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The term Black church or '''African American church''' refers to predominantly Black Christian churches that minister to Black Communities In The United States . While some groups of Black churches, such as African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Churches , belong to predominantly Black Denomination s, many Black churches are part of predominantly White denominations.1 Historically, separate churches have enabled Blacks to worship in their own culturally distinct ways and assume positions of leadership denied to them in mainstream America. In addition, African American churches have served social welfare functions, such as providing for the indigent and establishing schools and orphanages. HISTORY To make them easier to control, American slave owners systematically stripped African slaves of their cultural heritage, including religion, sometimes passing laws prohibiting African religious practices. Despite these efforts, slaves managed to retain elements of their culture. In the context of religion, these elements included Call And Response interactions, shouting, and dance.2 Slavery See Also: History of slavery in the United States Slaves often learned about Christianity by attending services led by a White preacher or supervised by a White person. In such settings, Whites used Bible stories such as the Curse Of Ham to justify slavery and promoted the idea that loyal and hard-working slaves would be rewarded in the after-life. Slave Revolt s in the early 1800s , often inspired by other passages in the Bible or by Black preachers, led to laws barring Black churches and Black preachers. Slaves organized underground churches and hidden religious meetings, where slaves were free to mix Evangelical Christianity with African beliefs and African rhythms and turn traditional hymns into Spirituals . The underground churches provided psychological refuge from the White world, and the spirituals gave the church members a secret way to communicate and, in some cases, to plan rebellion. In 1831 , Nat Turner , a slave and a Baptist preacher, killed about 50 White men, women, and children in an armed rebellion in Virginia .3 Where it was possible, free Blacks organized independent Black churches in response to racial discrimination. Along with White churches opposed to slavery, they provided aid and comfort to escaping slaves.4 Reconstruction See Also: Reconstruction After Emancipation , Northern churches founded by free Blacks, as well as predominantly White denominations, sent missions to the South to minister to newly freed slaves. The AME and AME Zion churches gained hundreds of thousands of members. In 1870, the Southern based Colored Methodist Episcopal (CME) Church was founded. The National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. , now the largest Black religious organization in the United States , was founded in 1894. These churches blended elements from the underground churches with elements from freely established Black churches. Despite early efforts to integrate freed slaves into American society, racial segregation quickly became the norm in many states, and Black community, with the Black church as its focal point, developed along lines partly independent of White community. Black preachers provided leadership, encouraged education and economic growth, and were often the primary link between the Black and White communities. The Black church established and/or maintained the first Black schools and encouraged community members to fund these schools and other public services. Since the male hierarchy denied them opportunities for Ordination , middle-class women in the Black church organized Missionary societies to address social issues. These societies provided job training and reading education, worked for better living conditions, raised money for African missions, wrote religious periodicals, and promoted Victorian ideals of womanhood, respectability, and racial uplift. Civil Rights Movement was a Baptist minister involved in the American Civil Rights Movement .]] See Also: American Civil Rights Movement Black churches held a leadership role in the American Civil Rights Movement . Their history as a focal point for the Black community and as a link between the Black and White worlds made them ideal for this purpose. Notable minister-activists included Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. , Ralph David Abernathy , Bernard Lee , Fred Shuttlesworth , and C.T. Vivian .5 POLITICS AND SOCIAL ISSUES The Black church continues to be a source of support for members of the African American community. When compared to American churches as a whole, Black churches tend to focus more on social issues such as Poverty , Gang Violence , Drug Use , and Racism . A study found that Black Christians were more likely to have heard about Health Care Reform from their pastors than White Christians.6 Black churches are typically very conservative on moral issues such as Homosexuality .7 HISTORICALLY BLACK DENOMINATIONS Throughout U.S. history, racial segregation and religious preferences have fostered development of separate Black church denominations as well as Black churches within White denominations. African Methodist Episcopal Church See Also: African Methodist Episcopal Church The first of these churches was the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church. Richard Allen was a former slave and an influential Deacon and elder at the integrated and affluent St. George's Methodist Church in Philadelphia . In 1787 , Allen founded the all-Black Mother Bethel AME Church after St. George's White members, increasingly uncomfortable with the large number of Blacks the charismatic Allen had attracted to the church, began relegating Black worshipers to the church balcony. Over time, growing numbers of African-American congregations withdrew from the Methodist Episcopal (ME) Church . In 1816 , representatives of these congregations convened to establish the AME Church, consecrating Allen as their bishop.8 African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church See Also: African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church The African Methodist Episcopal Zion or AME Zion Church, like the AME Church, is an offshoot of the ME Church. Black members of the John Street Methodist Church of New York City left to form their own church after several acts of overt discrimination. In 1796 , Black Methodists asked the permission of the Bishop of the ME Church to meet independently, though still part of the ME Church and still led by White preachers. This AME Church group built Zion chapel in 1800 and became incorporated, subordinate to the ME Church, in 1801. In 1820, AME Zion Church members began further separation from the ME Church. By seeking to install Black preachers and elders, they created a debate over whether Blacks could be ministers. This debate ended in 1822 with the ordination of Abraham Thompson, Leven Smith, and James Varick , the first superintendent (bishop) of the AME Zion church.9 National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. See Also: National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. |
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