A critic’s critics: On black churches

“Being from the South, in an environment in which blacks are the majority, my worship style — my cultural context in general — I feel is definitely underrepresented on campus,” Jonathan Ford ’12 explained.

Ford noted that his hometown church offers not only services but also “a strong base around which blacks could circle in terms of politics in America, or the social.”

“The main thing was that it provided a family,” he said. “We could escape from a lot of the pressures of the outside world and deal with them together.”

But Ford soon found a strong sense of community on campus when he joined Hallelujah!, a group that holds weekly worship services in the tradition of black churches.

Ford’s experience, and that of other members of the University community, offers a counterweight to the assertions in “The Black Church is Dead,” an essay by religion professor Eddie Glaude GS ’97 published in The Huffington Post in February. In the article, Glaude argued that the traditional black church no longer plays the same role in the lives of African-Americans as it did in the past. While nearly all black churches once spurred congregants to rally for progressive causes, today they are not as influential in driving political action — and when they do, it is sometimes for conservative causes, he wrote.

In the months since publication, the piece has sparked discussion about the role of the church in the black community and the legitimacy of Glaude’s commentary on a world in which he does not participate.

A controversial critique

Glaude argued that there are two sources of fragmentation within the black church: political divergence and the proliferation of “competing voices.”

During the civil rights movement, black churches were “progressive politically and prophetic theologically,” he said in an interview. Today, however, some black churches take more conservative positions on issues such as same-sex marriage and abortion. Glaude cited overwhelming African-American support for California’s 2008 referendum, which banned gay marriage, and black churches’ funding of billboards in Atlanta , Ga. linking abortion to genocide as examples.

More progressive black churches have not responded with the same level of energy to defend liberal positions on these issues, he said. “I was wondering, ‘Where were the complex gestures from the more progressive … voices within African-American religious circles?’”

Glaude explained that “black communities are much more differentiated, much more complicated, and, in many communities, black churches are one institution among many in terms of the impact and effect on people who live in those communities ... A preacher is influential, but so [are] Jay-Z and Oprah.”

Such changes support Glaude’s conclusion that the all-encompassing term “the black church” is inherently flawed, he said.

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Still, fragmentation within the black church is not a new phenomenon for Glaude.

“There has never been ‘the black church’,” he said. “It’s just a sort of mythic shorthand for black churches, and it tells a very narrow story about African-American Christendom that emphasizes its progressive and prophetic dimensions to the detriment of its complexity.”

Though black churches have grown fragmented in the decades since they served as focal points for their congregants, Glaude said, individual churches still play significant roles in some communities.

“This occasion is a time to think about what it really means to be black and Christian, but in order to do that, we need to be released from some standard notion of what the church inherently is, of what being an African-American Christian necessarily entails,” he explained.

This discussion “begins with death, and it ends with resurrection,” he said.

Questions of significance

Religious leaders across the country have taken offense at Glaude’s piece, challenging his authority to discuss the subject without a personal understanding of black churches. Glaude was born a Roman Catholic but currently does not claim a church membership, according to The New York Times.

While Deborah Blanks, associate dean of religious life, also said that black churches have changed with their surrounding social environments, she noted that “one would have to be a part of it — and not necessarily be African-American, but be in that circle — to understand more fully what it means to be a part of this very unique and vibrant community.”

Glaude, however, said that his lack of membership in a church does not undermine his argument.

“I think it’s just wrong to presume that, in order to say something significant about black churches, you have to engage in social science research about it,” he explained. “Cultural critics and others have something important to say as well — even if it rubs some the wrong way.”

Banks said that she disagreed with Glaude’s argument that black churches have decreased in significance within their communities.

Blanks offered her home church, St. James A.M.E. in Newark, as an example of a traditionally black church that builds community. She explained that the church provides food for the hungry and other social services on a daily basis.

Some students said that while they agree with Glaude that black churches have become more fragmented nationally, the churches are still centers of their home communities.

At her home church, “you can find people who identify with the cultural struggle of ‘being black,’ ” Danielle Perry ’13, a member of Hallelujah!, said in an e-mail.

Ford said that his experiences do not reflect diminishing relevance for black churches.

“As a Christian man, I would definitely say that the black church is necessary,” he said. “I’m not saying that everything is utopian or that there’s always peace in the valley, but there’s a strong familial nature to my church, and I think that’s one thing that is essential.”

The political roles that churches once played persist, Ford added.

“Historically, especially during civil rights, black churches served as a center for a lot more than just the spiritual connection, because they were political and social centers in a lot of ways too and still are,” he said.

On campus, Hallelujah! fills such a role for Perry.

“When I first came on campus I was looking for a church experience that was more similar to what I was used to, and Hallelujah! definitely provided me with that,” she said. “I still check out other churches on occasion, but Hallelujah! was really the first church that helped with the transition from home to Princeton.”