-American Church in America. Grace Communion International. Retrieved March 20, 2014, from http://www.gci.org/history/african
James H. Cone is the Charles A. Briggs Distinguished Professor of Systematic Theology at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. Dr. Cone probably is best known for his book, A Black Theology of Liberation, though he has authored several other books. Dr. Cone wrote that the lack of relevant and “risky” theology suggests that theologians are not able to free themselves from being oppressive structures of society and suggested an alternative. He believes it is evident that the main difficulty most whites have with Black Power and its compatible relationship to the Christian gospel stemmed from their own inability to translate non-traditional theology into the history of black people. The black man’s response to God’s act in Christ must be different from the whites because his life experiences are different, Dr. Cone believes. In the “black experience,” the author suggested that a powerful message of biblical theology is liberation from oppression.
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
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 organized by people of African descent Heritage, The word “Methodist” means that our church is a member of the family of Methodist Churches, The word “Episcopal refers to the form of government under which our church operates.”
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
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.
Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press. Print. The. 2003 Roberts, Deotis J. Black Theology in Dialogue. Philadelphia, PA: Westminster Press. Print.
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.