AN ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION OFKristie Perry for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in Sociology, presented on April 08, 2020, at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.TITLE: AFRICAN AMERICAN DENOMINATIONAL MOBILITY: THE IMPACT OF STATUS, FAMILIAL FACTORS, AND GENDER MAJOR PROFESSOR: Dr. Darren E. SherkatReligion has been an important institution for African Americans, and for much of history was the only institution they controlled, making it a central part of African American life. African American families have relied on the church as an important source of social, economic, and familial support. Lincoln and Mamiya (1990) maintained that the black church reflected concerns of a generation less interested in assimilation which was later defined as the “black sacred cosmos”. In contrast, Frazier (1964) believed the post-Civil War Black Church furthered the process of acculturation within the larger structure and promoted social mobility. Frazier predicted status differences would eventually lead to variations in religious preferences with upper classes gravitating toward more worldly religious goods. Little is known about how gender differences and ethnicity influence religious mobility identification and participation. This dissertation examined trends, patterns, and predictors of denominational mobility, by demographic, gender, cohort, and geography. This study also juxtaposed Lincoln and Mamiya’s Black Sacred Cosmos with Frazier and Glenn’s status basis of denominationalism. Using the 1972-2018 General Social Survey (GSS) dataset, the research assed patterns of mobility across birth cohorts and gender-based influences on denominational mobility. Findings suggest that for African American women the Black Sacred Cosmo may remain.

This study uses phenomenological methods to answer the research question, “what do black pastors perceive as the role of the church in the black community?” I asked 20 Central Florida black pastors 17 questions, most of them open-ended, to determine their perceptions of the current black church. First, these pastors are dismayed at the condition and the position of the current black church. They view the history the black church as strong and stalwart, and the Civil Rights Movement as an example of what the institution is capable of doing and being. Second, they perceive the primary roadblock of the black church to be leadership. They do not see current pastors as having neither the vision nor the desire to make the church the instrument of social justice and change that it once was. They see current pastors trying to make a name for themselves instead of impacting the communities they serve. They also see member apathy as another issue that hinders the impact of the black church. They argue that many black people have climbed the social ladder and no longer desire to reach back and help other blacks in the community that they have exited. This study provides important insight into the current state and the perception of the direction of the black church from the vantage point of these men and women who lead black churches in Central Florida.

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This thesis aims to investigate the black church and black community in James Baldwin¡¦s first novel, Go Tell It on the Mountain. Particularly, it probes how and why the religion, namely Christianity, casts a loaded shadow for African Americans. I argue that Baldwin, on the one hand, vigorously illustrates a bodily pious black community by bombarding us with heaps of biblical texts and church songs; on the other hand, he serenely indicts a spiritually hollow black church by narrating a blues-like comically sad tone. I discuss Baldwin¡¦s relentless wrestle with God in Chapter One. I suggest reading Go Tell It on the Mountain together with Baldwin¡¦s essay, The Fire Next Time, to flesh out the weighty issue of religion in the text. Since black community and black church generally symbolizes each other in the early history of Africa American lives, I make a detour to explore the emergence and development of the Black Church in Chapter Two. It is also an attempt to explain how the white God in the U.S.A. becomes black and how and why black community eventually accepts the then indifferent God to be their own. In Chapter Three, I look into the importance (and impotence) of the epitome of black community¡XHarlem¡Xin terms of its geographical location, position, and structure within the capitalist metropolis, New York. This chapter travels with John Grimes, the protagonist, to see the white man¡¦s world and to investigate the impossibility and oxymoron of ¡§black flâneur.¡¨ Then I discuss in Chapter Four the performing arts of the Black Church, as well as the secular music outside of the Black Church. Baldwin intelligently borrows God¡¦s spear and shield¡Xthe language in the Bible and the music played inside (and later outside) the Black Church¡Xas his writing tool to tell a gospel-like parable. At last, I would conclude that GTIM serves as a parable of the secular world for Baldwin has sung a blues gospel to the world.

Many Church of England parishes with Black-majority congregations have a White parish priest. Clergy undergo mandatory racism awareness training yet do not necessarily understand cultural difference or the ways in which their priestly authority and their Whiteness may collude to have significant implications for ministerial privilege and power. What little study of these issues has taken place, is predominantly from a protestant, American viewpoint. The author’s reflection as a White priest ministering in a Black majority congregation in Manchester focussed on his experiences of pastoral ministry, congregational participation and the expected role of the priest. Three questions arose from this reflection: in what ways are White priests aware of their Whiteness? How do White priests adapt their model of ministry according to their awareness? And in what ways do Black congregation members respond to any adaptation?Using an action-research methodology a conversation was set up between the priest’s experience and a focus group from his congregation. Work on White ministers’ typologies by leading British Black Theologian, Anthony Reddie, was used to present the author’s experiences through three models: pastoral, organisational and radical approaches to ministry. These results formed the basis of a trial training workshop with newly ordained priests to test the assumptions which lay behind my original research questions. Within the three typologies of minister (pastoral, organisational, radical), the author identified ways in which the priest’s power and knowledge influenced practice, and also ways in which congregations assumed clergy to receive training intervention, and from where this knowledge attainment might come. Alongside observations about ministers’ inherent power and the resourcing of ministers from external and internal sources, the research also highlighted frustrations arising from normalising White experience above that of the Black majority. The results confirmed the assumptions behind the questions: White clergy, aware of their own colour, culture and privilege adapt their ministry in different ways and with varying success. The research presents significant contributions to the understanding of how Black congregations perceive White ministers and how such clergy locate themselves within a different culture. Three distinct outcomes were identified: the need for intentional signposting for White clergy to be resourced by their congregations and from external sources, the liberation of Black congregational voices to enable full participation, and the necessity of acknowledging past hurts and the need for reconciliation. These three are brought together in an example surrounding the interventions required for clergy and congregations involved in the appointments process of White clergy to Black majority congregations within the Church of England.

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This project explores the role of Black Baptist churches – both past and present – in educational reform. Transformative civility offers a practical theological leadership model that engages in phronēsis and conscientization for liberation. The study focuses on Northumberland County, Virginia, and draws upon Robert London Smith’s Black Existential Theological Hermeneutic (BETH) method. The BETH method uncovers practical and theological challenges and demonstrates how transformative civility can promote educational reform. In such reform, phronēsis (practical wisdom) and conscientization (critical consciousness) awaken and empower the church and community to take action and provide equal access and justice for all citizens regardless of race.

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Despite the Obergefell v. Hodges Supreme Court decision to legalize same-sex marriage, none of the seven mainline historically Black denominations have sought to redefine marriage or affirmatively welcome “out” LGBTQIA bodies of color. Notwithstanding the lack of radical hospitality and LGBTQIA affirmation within Black denominations, there are Black churches that unashamedly provide unprejudiced pastoral care, hospitable spiritual formation, and radically affirmative ecclesial settings for LGBTQIA persons of color. To date, no ecclesiological or practical theological research has been conducted on the practices of radical hospitality within these open and affirming Black congregations. Within my dissertation, I examine how three historically Black churches have queered their ecclesial contexts. I research three open and affirming Black congregations in the Boston, Massachusetts Metro Area to answer the following questions: How do these congregations understand what it means to be the church? What are the key defining characteristics of their ecclesiology? How and why have these churches “queered” their Black ecclesial contexts, including both their theology and praxis? The purpose of this investigation is to better understand why some Black congregations practice more radical inclusivity and what that might mean for the future of “Black churches” and Black ecclesiology. I intend to reimagine the nature, mission, and practices of the Christian church itself. While I am sure the findings of this research will contribute to the fields of Black church studies, ecclesiology, and practical theology, my goal is to preserve the history, protect the dignity, address the needs, examine the obstacles, foster understanding, reflect on the experiences, humanize the narratives, and analyze the ecclesiological elements of these particular congregations in order to work towards a Black queer ecclesiology. / 2021-10-28T00:00:00Z

This project bridges the gap between the culture of stagnation in New England Black congregations and the history of vibrant creativity in Black culture and churches by crafting an engaging teaching resource in the form of a digital application, built on the core fundamentals of gamification. As such, this project weaves gamification, technology, the Black church, and cross generational ministry together in order to assist in the renewal of New England Black churches. Positioning gamification in conversation with practical theology with a focus on Black church history and culture, the project confronts matters related to gender, age, and social location in Black churches. The project argues that we are in the midst of the “#Church,” which should be embraced by the dying Black church, in the midst of a crisis, as a legitimate mechanism for revitalization and relevancy in this hashtag (#) culture. On social media, the hashtag (#) denotes a trending topic, word, phrase and is a form of grouping like topics together for search parameters as well as social interaction and affiliation. The project leverages this hashtag culture by presenting a three-year revitalization project in the form of a web-based game addressing matters of project design and implications, implementation strategy, and evaluative measures.