The pivotal role of the Black Church in the lives of African Americans can not be described in words short of “life saving.” The church provided the foundation for the very survival of African Americans in North America during and after slavery. It has been noted that most of the first Black congregations and churches formed before 1800 were founded by free Blacks. These individuals saw the church as an institution that could provide earthly comforts, and eventually, heavenly salvation. The Black Church has played - - and continue to play - - different roles in the lives of their members. First and foremost, the church has played a religious role. The church has been that calming element in the Black community. The church has also served as the one institution in the Black community where a variety of causes and organizations could meet and develop strategies and tactics to deal with pressing short and long-term issues in the community. The church provided a ready made laboratory for different groups to experiment with ways to solve and address concern in the community. The Black church has been the keeper of the cultural trends in the community. The varying organizations have used the church as the foundation for building and developing the cultural components in most communities. The birthing of different economic development groups has occurred over time in the Black Church. These organizations have used the captured membership as a way to execute ideas to enhance the Black Community. The central role of the Black Church in the modern-day Civil Rights Movement will be explored from all perspectives. To be sure, those civil rights organizations that were not founded in the church were profoundly influenced by church leaders and their membership.

1. The Black Church
Dr. Leslie Burl McLemore
Jackson State University

2. The pivotal role of the Black Church in the lives of
African Americans can not be described in words short
of “life saving.” The church provided the foundation
for the very survival of African Americans in North
America during and after slavery. It has been noted
that most of the first Black congregations and
churches formed before 1800 were founded by free
Blacks. These individuals saw the church as an
institution that could provide earthly comforts, and
eventually, heavenly salvation. The Black Church has
played—and continues to play—different roles in the
lives of their members

3. If I go to church on Sunday,
Then the Cabaret on Monday,
Tain’t nobdy’s biz-ness if I do.
Tain’t Nobody’s Biz-ness If I Do
– Porter Grainger/ Everett Robbins

4. 1. What was the historic role of the Church in the
Black Community?
2. How did religion help to shape and direct the
philosophical thinking in the Black community
and what role did the church play in this
process?
3. How did the modern-day Civil Rights Movement
benefit from the existence of the Black Church?
4. What future role should the church play in
helping to solve the variety of issues facing the
Black community?

5.  1746 – February 13, 1818
ABSALOM JONES  Born into slavery
 In 1778, he purchased his wife’s freedom
so their children would be free; seven
years later he was able to purchase his
own
 After founding a black congregation in
1794, in 1804, he became the first African
American ordained as a priest in the
Episcopal Church of the United States.
 As one of the first African Americans
licensed to preach in the Methodist
Church, he was Lay minister to black
members in the interracial congregation
of St. Georges Methodist Church
 1787 – founded the Free African Society
(FAS)
 1792 – Founded the congregation of the
African Church in Philadelphia

6. RICHARD ALLEN (BISHOP)
 February 14, 1760 – March
26, 1831
 Born into slavery
 Minister, educator and writer
 He joined the Methodist church
at age 17
 Opened the first African
Methodist Episcopal Church
(AME) in 1794; elected Bishop of
the AME in 1816
 1795 – Ordained as a deacon
 1804 – Ordained as a priest

7. PRINCE HALL MASONS  About September 12, 1748 – December
7, 1807
 In 1773, Prince Hall became a preacher in
the Methodist Church with a Charge at
Cambridge
 On March 6, 1775, he was made a master
mason in Irish Constitution Military Lodge
No. 441. When the Military Lodge left
the area, the African Americans were
given the authority to meet as a lodge
 The black church and Prince Hall
Freemasonry both played important roles
in the black experience in America; one
secular, the other spiritual - played equally
important, interrelated roles in the way the
black community addressed
social, political, and economic problems in
the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

8. Outstanding Church Leaders

9. Religious and Cultural Force in The Black
Community
HOWARD THURMAN  1899 – April 10, 1981
 Author, Philosopher,
Theologian
 Dean of Chapel – Howard
University and Boston
University
 Named honorary Canon of
the Cathedral of Saint John
Divine, New York City
 Ebony Magazine named him
one of the 50 most important
figures in African American
History.

10. Religious and Cultural Force in The Black
Community
 August 1, 1894 – March 28, 1984 BENJAMIN MAYES
 The youngest of eight children
 Minister, educator, scholar and
social activist
 Mentor to Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr.
 1922 – Ordained a Baptist
Minister
 1926 – Executive Secretary of the
Tampa, Florida, Urban League
 1934 Dean, School of
Religion, Howard University
 1940 – President, Morehouse
College

11.  January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968
MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.  Clergy, Activist, Nonviolent Leader
in the African American Civil Rights
Movement
 1955 – Led the Montgomery Bus
Boycott
 1957 – Helped to organize the
Southern Christian Leadership
Conference (SCLC)
 1959 – Awarded Anisfield-Wolf
Book Award for his book, Stride
Toward Freedom: The Montgomery
Story
 1963 – Kings efforts led to the
March on Washington where he
delivered his “I Have A Dream”
speech
 1964 –Youngest person to receive
the Nobel Peace Prize

12.  Born Elijah Robert Poole ELIJAH MUHAMMAD
 October 7, 1987 – February 25, 1975
 The sixth of thirteen children
 Religious leader, mentor to
Malcolm X
 Led the Nation of Islam from 1934
until his death in 1975
 1931 attended speech on Islam and
Black Empowerment by Wallace D.
Fard
 1934 – Name minister of Islam
 1934 – the Nation of Islam
published its first newspaper, Final
Call to Islam
 1942 – Arrested for failure to
register for the draft during WWII
 1972 – Nation of Islam net worth of
$75 Million

13. The Modern Civil Rights Movement

14.  As an agency of Social Control and Change
 As an agency of Economic Development
 As an Educational Institution
 It’s impact on the Modern Civil Rights
Movement

15. Malcolm X vs Martin Luther King

16.  Nation of Islam –
 Video
▪ Malcolm X Before Leaving Nation of Islam

18.  Born August 5, 1938
JAMES HAL CONE  Architect of black liberation
theology
 His book, Black Theology and Black
Power, provided a new way to
articulate the distinctiveness of
theology in the black church.
 Taught Theology and Religion at
Philander Smith College, Adrian
College in Michigan and Union
Theological Seminary in New York
City.
 1977 – Awarded the Charles A Briggs
Chair in systematic theology

20.  Black Power
 Economic Development
▪ Black Manifesto
“We are therefore demanding of the white Christian
churches and Jewish synagogues which are part
and parcel of the system of capitalism, that they
begin to pay reparations to black people in this
country”. – The New York Review of Books

21.  Nation of Islam
 Video
▪ Malcolm X Thoughts on Nation of Islam After Leaving

23.  Has the church fulfilled its earthly and
heavenly mission?
 How do you see the long term mission of the
church evolving?
 Does the church have the power to reframe
the fundamental questions of today?