page_title: Religion of Black Americans
section_title: Other denominations
hierarchical_section_title: Religion of Black Americans / Historically Black Christian denominations / Other denominations
context_page_description: Religion of Black Americans refers to the religious and spiritual practices of African Americans. Historians generally agree that the religious life of Black Americans "forms the foundation of their community life." Before 1775 there was scattered evidence of organized religion among blacks in the Thirteen Colonies. The Methodist and Baptist churches became much more active in the 1780s. Their growth was quite rapid for the next 150 years, until they covered a majority of the people.
  After Emancipation in 1863, Freedmen organized their own churches, chiefly Baptist, followed by Methodists. Other Protestant denominations, and Catholics, played smaller roles. By 1900, the Pentecostal and Holiness movements were important, and later the Jehovah's Witnesses. The Nation of Islam and el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz added a Muslim factor in the 20th century. Powerful pastors often played prominent roles in politics, as typified by Martin Luther King Jr., the leader of the Civil Rights Movement, Jesse Jackson, and Al Sharpton.
  African Americans were considered heathens who practiced a loathsome form of pagan idolatry.
context_section_description: African Union First Colored Methodist Protestant Church and Connection
  African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church
  Apostolic Faith Mission
  Christian Methodist Episcopal Church
  Church of Christ (Holiness) U.S.A.
  Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic Faith
  Fire Baptized Holiness Church of God of the Americas
  Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship
  Mount Sinai Holy Church of America
  National Baptist Convention of America, Inc.
  National Missionary Baptist Convention of America
  Pentecostal Assemblies of the World
  Progressive National Baptist Convention
  United House of Prayer for All People
  United Pentecostal Council of the Assemblies of God, Incorporated
caption: Worshippers at Holy Angel Catholic Church on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois, 1973
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