Black Strategies for the Twenty-First Century T. Vaughn Walker

T. Vaughn Walker is Professor of Dr. Sid Smith has written that one of the The and Liberation Black Church Studies at The Southern greatest challenges facing the church in The black church has always provided Baptist Theological Seminary, where he the next century is ministering to the black the moral and ethical leadership for the holds the W.M.U. Chair of Social Work family. 1 No church will be relevant un- African-American community. The black Education. He has contributed to several less it implements an effective program church modeled empowerment before the journals and periodicals, and is a frequent of family ministry. This is especially true term was used in its present context. It was speaker at conferences on both the of churches serving the black community, (and is) the black church that provided church and the family. He also serves as so black church development must re- hope for the hopeless, faith for the faith- the pastor of First Gethsemane Baptist spond to the needs of the black family. In less, joy and celebration in the midst of Church in Louisville, . This ar- his The Strengths of Black Families,2 Robert much pain and degradation. Major J. Jones, ticle is an abridged version of a faculty Hill points out five bulwarks of the Afri- speaking of the black church as liberator address first presented in the fall semes- can-American family: strong kinship and in an attempt to adequately under- ter of 1996. bonds, strong work orientation, adaptabil- stand the dynamic role which it has tradi- ity of family roles, strong achievement tionally played in the black community’s orientation, and strong religious orienta- liberation struggle, states that tion. These strengths have enabled the Not to understand fully that role in black community to survive in a society the liberation struggle is to fail to scarred by and social pathology. understand why the black man was The black experience has necessitated the able to survive slavery and the sub- sequent years which followed. It development of specialized behavior for should also be pointed out that any survival. This paper deals most exten- attempt to separate the black man’s sively with the last of those strengths. religion from his liberation struggle is to fail to see that the black church When one analyzes the multi-dimen- cannot be understood merely in sional role the black or African-American terms of programs or structures.3 church plays in society, no simple defini- tions or conclusions emerge. Much of the Indeed, Mays and Nicholson were right scholarship generated concerning the when they concluded that black church has tended to over-simplify There is in the genius of the “soul” or misinterpret this last institution outside of the Negro church something that of the family that remains influential in gives it life and vitality that makes all arenas of African-American life. One it stand out significantly above its buildings, creeds, rituals and doc- finds an expression of the black Christian trines, something that makes it a religious heritage in practically every unique institution.4 community in this country, regardless of its population or location. Thus, the Afri- Jones further asserts that it was because can-American church must take a leading of the church that did not role in creating solutions for African- accept the slavery-era white interpretation in the twenty-first century. of , in which control and sub- 52 jection were the dominating reasons for church understood that this was not sim- evangelizing the slaves. Religion was ply a post-rapture experience, for the same meant to be a means of further enslave- Jesus proclaimed “the Kingdom of God ment of the body and spirit of the black is at hand.” person. Through the religious teachings The early black church survived and a slave received the society attempted to even thrived as an “invisible institution” the black person that during slavery despite the pressures of a society opposed to its existence. Though Whites derived their right to rule it may not have impacted the larger com- over blacks from God. To question this right was to question the will of munity, the church was a strong leader in God and to incur divine wrath. Cat- the quest for black empowerment and in- echisms for the instruction of slaves dependence. In addition, the black church in the Christian religion often con- tained such instruction as: undoubtedly provided the primary out- let for the expression of freedom for its Q.Who gave you a master and a people. This compelling desire for free- mistress? A. God gave them to me. dom and liberation was one of the pri- Q.Who says that you must obey mary reasons the church grew so rapidly them? and was accepted so universally. The Af- A.God says that I must.5 rican-American community generally re- It must be noted that the black church- jected its captors’ brand of the and man rejected such teachings very early, by the power of the Holy Spirit came to and instead fixed on the liberation themes understand that “with God on our side, of the . Contrary to the slave mas- nobody going to turn me around.” The ters’ intent, religious teachings created a black church has often been described as greater desire for freedom within the a “Jesus church” because of the strong mind of the slave. identification it holds with Jesus as one Jones continues to be absolutely accu- defending the oppressed. rate in his consideration of the reality of Some scholars contend that the post- this early religious experience of African- Civil War black church lost its zeal for free- Americans when he suggests that the dom, especially during Reconstruction black church has been very much a church and the immediate post-Reconstruction of this world, and that it has always spo- era. Others see a much different picture. ken to the issues of the times. Critics of They see the black church becoming more the black church have unjustly accused it holistic, broadening its menu of issues and of exclusively preaching an other-worldly, gradually addressing all areas of life, not escape-from-reality message. Yet those just spiritual matters. The Scriptures who really understand the nature of the present humankind as a body, a soul and African-American church realize that its a spirit. The black church began to under- message of hope, freedom and liberation stand its role as one addressing all aspects is just as applicable to a person’s present of human existence. This self-identity is earthly experience as it is to his or her fu- magnified today as the church aggres- ture heavenly destiny. Jesus taught the sively preaches economic, educational, church to pray for His kingdom to come social and cultural empowerment, yet this on earth as it is in heaven. The black in no way restricts or retards the tradi- 53 tional message of spiritual liberation that oppression as well as salvation from sin most in the black church believe is essen- and guilt.” While confederation means the tial to experience full empowerment in the formation of a group who live in a cov- other areas of one’s existence. enant relationship with one another and Jones is again correct when he states that with their Redeemer, in the Scriptures re- demption never means redemption from The black man’s religion enabled sin alone. It always means “deliverance him to survive the brutalities and oppression that a white racist soci- from some visible and tangible menace ety inflicted upon him. In spite of it which might or might not be regarded as all, it enabled black men to affirm a consequence of the sin of the people.” themselves as members of the King- dom of God while living in a culture Moyd further concludes that “neither which looked upon them as crea- the Black theologians nor the Euro-Ameri- tures less than humans. To miss this can and Latin American ‘liberation’ theo- point is to misread the role of the black church in the liberation logians have used redemption as a point struggle.6 of departure.” While liberation is one di- mension of redemption, it is limited in that The black church was destined to come it points primarily to the exodus out of forth as a powerful instrument of libera- Egypt or out of black oppression. It then tion and freedom. Wilmore assessed the neglects another important dimension, situation by stating that which has to do with coming into Canaan, or the forming of a community among the During the eighteenth century there people of God. Moyd argues that were more black and white Chris- tians worshipping in the same con- gregations, proportionate to their The major catastrophe which imme- numbers as baptized Christians, diately afflicted the four million than there are today. This should not, blacks when the Emancipation Proc- however, be taken to imply that lamation became effective on Janu- prior to the Civil War American ary 1, 1863, arose out of the fact that churches were racially integrated. only one aspect of redemption be- Blacks enjoyed no real freedom or came operative. While they were lib- equality of ecclesiastical status in erated out of the hands of their either the North or the South. It oppressors, there were no adequate never occurred to white Christians provisions for their going into or that the equality that was denied to forming their own communities.9 their brothers and sisters in civil so- ciety should at least be made avail- 7 The Black Church, Freedom able to them within the church. and Community Later the black church became the Olin P. Moyd explains the implications pacesetter or model for the community by of the black religious experience by high- becoming an integral piece to the black lighting its redemptive aspects. In fact, extended family fabric. It has been the Moyd believes that “redemption is the only institution in the African-American 8 root and core motif in .” community that has said, at least in theory, For Moyd, redemption has the “double “whosoever will, let them come.” Practi- meaning of liberation and confederation.” cally all other legitimate benevolent, so- He asserts that in Black theology “libera- cial, entrepreneurial and mutual aid tion means deliverance from human- movements trace their foundations to the caused states and circumstances of 54 black church. The freedom and liberation possible for persons to create a soci- ety defined according to God’s in- African-Americans experience are directly tention for humanity. Any black linked to their ability and willingness to male theologian or preacher who stand together as community. The black ignores sexism as a central problem in our society and church (as impor- church is the best illustration of this to- tant as racism because they are in- getherness. Even denominational barriers terconnected), is just as guilty of collapse when there is a need for the com- distorting the Gospel as is a white theologian (or preacher) who does munity of faith to rally together for jus- the same with racism. If we black tice, freedom and liberation. male theologians do not take seri- ously the need to incorporate into No theologian has contributed more to our theology a critique of our sexist the discourse surrounding freedom and practices in the black community, liberation relative to the black church than then we have no right to complain when white theologians snub black James H. Cone. Although quite controver- theology.11 sial and often not in harmony with many mainstream black church theologians, He argues that liberation is the content Cone’s work has helped enlighten and of theology. Legitimate Christian theology inform theologians of all persuasions. In has to be a theology of liberation. Thus, his later work, Cone has come to recog- Cone says that Christian theology is nize the need to be more specifically in- clusive in discussing an adequate a rational study of the being of God theology for African-Americans. In the in the world in light of the existen- tial situation of an oppressed com- second edition of A Black Theology of Lib- munity, relating the forces of eration, Cone emphasizes four themes as liberation to the essence of the Gos- particularly pertinent for the black church: pel, which is Jesus Christ. This means that its sole reason for exist- “sexism, the exploitation of the Third ence is to put into ordered speech the World, classism, and an inordinate meth- meaning of God’s activity in the world, so that the community of the odological dependence upon the neo-or- oppressed will recognize that its in- thodox theology of Karl Barth and other ner thrust for liberation is not only European theologians.”10 consistent with the Gospel but is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.12 As a pacesetter for freedom and libera- tion, the black church must particularly Theodore Walker, Jr. treats liberation address the issue of sexism. No indi- under the category of freedom as empow- vidual, male or female, is truly free or lib- erment in his analysis of the black nation- erated until all people are free or liberated. alistic movement. He writes that Cone (and others) are absolutely correct “conceptually, the idea that the freedom in attacking a mentality in the black and empowerment of our people rightly church that hinders greater progress to- includes the development of a separate ward ultimate liberation “on this side of and independently empowered black na- the Promised Land.” Cone writes that tion is very little removed from our church by tradition of black separatist - Contrary to what many black men say (especially preachers), sexism is ments leading to the establishment of not merely a problem for white independent black churches and denomi- women. Rather it is a problem of the 13 human condition. It destroys the nations.” Walker’s insights speak to the family and society and makes it im- 55 continuing need for the black church to sion, constantly shifting between the po- work together for freedom and liberation larities in historical time. Space will not at all times, not simply in explosive crisis permit a full discussion of these, but the situations. The church must come to rec- list itself speaks of the magnitude of the ognize that the crisis does not end with a discussion. They chart six main pairs of rally, a fight, a death or a protest. There is dialectically related polar opposites: a war going on, motivated by the forces 1) The dialectic between priestly and of evil that want to keep people in bond- prophetic functions. age. The whole body of Christ must ac- 2) The dialectic between other-worldly cept, support, and have faith in its versus this-worldly. God-ordained role as an instrument of lib- 3) The dialectic between universalism eration for all. and particularism. Concern for the economic condition of 4) The dialectic between the commu- black people is a present reality for both nal and the privatistic. the church and its leadership. The eco- 5) The dialectic between the charis- nomic challenges to black churches are matic versus bureaucratic. unprecedented. J. Deotis Roberts believes 6) The dialectic between resistance that “pastors and congregations will need versus accommodation.16 to choose their own projects for action af- Clearly, these constantly changing ten- ter deciding the greatest economic needs sions are indicative of the complexity in in their locale. Also, large efforts, both city- the ever-changing role the African-Ameri- wide and state-wide, would be needed in can church plays in society. order to effect changes that move beyond Other notions of freedom have been pacification to liberation for black people offered. Cain Hope Felder expounds on in the economic sphere.” Roberts goes on the meaning of freedom by stating that to say that “black churches should sup- “freedom is one of those abstract words port sanctions against businesses that earn that everyone seems to use rather blithely, large sums of money from black people as if its meaning were self-evident. Few but practice racial discrimination in vari- ever try defining it with any precision.”17 ous ways.”14 writes that He continues, “The Black church has al- “black theologians all agree that black lib- ways had a certain preoccupation with the eration has something to do with amelio- idea of freedom and a clear yearning to rating the socioeconomic conditions of see its members free from discrimination black people. But it is not clear what this based on race and class, which for most amelioration amounts to.”15 Blacks are overlapping realities.”18 Perhaps Lincoln and Mamiya have dis- In regard to the black church and Chris- covered the key to understanding the di- tian freedom, James H. Harris writes that lemma the black church faces as God’s instrument of freedom and liberation. Christian freedom is somehow per- ceived as unrelated to freedom in a They analyze the black church in terms of sociopolitical context. Whites have a “dialectical model.” This view sees the been able to institutionalize racism church as an institution that is involved by dichotomizing everything, namely, church versus state, religion in a constant series of dialectical tensions. versus politics, and freedom “in The dialectic holds polar opposites in ten- Christ” versus freedom in the par- 56 ticularity of one’s social existence. lar, be like in the coming years? What chal- However, let me affirm forthrightly that Christian freedom is not a mys- lenges will it face, and what impact will it terious state of spiritual bliss have in the world? grounded in a personal experience In his Christianity in the 21st Century, of Christ that can be isolated and privatized as many evangelicals Robert Wuthnow reflects on these pro- would have us believe. Any per- vocative questions as he seeks to identify sonal experience with Christ is also the changes in American society that an experience with truth that re- leases us from bondage. This is not churches must address if they are to re- simply a bondage of personal sin but main vital in the future. Wuthnow fore- bondage in general - spiritual, social, sees challenges developing in the areas of political and economic.19 institution, ethics, doctrine, politics and Carl Ellis, in Beyond Liberation: The Gos- culture. In each of these five areas people pel in the Black American Experience, con- of faith have strong reasons to enter the cluded that next century with confidence in the rel- evance of their religious institutions.21 Many of us have achieved a great de- Within all of these areas, the family is gree of liberation than our people at the center of all developments. Walker have ever had, but are we truly lib- erated? . . . the closer a people get to states that the home or family is the basic liberation, the more their own un- unit of all of society. The family is to soci- godliness and God’s judgment will ety what the atom is to the universe. It is show. This point is often overlooked by advocates of liberation. Libera- the cornerstone on which everything is tion alone is not enough. Liberation built. Any society that allows the family is insufficient if it is not accompanied unit to collapse eventually will collapse by a quest for godliness in every area of life. Liberation alone will lead to itself.22 According to Dick Iverson, when self-oppression because a liberated God created and ordained the family He ungodliness will always do its thing, did not do so without purpose or design. and that thing is sure to bring death (Romans 6:23).20 God established family as a context in which persons would realize the eternal Only the church has the power to bring purposes of divine image and dominion forth the godliness that must accompany for which they were created.23 freedom and liberation. The African- As a result of the devastating conditions American community will never realize becoming more evident in the black com- ultimate freedom and liberation if it does munity, the black church is being challenged not stay committed to Jesus Christ and His to expand its involvement in all aspects of church. black family life. The black church of the twenty-first century needs to be informed The Black Church of the Future and innovative in empowering families In the year 2000 and beyond, the church through a wide variety of means, such as must challenge its community to attain economic growth, community networking, godliness alongside a continuing quest for grant writing, entrepreneurship, political freedom and liberation. How will the astuteness, educational support, and vari- church of the future challenge its mem- ous support group ministries. bers towards those ends? What will the Tamar Lewin reports that black church, and the black church in particu- churches, dismayed by the disintegration 57 of so many inner city families, have controversial, long-tenured senior minis- started programs and ministries that help ter who also often earned a role as a re- reduce teenage pregnancy, keep children spected community leader. In the in school, provide adolescent boys and African-American community the Sunday girls with role models and find adoptive afternoon and evening service served as homes for black infants and children.24 a social outlet because of the limited op- Many churches have been forced to over- tions in the broader community. come their traditional reluctance to Today’s large Protestant churches are grapple with issues such as sexuality, con- built around worship, memorable preach- traception, and substance abuse. ing, an extensive music ministry, and a di- By becoming involved in these issues, versified education program. The schedule the church positions itself as a continual is filled with a variety of other events, voice for godly standards in the commu- classes, programs and groups. These are nity. This vision must extend beyond the the seven-day-a-week churches that are church staff members to every member of emerging as the successors to the big Sun- the congregation. Lyle Schaller has discov- day morning churches of the 1950’s. The ered that the larger the congregation the mixture of characteristics that are a part of more likely the continuity, creativity, and the culture of these program churches of- vision of the church rests in the staff instead ten are enriched by a senior minister who of in the volunteer leadership.25 By con- is an initiating leader and who has brought trast, in the typical small congregation, together a collection of energetic, creative, these characteristics are typified by the con- daring, imaginative, productive, commit- gregation rather than by the paid staff. ted, venturesome and personable individu- Regardless of size, the African-American als to serve as the program staff.26 church seems to reflect a “small church” For the African-American church spe- mentality because the black church is still cifically, this often means a total restruc- largely single staffed or at least very un- turing of teaching relative to appropriate der-staffed. This dilemma also helps to ex- Christian stewardship. Christian stew- plain the institutional fragility of the very ardship needs to be approached more large Sunday morning church built around holistically, emphasizing appropriate the personality and preaching of the senior management of time, talents, spiritual pastor. Too frequently these congregations gifts, and treasures. Funds must be redi- in the black community are so overly de- rected to educational and social minis- pendent on the senior pastor that leader- tries that teach a biblical understanding ship transitions are filled with turmoil. of stewardship and enlist all the mem- The large Protestant churches of the bers as ministers of God rather than have 1950’s were built largely around the eccle- those funds going to a select few clergy siastical trinity of that day: inspiring who do all the work of ministry. Deci- preaching, a superb choir, and an attrac- sion making must be shared with a tive Sunday School. For all practical pur- broader collection of church leaders, al- poses, these were Sunday morning though a strong senior pastor remains a churches. That mixture often was enriched frequent expectation. by Sunday afternoon and/or evening ser- Several scholars agree that the emer- vices and the personable, and sometimes gence of the seven-day-a-week church as 58 the successor to the big Sunday morning tinues to be an ethically conservative in- churches of the 1950’s is one of the most stitution, although it seeks to be socially significant trends of this century. The Af- relevant and progressive in ministry. rican-American church that develops into Doctrinal matters constitute a third set the seven-day-a-week congregation will of issues. Some might prefer to call this be the norm in the twenty-first century. issue a problem of belief. To cast it in those terms, however, is to capitulate to the Challenges for the Black Church in the privatized, subjective orientation that has Twenty-First Century been so roundly criticized in recent de- At least five serious challenges await cades. The debate among Christian de- African-American churches in the next nominations is often intense but is century. Diversity is the first matter that heightened even further when other reli- must be addressed. In the years ahead, gious groups such as the Muslims are diversity and the possibilities for indi- brought into the mix. The African-Ameri- vidual choice that it presents will be even can church faces the challenge of an ap- greater than today. African-American propriate involvement with groups which churches, Latino churches, Asian deny the deity of Jesus Christ as the only churches, mega-churches and completely way of salvation. The controversy and new denominations will all be part of the split among African-American Christians religious landscape. A recent example in relative to the 1995 the African-American community is the illustrates the complexity of the debate. Full Gospel Baptist Church movement, as The twenty-first century will undoubtedly well as the emergence of Full Gospel or bring many more such challenges as more charismatic congregations within all religious diversity is tolerated in the black mainline denominational bodies. The community, especially among the young. question of diversity cuts across all de- The largely white conservative religious nominational, ethnic and doctrinal right has become a powerful force in Ameri- boundaries. Afrocentric-focused congre- can politics. The historic black church has gations are making an impact in large ur- traditionally been characterized as a conser- ban centers, but are facing much vative institution. A major challenge for the opposition from churches that insist on black church is how far apart these two using their particular definition of groups remain and how much further apart Christocentrism as an excuse to ignore they continue to grow. In fact, to term the sensitive cultural issues. black church “conservative” is to speak of A second set of challenges rest in the something vastly different than what evan- ethical dimension of faith. Ethical chal- gelical white conservative Christians mean lenges can immediately be translated into by “conservative.” It is fair to say that the all sorts of specific questions: what to black church is a Bible church with high re- think about birth control, what view of gard for the truthfulness of the Scripture. abortion to hold, how Christians should Where the black church often remains in comport themselves in the workplace, conflict with other evangelical Christians is what the best curriculum would be for in the area of contemporary interpretations instructing young people how to think that are so often culturally determined. ethically, and so on. The black church con- The issue of women in ministry will con- 59 tinue to be a major battleground into the and productive lives. Ideals about caring twenty-first century, although women are for others, about responsibilities toward rapidly being accepted in ministry roles. one’s family and one’s community, and The black church is struggling primarily about ethics and personal morality reflect with terminology since women have al- the fact that American society is still very ways played a vital role in the church’s much a product of its religious past. It is work. Many congregations in the black in this sphere that there is much harmony community are functionally 75-85% fe- between the values of the black extended male. This fact alone will generate greater family and the black church. The support decision-making by the female population and care of the family is African and Afri- of the congregation. In the black church, can-American, as well as most compatible however, men continue to dominate the to the Christian faith. positions of senior pastor and , but No group in society has historically virtually all other positions are open to generated the kind of support the black gifted and involved women. church has for the disenfranchised. The A fourth set of distinct challenges arises black church was the first school in its when the public role of Christianity is con- community. The black church has been the sidered. These might be called political primary carrier of black folk culture. The challenges because they emerge primarily black church, in addition to the black fam- from the efforts by people of faith to in- ily, has been the pacesetter for values that fluence governmental policies. The black are positive and affirming. It was the black church without question was the major church that preached not only spiritual force in the . The liberation but total liberation. With the black clergyperson was thrust into lead- recent retreat from affirmative action ad- ership in the movement primarily because vancements, the twenty-first century will of the freedom and security of a position need to have an even better informed not controlled by forces outside the Afri- populace. No institution in the black com- can-American community. It is this fact munity has the global impact of the black that will continue to keep the black church church. No institution can address as fully in the forefront of empowerment for the the plight of people of color as can the community well into the twenty-first cen- black church. The black church in the tury. The need for well-equipped and twenty-first century will continue to be trained clergypersons intensifies with a more than a place to come to worship. much more complex and diverse society. Those congregations and denomina- A fifth set of challenges that warrants tions, however, who choose to remain his- special attention concerns the personal toric and traditional and do not make the lives of believers themselves. Despite the appropriate changes will continue to de- frequent accusations that Americans are cline and ultimately die. The twenty-first greedy, shallow and self-centered, much century will escort in a “buyer’s market.” evidence suggests that for the most part Those churches and denominations that people want to be good. They want to do strive to change and make the necessary what is right, they want to contribute posi- adjustments to meet the needs of the day tively toward the good of the world, they will grow and prosper. Those who refuse want to raise their children to lead happy will literally die on the vine. 60 Leaders for the African-American be reflected in Baptist circles is un- Church in the Next Century certain as of yet. Some are asking if the twenty-first Many agree with C. Eric Lincoln’s century will bring any significant view that as the mission of the black changes in the American society. In church continues to broaden its per- his recent work Diversity in America, spective to cover the whole spectrum Vincent N. Parrillo writes, of humanitarian needs within and be- American society is far from yond its membership it will of course eliminating racism as a serious require increasingly sophisticated lead- social problem, and Black ership skills at the top. It will find them Americans, still disproportion- ately represented among the in the bright young men and women nation’s poor, have all the atten- now in the seminaries and in the in- dant problems of that sad real- creasing number of second-career men ity.... Black America is really two societies: one poor and the and women who are entering Christian other non-poor. Thanks to civil service after successful careers in busi- rights legislation and other so- ness or other professions.28 cial reforms, remarkable gains have been made, especially in Walker and Smith suggest that as education and occupational African-American congregations representation. Nevertheless, a disturbing gap remains be- continue to unite with the Southern tween Black Americans and Baptist Convention, and as many eth- 27 .” nic churches begin as dually aligned congregations, an increasing number These facts will undoubtedly ac- of African-Americans will enroll in count for the necessity of a vital SBC-sponsored seminaries and other church focusing on the needs of Afri- similar seminaries. The question that can-Americans. Although an increas- needs to be seriously addressed is ing number of African-Americans how adequately these predominantly will choose to align with historically white institutions are preparing min- white denominational groups such as isters to serve in their ethnic congre- Southern and American , the gations and communities. Adequate historic black denominational bodies curriculum offerings, as well as suf- will remain intact. United Methodists ficient faculty and educational re- are pacesetters, with African-Ameri- sources that can provide the can clergypersons recently assigned specificity required to be successful to selected non-black congregations, clergypersons in diverse communi- and vice versa. Their success will ties will be necessary.29 need to be assessed after sufficient J. Deotis Roberts stresses that black time to evaluate the experiment. In a studies programs in seminaries growing number of nondenomina- should not be for blacks only. To the tional congregations, co-pastors of contrary, he concludes these courses different ethnic origins have proven and programs are just as important to be successful in growing congre- (perhaps even more so) for non-black gations with a culturally diverse students. It is similarly true for non- membership. Whether this trend will blacks from abroad who are recent 61 immigrants to the .30 sarily the same as in white churches, the In a random investigation of selected two share the same problems. seminaries and institutions offering Black Finally, black denominational bodies Church and African-American or Black need to assume greater responsibility for Studies programs, I found that there is no the training of its own clergy. The reality, consistent pattern of course offerings ad- however, is that the resources for theologi- dressing the black church. At best, insti- cal education are being stretched very tutions have these courses listed in their thin. The theological seminaries of the school catalogs but do not have the in- twenty-first century should offer an edu- structional staff to regularly offer the cational experience which affords minis- courses. Many institutions only offer ters from various denominational, ethnic, courses designed specifically for the black and cultural origins the opportunity to be church when occasional visiting scholars exposed to new ideas of how to do minis- come to the institution. Most of these try and to encounter individuals from classes are offered in off-campus or sum- varied backgrounds. mer terms. A few are offered by local If theological education is to be life- clergy who teach in a part-time adjunc- changing, it first must be education, rather tive capacity. These adjunct professors than indoctrination. The ethical and moral have little faculty and curriculum input, responsibility for seminaries and institu- impact, or visibility. They often are not tions of higher education committed to viewed by the students, faculty, and ad- theological preparation is to provide an ministration as “real” professors. environment of learning that adequately The black church of the twenty-first prepares leaders to help churches create century will require and demand the best solutions for the next century’s problems. trained clergy it has ever had. As a seven- In a nation where 13% of the popula- day-a-week, full-service endeavor, church tion is African-American and more than leaders possessing skills beyond preach- 15 million African-Americans identify ing will increasingly be of utmost impor- themselves as Baptist, the black church tance. At best, white seminaries have and the black Baptist church in particular provided some training for pastors, to a need to be leaders in creating solutions if lesser degree for those in Christian edu- America is to remain strong. To achieve cation, but little training in other areas of this goal, Black Church Studies programs ministry such as church music or Chris- must be designed to prepare superior tian social ministry. leaders. Ethnicly-sensitive materials This lack of training for church musi- ought to be incorporated in all seminary cians may have serious ramifications for course offerings. Ongoing dialogue by the black church. Rick Warren has stated theologians of various backgrounds and that he believes the issues surrounding serious research in black church and eth- music and worship will occupy the church nic studies will also be essential. Doctoral for the next decade.31 If so, the black church programs preparing specialists in black faces a great dilemma because perhaps the church ministry ought to be instituted in least-trained leaders serve in the area of addition to master’s degree programs. church music. Though music and worship Only when black church studies are taken questions in black churches are not neces- seriously at every level from the local 62 church through the Ph.D. will the NC: Duke Univ. Press, 1990) 10-16. Church Seminar,” (April 18, 1996) moral responsibility of the seminar- 17 Cain Hope Felder, Troubling of Bib- Two Rivers Baptist Church, Nash- ies be met. lical Waters, (Mary Knoll, NY: Orbis, ville, . 1989) 103-104. ENDNOTES 18 Ibid., 105. 1 Sid Smith, “Ministering to the Black 19 James H. Harris, Pastoral Theology Family in the 90’s,” Ethnicity, 5/6 (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1991) 20, 21. (Nov./Dec. 1989) 10. 20 Carl F. Ellis, Jr., Beyond Liberation 2 Robert Hill, The Strengths of Black (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Families (New York: Emerson Hall Press, 1983) 174, 175. Publishers, 1971). 21 Robert Wuthnow, Christianity in the 3 Major J. Jones, The Color of God: The 21st Century (New York: Oxford Concept of God in Afro-American Univ. Press, 1993). Thought (Macon, GA: Mercer Univ. 22 T. Vaughn Walker, “Ministering to Press, 1987). the Black Family,” Human Services 4 and Joseph and Social Change: An African-Ameri- Nicholson, The Negro’s Church (New can Church Perspective (Cleveland, York: Russell and Russell, 1969). : Inner City Renewal Society, 5 Major J. Jones, Christian Ethics for 1992) 65. Black Theology (Nashville: Abingdon, 23 Dick Iverson, Restoring the Family- 1974) 20. Principles of Family Life (Portland, 6 Ibid., 25-43. : Bible Temple Publication, 7 Gayrand S. Wilmore, Black Religion 1979). and Black Radicalism (Mary Knoll, 24 Walker, 66. NY: Orbis, 1983). 25 Lyle E. Schaller, The Seven-Day-A- 8 Olin P. Moyd, Redemption in Black Week Church (Nashville: Abingdon, Theology (Valley Forge, PA: Judson, 1992) 11-13. 1979). 26 Ibid., 15. 9 Ibid., 7. 27 Vincent N. Parillo, Diversity in 10 James H. Cone, A Black Theology of America (Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine nd Liberation, 2 ed. (Mary Knoll, NY: Forge Press, 1996) 146, 147, 179, 180. Orbis, 1986). 28 J. Deotis Roberts, “And We Are Not 11 Ibid., xviii. Saved: A Black Theologian Looks At 12 Ibid., 4-6. Theological Education,” Religious Edu- 13 Theodore Walker, Jr., Empower the cation, 87/3 (Summer 1992) 358, 359. Power (Mary Knoll, NY: Orbis, 1991) 29 T. Vaughn Walker and Robert 20-23. Smith, Jr., “Christian Ministry in the 14 J. Deotis Roberts, The Prophethood of African American Church: A Chal- Black Believers (Louisville: Westminster/ lenge for Seminarians and Seminar- John Knox, 1994) 100-102. ies,” Preparing for Christian Ministry 15 Cornel West, Race Matters (Boston: - An Evangelical Approach (Wheaton, Beacon Press, 1993) 3. Illinois: BridgePoint, 1996) 319-329. 16 C. Eric Lincoln and Lawrence H. 30 Roberts, “And We Are Not Saved,” 359. Mamiya, The Black Church in the Af- 31 Rick Warren, “Purpose Driven rican American Experience (Durham, 63