The Black Church in America

This book gives readers a broad understanding of the Black Church in America and a sense of its uniqueness in the wider world. Explores the history of the Black Church in America, its African roots, beliefs, practices, politics, and contemporary moral dilemmas Argues that in the Black Church, individual and communal destiny are bound together The author is a Priest in the Episcopal Church and teaches spirituality and Black Church studies at Duke University.

Acknowledgements. Introduction: An Amphibious Worldview. 1. Emergence of What is African. African Warnings. What is African?. 2. The Particularity of African American Spirituality. 3. The Black Church in the Shadow of Slavery. The Scourge of Slavery. The Survival of Africanism. The Emergence of Black Denominations. 4. Communal Worship. The Controversy of Emotionalism. “Spiritual Song” and the Emergence of Black Denominations. African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. Christian Methodist Episcopal Church. African American Baptists Churches. National Baptist Convention, USA. African American Pentecostalism. Black Worship. 5. Inviting Others to Be Black. African vs. Black: Dialectic Tension. James Cone and Desmond Tutu. African and Black: Communal Synthesis. 6. The Black Church as the Beloved Community. King’s View: Prophecy and Nonviolence. African American Responses to King. King’s Dream of the Beloved Community. Communal Antithesis for King. 7. Embodying African American Spirituality. A Churchless Black Church. A Womanless Black Church. The Full Embodiment of the Black Church. Timeline of the Black Church. Websites for Historic Black Denominations. Bibliography. Index