Jan

25

2012

Thabiti Anyabwile|1:02 am CT

Is the Black Church Dead?
Is the Black Church Dead? avatar

That question has dogged me for the last two weeks.  It came up two weeks ago during a prayer and planning meeting with fellow African-American pastors in Atlanta.  The question arose again while meeting last week with African-American pastors and college students in Los Angeles.  I notice that it’s a topic being addressed at a conference sponsored by Anthony Bradley.

It was also the subject of a roundtable discussion sponsored by Columbia University’s Institute for Research in African-American Studies (IRAAS) and Institute for Religion, Culture, and Public Life in October 2010 at Union Theological Seminary.  My man Louis Love sent the link to me. The discussion takes place in 12 YouTube parts and features several academics and pastors, including:

Reverend Otis Moss III, Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago
Reverend Eboni K. Marshall, Abyssinian Baptist Church, New York
Josef Sorett, Assistant Professor of Religion at Columbia University
Anthea Butler, Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Pennsylvania
Eddie Glaude, William S. Tod Professor of Religion and African-American Studies at Princeton University
Fredrick C. Harris, Professor of Political Science at Columbia University
Obery Hendricks, Jr., Professor of Biblical Interpretation at New York Theological Seminary and Visiting Scholar at Columbia University.

Eddie Glaude called the question in a post at the Huffington Post in February 2010, and the roundtable picks up where Glaude left off. You can find the audio here. Below are the YouTube segments.

Part 1–Introductions and Opening Question

Part 2–One Thing the Black Church Struggles to Do

Part 3– [Video missing]

Part 4–”Theological Exotic Dancers” (End of opening remarks), and the Substance of Being “Black and Christian”

Part 5–”You May Own My Body but God Owns My Soul”

Part 6–Rev. Ike Won the Battle with Dr. King

Part 7–What Is the Mission of the Church?

Part 8–Church, Class, Community, Gender, and Love in Action

Part 9–Sexual Ethics and Hermeneutics in the Black Church

Part 10–”Allowed to Be James Brown at Least Once Per Week”

Part 11–”Too Many Christians Take Too Much Pride in Being Christians… The New Heavens and the New Earth Means All of Humanity”

Part 12–Final Remarks; Is the White Evangelical Movement Over in 20 Years?

Based on this panel, I’d say the Black Church is indeed dead. What do you think? Can these bones live again?

Categories: African American church, Black Theology, church leadership, reform

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