Photo: Dr. Martin Luther King speaks from Black church pulpit (Courtesy)
The Black Church once stood in the gap. Is it still standing there? Black Church where you at?
by Dr. Rosie Milligan (Submitted by Larry Buford)
There was a time when the Black Church was far more than a place Black people went on Sunday morning. It was the heartbeat of the Black community. It was our sanctuary, but it was also our schoolhouse, meeting hall, organizing headquarters, leadership academy and community center.
When educational doors were closed to Black people, churches and religious organizations helped educate our children and establish institutions of higher learning. When Black people were denied equal access to many hospitals and medical institutions, Black communities, churches and other outreach organizations financed and built their own medical facilities to care for our people. When racial injustice demanded organized resistance, church basements and sanctuaries became meeting places where strategies were discussed, marches were organized and ordinary people found the courage to confront extraordinary injustice.
The Black Church did not concern itself only with getting Black people into heaven. It helped Black people survive on Earth. That history forces us to ask an uncomfortable but necessary question: Is the Black Church as relevant to the everyday needs of Black people today as it was to previous generations?
Needs have changed, but not disappeared
The doors that were once legally closed to Black Americans have opened in many areas, but that does not mean the Black community no longer faces serious challenges. The challenges have simply changed. Today, many Black families are struggling with the high cost of housing, limited savings, consumer debt, inadequate retirement preparation and the difficulty of building and transferring generational wealth.
Many seniors are being left behind by rapidly changing technology. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming education and employment while many families still do not understand how dramatically AI may affect their jobs and their children’s futures. Small businesses need assistance with technology, marketing, financing and sustainability. Families need education about wills, trust, powers of attorney, homeownership and protecting property for the next generation. Young people need mentoring, tutoring, career exposure, entrepreneurship education and practical preparation for an economy that will look very different from the one their parents entered. People need information about health, housing, employment, legal rights, financial literacy and mental wellness.
These are not simply government problems. They are community problems. And throughout Black history, when the community had a problem, the Black Church often stood in the gap.
So, where should the Black Church stand today? Black Church where you at!? Are we saving souls while ignoring the Whole Person? Faith and spiritual development remain at the heart of the church’s mission. But must ministry stop there? Can we preach about prosperity without teaching people how money works? Can we preach about leaving a legacy without teaching families how to protect and transfer what they own? Can we tell young people that they are the future while failing to prepare them for AI technology and the career opportunities therein? Can we pray for businesses to prosper without teaching entrepreneurship? Can we pray for families while ignoring the economic pressures that are tearing some families apart? Can we tell people to have faith while refusing to give them practical information that can help them make better decisions?
Prayer and preparation are not enemies. Faith does not prevent us from teaching people how to live more successfully. In fact, throughout much of our history, the Black Church understood that spiritual empowerment and practical empowerment could walk hand in hand. Perhaps it is time to rediscover that understanding.
What happens Monday through Saturday?
Drive through almost any Black community and you will find church buildings. Some are large. Some have classrooms, kitchens, fellowship halls, parking lots, offices and other valuable resources. Yet one question deserves serious consideration: How are we using those resources Monday through Saturday? Imagine churches becoming neighborhood learning centers during the week. Imagine computer and AI classes for seniors. Imagine tutoring and technology programs for children. Imagine Saturday entrepreneurship academies where teenagers learn how to start businesses., auto maintenance, and cooking. Imagine financial-literacy workshops where families learn about credit, budgeting, investing and homeownership. Imagine estate-planning education that helps families understand why property and other assets should be properly protected and transferred. Imagine job-readiness programs, caregiver education, emergency-preparedness training, health seminars and mentoring programs. The church would still be a church. But it would also become something it historically understood how to be: an institution responding to the needs of the whole person.
The Question Every Church Should Ask
There is a simple test that every congregation should consider: If our church closed tomorrow, what would the impact be on the surrounding community? The church can minister to the soul without ignoring the conditions in which that soul must live. The Black Church still has enormous power. I do not believe the Black Church is powerless. It’s quite the opposite. I believe it remains one of the greatest reservoirs of untapped economic, educational and social power in Black America. Think about what already exists. Buildings, land, leadership, members with professional expertise, retired teachers, business owners, and young people filled with ideas. Everybody does not have to give money. Sometimes the greatest contribution a member can place in the offering is knowledge.
Come on, Black Church, we have what’s needed to economically revive our people — let’s just do it. My next article will speak about the young people, the next generation and the future Black Church. What we do today will determine where the Black Church will stand tomorrow. If the 7-Eleven stores can stay open 24/7, how much more can the Black Church do?
Dr. Rosie Milligan
Dr. Rosie Milligan, Minister, Author, Senior Estate Planner, Talk Show Host and Founder of Black Writers On Tour. Founder, My Tech Academy and Professional Business Management & Consulting Services, 1425 W. Manchester Avenue, Suite B, Los Angeles, California 90047. Phone: (323) 750-3592, Email: [email protected], Website: Drrosie.com
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