In Apostolic Pentecostalism, the ordination of women is prohibited and women are expected to be part of the church community while also allowing the men of the church to lead. Women in the church accept their subordinate role in relation to the male church authorities and other male figures in their lives, but they don’t view this submission as being disempowering. On the contrary, they embrace their role as the quiet “backbone” of the black community and support the notion that women can be strong as long as they don’t threaten male authority. Black women also have the responsibility of raising children in the community with the right moral code and instilling them with the right values, which they consider to be a form of…
Scholars writing on the influential capacity of the black church frequently breeze over their claims that traditional scholarship on the black church supports the notion that the black church is apolitical and leads its members to turn away from 'thisworldly ' concerns to concerns of the afterlife, or 'otherworldly ' concerns. Few, if any, explicitly cite whom these scholars are, or go in depth with their explanations and interpretations. Nevertheless, much literature is written to counter those positions. The main scholarship within this field thus focuses on the proving that the black church is in fact a mechanism capable of doling out political leaders, communities, and discourses. Some of the literature engages the beginnings of the black church and its conception during slavery, when it was used as means of maintaining humanity for slaves, but most of the literature focuses on 20th century applications of the black Christianity, such as during the 1930s, when blacks in Alabama controversially merged Marxism with Christianity, or during the civil rights movement, when churches were used as recruiting, training, and organizing platforms. I begin this literature review discussing critiques of the approaches for interpreting the activity of the black church that scholars have used to conclude on its apolitical nature. Jacqueline S. Mattis provides an alternative lens for viewing the interactions of black churches within the community that…
| |America and progresses onto the election of |United States, comprising 13.8% of the |Christians. The African American church is|father in evidence. Artistic talent |…
During a one time in history many racial conflicts have occurred in the Baptist Church. Many churches of Baptist origin have always been involved controversial debates, especially between the black churchgoers. Many black churchgoers have looked at the church as a sanctuary for religion, but besides religion this is a place where many business opportunities begin. Many people do not realize that the church for the black community is beyond religion. This is where the community comes together and has faith that the black community will become a better place through worship and the confrontation of the issues in the black community.…
There are many questions that come to mind when looking at the significant roles denominationalism affects the Christian faith. We see this growing trend of doctrinal beliefs that cause for many of our African American Churches to worship separately on a weekly bases for Sunday Morning Worship Services and Mid-Week Bible Studies. Through the incorporation of doctrinal beliefs that govern our churches making for divisions within the Christian faith, we also find division and difference within that denomination also. I ask myself this question, how and why there are so many denominations founded and why are there so many sub-cultures or denominational split within them if we are the Body of Christ and one church?…
Mylin does not associate with a specific religion, but she is spiritual. She identifies with Black-American culture. Mylin’s mother was raised Roman-Catholic, but converted to Christianity as an adult. None of Mylin’s siblings are religious with the exception of the youngest brother who identifies as Christian. Mylin does feel a sense of community amongst other Blacks and through her family. Mylin participates in Holidays, not for religious reasons, but cultural reasons. She participates in holiday celebrations inside the home and those in the community. Mylin believes she is a Black woman and she is an American. Mylin is influenced by traditions and values of her culture that stems from family values, norms, and traditions.…
During the start of the transatlantic slave trade, African religious beliefs and practices were varied and large in number. A great portion of the continent had, for centuries, fallen under Islamic influence. Regardless of this diversity, there were some common threads across different cultural groups. For example, West African societies shared a belief in an omnipotent creator, a chief immortal among less powerful gods, to whom they prayed and made sacrifices. Through laws and customs honoring the gods, the ancestors of people, and the elderly, West Africans looked for a harmonious balance between the natural and spiritual worlds.…
The first of the churches was founded by two former slaves, Richard Allen and Absalom Jones. The African Methodist Episcopal Church was established in 1792. These churches created many leaders in the fight for racial equality and the abolishment of slavery. The churches were open to both free blacks and slaves. White slave owners would bring their slaves to church with them and justified slavery by saying that the church is teaching them Christianity even though they experienced very little access to a quality service. These new “black” churches gave African Americans the chance to decipher the bible in their own way and spiritual traditions which have carried on still to this day. Along with these new traditions created leadership roles in the church which were nonexistent in the mainstream churches.…
Latter Days Saints also known as Mormons like most religions worships and read the Bible, however unlike some Christians they use the King James Version. However even more different from other Christians they have another book completely separate from the Bible that they read and worship as well it is called The Book of Mormon. They believe that a man Named Joseph Smith explored all the religions on earth at the time and that he established that none of them were right and so he started the Church of Jesus Christ of latter Day Saints. Unlike other Christians the Mormons do not believe in worshiping the cross. The do not have the symbol in the chapels or on their building. The reasoning behind this is that they want to celebrate his resurrection and not his death. They prefer to focus on the living Christ and his resurrection and second coming of him rather than his death. They also practice strong family values with Family Home Evening every Monday as well as Sundays being focused on family and church. They avoid working or playing on Sundays.…
In the 30s, African Americans faced many hardships, and these challenges brought them together, and strengthened the bonds within the black community. As I’ve said before, the Church was the center of the black community, and Zeebo’s words exhibit this. Like a family, the black church community watches out for each other, and helps their members who are facing challenges (Tom Robinson and his family in this case). Additionally, generosity is a core value of christianity, thus it became one of the black community as well, which contributed to the close bonds between all of its members, both in the novel and in…
As a nonreligious person, I am placed in a perilous position within the African American community. Non-believers within our community are the outliers. Agnostics and atheists are the dragons in the metaphorical enchanted forest: few in number, sometimes revered, but most of the time reviled. Religion is viewed as the linchpin in the African American community. It is a pillar that most people spend their lives from, an early age gathered around it learning that God is humanity's creator and savior. A person without God can accomplish nothing. Numerous members of my community assume that if a person does not have a God in their lives, something is fundamentally wrong with them.…
African Americans have many values and believes. They have their own commonalities that are found in African religion and their ontology. Their commonalities and shared ontology tell us about the Africans worldview. Not only that but we get to learn about their creation stories that helps us understand their culture and values. There are different stories and myths that explain how humans were created here on earth, for example, there’s the kemetic creation, Dogo creation and Yoruba creation.…
1. African idea of a High God is similar to that of Native American religions because they both believe that beyond all of the minor gods, goddesses, spirits, and ancestors there is one High God who created and in some sense still governs the universe. A difference between the two is that Native Americans tend to worship every living and nonliving thing whereas Africans only worship Gods.…
It is my belief that you cannot be an affective support mechanism for anyone without knowing something about their life. How do you build a bridge if you don’t know where one end meets the other? I am a fervent believer that you should worship where you live, because you will be better utilized by God when you can relate to the issues affecting your community. Ministry is more applicable when you can associate with the issues at hand and you can relate to the people who are part of the ministry. Being culturally aware supports this same process. You can’t help African Americans if you have no concept of what they are dealing with. You can’t relate to, "Black Lives Matter," by responding, "Well, All Lives Matter." While I agree, that all lives…
In Africa, before the white missionaries came, religion involved spiritually worshiping ancestors. Once these whites came though, western religion like Christianity was pressed onto the Africans. While some say that this pressure of western religion on the Africans was for their salvation, or even for power, it was really just pure ignorance on the side of the whites. The people who invaded Africa meant well at first and were supported by the government because it would help make controlling Africa easier for them, but in the end the Africans were never truly understood to be equal because they evolved in a different sense than the whites, which shows how this whole religious issue in Africa is simply from ignorance. In the novel Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, western religion is similar to a virus with the symptoms of hypocrisy, fear, and oppression due to how it conflicts with the original, happy standards Africa had in the past. Also in the poems, “I Have Been Here Before” by Don Mattera, and “A Plea for Mercy” by Kwesi Brew, western religion is deemed as a unsuited match for African culture, showing how ignorant the whites were when it came to experiencing new cultures.…