I am vaguely clear right now on my dissertation because I do not have a concrete title. However, my desire is to create a model that can be used in the Black Church that will aid the church in the retention as well as recapturing of Millennials. Deep societal trends impact the religious fervency and participation of Millennials in the Black Church. Many young adults, though remaining Christian, have fallen away from their faith communities, finding them irrelevant. Historically strong across all indicators, the Black Church is ideally positioned to stave off the attrition of youth and young adults, having a missional mindset toward this cohort – prioritizing them in their ministry development and programming. Therefore, in my dissertation,
it is my desire to prove that the way the church will retain Millennials is to develop them into disciples who have cohesive identities, live integrated lives, and experiences a fusion of their gifts/talents with the mission of the church. Thus, the future of the Black Church depends on the development of Millennials who have an integrated faith life, which is distinguishable by its practices, disciplines, and virtues that are nurtured by an understanding of the church’s mission and their role in it. I envision that the development of Millennials into faithful disciples will take place by establishing mentoring relationships that allow for questioning, exploration, and discovery. To enact the changes necessary the church must understand the cultural worlds of young adults and engage them in holistic ministry that is reflective of the mission of God through Christ – activity that culminates with reaching the world with God’s redemptive plan for humanity.
Cleophus J. LaRue in I Believe I’ll Testify makes it clear that great preaching comes from somewhere, it also must go somewhere, so preachers need to use the most artful language to send the Word on its journey. There is always purpose in life in black preaching says LaRue. Some of the greatest preaching in America happens on Sundays. The articulation and cadence of the black preacher often arise and causes people to feel something deep down inside their souls. The heart of black preaching has been deeply entrenched in our society and is a staple in the life blood of the traditional black family and community. Many a congregation has been stirred to conviction, repentance, and action by the powerful voice of the African american preacher. In I Believe I’ll Testify, LaRue seeks to explain the designing characteristics that exist in black preaching and how it has become a tooled force in the twenty-first century African American community. Using stories and antidotes and his own experiences, LaRue describes what actually makes for good preaching and gives insightful advice in the art of preaching that many seminarians do not learn from seminary. This book is an informative and well written book and could benefit pastors, former pastors, and anyone interested in the art of good black preaching.
3. To suggest ideas for the kinds of programs that churches can undertake to help alleviate problems faced by senior citizens.
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.
Brinkerhoff, David B., Rose Weitz, Suzanne T. Ortega. Essentials of Sociology Ninth Edition. Belmont: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2013. Print.
In today’s society, Sunday mornings have become one of the most segregated days all over the world. This common issue is due to racism. Racism is a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities, and that racial differences produce an inherit superiority of a particular race. (Meriam…2014) One of the common places that racism is portrayed is in church. The most common racial issue is “the black church versus the white church.” Each group, whether they be black or white, tends to stay to their own racial group due to the lack of social acceptance based on the color of their skin.
The aspect of African-American Studies is key to the lives of African-Americans and those involved with the welfare of the race. African-American Studies is the systematic and critical study of the multidimensional aspects of Black thought and practice in their current and historical unfolding (Karenga, 21). African-American Studies exposes students to the experiences of African-American people and others of African descent. It allows the promotion and sharing of the African-American culture. However, the concept of African-American Studies, like many other studies that focus on a specific group, gender, and/or creed, poses problems. Therefore, African-American Studies must overcome the obstacles in order to improve the state of being for African-Americans.
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 ...
Cults consist mostly of middleclass Caucasian male youths, who are usually Christian or Jewish (Nelson 2006). Most are insecure people trying to find a sense of identity and security through the d...
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.”
The topic that Keith Boykin brings up is the issue that the Black community, black ministers and churches specifically, do not support same sex marriages. He addresses the hypocrisy he sees in this, as the black community was once the group fighting for equality. According to Boykin, blacks don’t support gay marriage rights for two reasons. Blacks only see images and representations from the gay white community, so they don’t feel like it involves them. There is not many people in the black community that are openly gay in their churches, so the community is lacking a face of their own to tie the issue to. They also don’t support same sex marriages because they have been offended by gay white activists trying to correlate and compare the struggle blacks had during segregation to the present day gay rights struggle.
It is apparent that the issues are similar at Willow Creek and New Hope, as both have experienced great growth. They are addressing these issues by adding additional services and by assignment of small groups or small ministries to meet their congregation's needs. They have been successful in addressing the issue based on each church's individual needs. Willow Creek has added services to accommodate the service seekers or the un-churched. New Hope attempts to match congregation member's needs through joining auxiliaries or other ministries of the church.
Christ will soon reign again! Some of the most debated scriptures in the Bible are located in Revelation 20:1-6. This is the period in which Satan is bound and thrown into the bottomless pit. He loses all of his influence on earth for 1000. Consequently, during 1000 years Christ will reign, and all the martyrs, who lost their lives during the tribulation period would be resurrected to reign with Him. Clouse writes, “This period is a time when all humankind’s yearning for an ideal society characterized by peace, freedom, material prosperity, and the rule of righteousness will be realized.” The revelation that one will get from prophecy, in particular this verses depends upon their view point. There are three major millennial views: amillennial, premillennial, and postmillennial. Although, people are entitled to their own opinion about scripture, however, when reading scripture their interpretation should be back up
Emmanuel McCall, "Black Liberation Theology: A Politics of Freedom," Review and Expositor 73 (Summer 1976):330; cf. C. Eric Lincoln and Lawrence H. Mamiya, The Black Church in the African American Experience (Durham: Duke University Press, 1990), 352.
By 1979, the roots of the CoC were firmly in place. It was then that Chuck
Although black theology became popular in the early 1960’s, it was not an entirely new subject. Black theology views God and Christianity as a gospel relevant to blacks who struggled daily under the oppression of whites. The origins of it are clearly seen in spirituals sang by African Americans during the time of slavery nearly 400 years ago. Because of slavery, Blacks’ concept of God was totally different from the masters who enslaved them. White Christians saw god as more of a spiritual savior, while the reflection of God for blacks came in their struggle for freedom. Slave theology then opened up to Black theology which first began when churches began to become segregated. Many could not understand how Whites could continue to behave this way in the Lord’s house. It was soon realized that this was because, according to them, their God allowed segregation.