The Black Church

Growing up my uncle would take me to church with him. I didn’t see him much while I was there since he has pastored in every church, we were a part of. Today I don’t believe in Christianity, but I still respect the man who introduced me to it and the sanctuary by which he did. 

I remember attending a few churches during my formative years. Probably the most important thing I remembered was the way of worship was different at each church and mostly based specifically on race. I understood that a Pentecostal Church and a Baptist Church for example had small differences in their beliefs but generally one would not know if he was in one denomination or the other if he didn’t pay close attention. On the other hand, A so called black church and a white church, no matter the denomination, were almost worlds apart in terms of how they worship. Back in my formative years it was normal, but now it’s interesting and intriguing. How could one group of people who believe exclusively in the same thing worship so differently? What does Black Church worship look like? What are the emotions that are present? How are the people dressed? Can you physically see the belief? These are all question I hope to answer one day as I embark on my “Black Church” project.

While back home for a while I decided to take a trip down memory lane and attend a church service. New Light Missionary Baptist Church was not chosen because my uncle is still the Pastor their but because it was celebrating its 151st Birthday. The church was started under a tree in the mid 1800s by freed slaves before it was moved to the building it currently stands in. I remember the church being packed every Sunday. I, being just a boy was forbidden to wear anything less than a full suit. Later tie and slacks were acceptable. Men wore suits and women, and little girls alike were conservative in dress. Nowadays it’s a bit different. Not nearly as many people fill the pews. The ones that do are generally very old and mostly women. The change in demographic is overwhelming. I really feel like I can write an entire dissertation on this phenomenon of demographic shift in the Black Church. Maybe I leave that up to my work on the project.