Black church
AME church delays boycott of Georgia companies, plans protest at Masters Tournament
By Jack Jenkins — April 7, 2021
(RNS) — The faith leaders say they will wait at least until an AME bishop meets with the heads of several companies next week.
Lil Nas X is inviting the Black church in with ‘Montero’
By Don Abram — April 6, 2021
(RNS) — 'Montero' is the anthem of a Black gay man roaring back from years of self-hate caused by anti-LGBTQ+ theologies. As a queer child of the Black church, it’s an anthem that resonates with me.
AME church to boycott Coca-Cola, other companies unless they do more to fight Georgia election law
By Jack Jenkins — April 2, 2021
(RNS) — Other Black Christian groups are also planning to join the effort to force major companies to fight voting restrictions nationwide.
Behind Gallup’s portrait of church decline
By Wesley Granberg-Michaelson — March 31, 2021
(RNS) — America’s religious life will be shaped not by secularization alone.
Washington taps pastors to overcome racial divide on vaccine
By Ashraf Khalil and Hilary Powell — February 22, 2021
(AP) — Health officials in the nation's capital are hoping religious leaders will serve as community influencers to overcome what officials say is a persistent vaccine reluctance in the Black community.
Want to understand Black experience? Learn about African American faith, survey finds
By Adelle M. Banks — February 19, 2021
(RNS) — A significant percentage of Black church attendees — 69% — agree that pastors of Black congregations are the African American community’s most important leaders.
Can I get an amen? Black Americans’ faith, religious practice detailed in Pew study
By Adelle M. Banks — February 16, 2021
(RNS) — Senior researcher Besheer Mohamed said that for Black American church shoppers, ‘the race of a congregation and the race of leadership would be not that important.’
Urban Ministries’ Melvin Banks, who highlighted Black experience in Bible, dies at 86
By Urban Faith — February 15, 2021
(Urban Faith) — Banks revolutionized Bible study by portraying positive images of African Americans in the biblical experience.
John Legend credits childhood in Pentecostal church for his choice to pursue music
By Adelle M. Banks — February 8, 2021
(RNS) — ‘I just grew up around a family full of folks who loved to sing and loved to sing about Jesus, and we were together all the time,’ said the recording artist, who appears in a new documentary on the Black church.
Henry Louis Gates’ new book and TV series distills centuries of Black church history
By Adelle M. Banks — February 5, 2021
(RNS) — 'The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song' is a new book and a documentary set to air on PBS stations.
Faith and the COVID-19 vaccine: ‘Using the Black church to get the word out’
By Julie Schonfeld — January 26, 2021
(RNS) — The Rev. Jacques Andre DeGraff of Canaan Baptist Church of Christ in Harlem talks about how Black communities are overcoming distrust of the medical community.
Black churchgoers report powerlessness in politics, agency in Black congregations
By Adelle M. Banks — January 18, 2021
(RNS) — Researchers say that the Black church may be providing a respite for Black people who feel they do not have sufficient political power.
Biden taps Delaware AME pastor to offer benediction at inauguration
By Jack Jenkins — January 14, 2021
WASHINGTON (RNS) — A longtime confidant of the Biden family, Silvester S. Beaman, made headlines when he was featured in a 2020 Trump campaign ad.
African spirituality offers Black believers ‘decolonized’ Christianity
By Liz Kineke — January 5, 2021
(RNS) — The pastor of the online Proverbial Experience mixes African spiritual practices with Christianity for worship 'that is fully integrated with who I am.'
Stacey Abrams’ passion for voting began with her preacher parents
By Adelle M. Banks — October 16, 2020
(RNS) — ‘The family is just a tight-knit cadre of people who understand that it is incumbent upon them to vote,’ said her Georgia pastor.
