Black studies

Most current growth in Christianity, from evangelical Protestantism to Mormonism to Anglicanism, is in the southern hemisphere, particularly Africa. African churches tend to be theologically conservative and will have an impact on the future direction of these faiths. Some believe Christianity in Africa is a holdover from an imperialist era. Others see it as authentically African, combining Christian beliefs with the worldview and culture of traditional African religions. More than 10 percent of the population in parts of Africa practices indigenous religions, which impacts how Christianity and Islam are practiced, including conservative doctrine, openness to supernatural ideas and concern for “earthly” issues such as justice and poverty.

Historically, Christians have been on both sides of the apartheid movement in South Africa and the slavery issue in the Americas, using theology to support each argument. The concept of “black theology” grew out of the U.S. civil rights revolutions of the 1960s, rooted in a Christian tradition among American blacks that understood God as siding with the oppressed. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. insisted on Christianity’s need to address social injustice. After leaving the Nation of Islam, which advocated a separate black state, Malcolm X preached that the values of Islam could transcend racial boundaries. Desmond Tutu, an Anglican priest, argued in his “ubuntu theology” for inclusiveness and overcoming barriers that divided people.

Christianity was entrenched in North American black communities by the end of the 19th century, often mixed with African religious elements. The Christian message for blacks represented the hope of future happiness, with popular spiritual and secular songs including exhortations to moral behavior, imagery of heaven and anticipation of the coming of God’s Kingdom.

The Pentecostal movement, which began in California in early 20th century, focused on overcoming racial barriers and welcomed mixed congregations. Today, Pentecostalism is growing rapidly among blacks, and many of the nation’s largest black churches are Pentecostal.

African-Americans make up an estimated 20 percent of the roughly 3.5 million American Muslims, and an estimated 30 percent of those regularly attending mosques. Most follow W. Deen Mohammed or another orthodox teacher. Louis Farrakhan, head of the Nation of Islam, which does not follow mainstream Islam, leads an estimated 100,000 African-American Muslims.

Black churches have long emphasized social services. Now the growing number of predominantly African-American megachurches — those with average Sunday attendance of 2,000 or more — are aggressively expanding outreach and economic development efforts, affecting the nature of surrounding neighborhoods. Some have started community development corporations that develop housing, new businesses, health clinics and social programs. Churches are confronting black men’s issues, family issues and health issues in the black community.

African-American churches continue their history of activism and political involvement, redefining activism in the post-civil rights era. African-American churches are known as incubators of political and community leadership, musical talent in many genres and repositories of black history. Researchers could look at how religious involvement affects the lives of black membership and black communities, whether religious involvement promotes racial integration or solidifies racial identification, or attitudes in black religious communities toward working with faith-based government programs which share common goals but potentially different ideologies.