Black church

A black church is a Christian church whose congregation is  mostly of African descent.  There are many in the United States and there is also a growing number in the United Kingdom.  

In the United States, black churches include the African Methodist Episcopal Church and the Church of God in Christ.  Many were started by freed black people who were not welcome in white people's churches. In the United Kingdom they were mostly started by immigrants from West Africa. Their style of worship comes from African spiritual traditions, such as call and response. Most black churches are protestant, but some are Catholic.

History
Slavery
During slavery in the United States, many slave owners taught Christianity to their slaves. However, they only taught the parts of Christianity which they thought supported slavery. For example, they gave slaves a changed version of the Bible which fitted with what the slave owners thought about slavery. Stories such as Exodus, which is about escaping from slavery, were removed.

However, some Christians, for example in Baptist and Methodist churches, preached to slaves that they were equal to white people. In these churches, black people were allowed to become religious leaders. They also allowed African-style worship, which included lots of singing and dancing.

After slavery
After the American Civil War ended, slavery became illegal in America. Black churches then grew very quickly. For example, only one year after the end of the war, the American Methodist Episcopal Church gained 50,000 new members."Daniel Payne", This Far by Faith, PBS, 2003, 13 January 2009. The Jim Crow laws meant that black people were still not treated equally to white people. However, black churches helped to make life better for black people. For example, the black church built and paid for the first schools for black people.

Civil rights
Black churches were important in the civil rights movement. These churches were not just for religion: they were also for community. In church communities, activists organized protests and tried to end racial segregation. Some pastors such as Martin Luther King Jr. were also important civil rights leaders.

Modern day
Segregation is now illegal in the USA, but black churches are still very important. There is still inequality between black people and white people in America. Often, black people live in places which have worse healthcare and policing than white people have.Douglas A. Smith, "The Neighborhood Context of Police Behavior", Crime and Justice, Vol. 8, Communities and Crime (1986), pp. 313–41. However, black church leaders can help with these problems, by telling their congregation how to access healthcare. They also stop crime, because they create community and encourage people to solve problems peacefully.Mary Pattillo-McCoy, "Church Culture as a Strategy of Action in the Black Community", American Sociological Review, Vol. 63, No. 6 (December 1998), pp. 767–84. 

References

Category:Churches
Category:African culture