For the purposes of Preserving Black Churches, a historic Black church is defined as one or more of the following:
A historic religious building built and erected by a Black congregation, continuously occupied by active Black congregations;
A historic religious building designed and/or constructed by Black architects/builders, occupied by an active Black congregation, or repurposed for public programming;
A historic religious building not originally built by or for a Black congregation, but continuously occupied by an active Black congregation for at least 50 years;
Active historic Black congregations that are a part of historic religious denominations including, but not limited to, African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church (AMEZ), the Baptist Church, Christian Methodist Episcopal Church (CME), Church of God in Christ (COGIC), Episcopal Church, Lutheran Church, United Methodist Church, Presbyterian Church, Catholic Church, non-denominational.