Black Megachurch Culture: Models for Education and Empowerment

Abstract

According to Swindler (1986), culture can be defined as "symbolic vehicles of meaning, including beliefs, ritual practices, art forms, and ceremonies, as well as informal cultural practices such as language, gossip, stories, and rituals of daily life" (p. 273) Barnes remained data-driven and objective throughout this text. [...]all Black megachurches should be encouraged to become proactive as oppose to reactive to the inequities and inequalities that minorities, particularly underprivileged African American students confront throughout America.

Black Megachurch Culture: Models for Education and Empowerment, by Sandra L. Barnes. New York: Peter Lang, 2010, $26.00, 198 pp., paperback.

Sandra L. Bames takes us through a four-year in depth systematic empirical study delineating the plight of the "Black Megachurch", and it's deeply rooted connects to education and community empowerment. The term "mega" is defined as a church who averages at least 2,000 attendees per week. As part of the introduction, she explains the historical connections between education, the Black community, and the Black church.

Chapter 1, "The Black Megachurch Phenomenon: Influences, Challenges, and Responses" describes common features of the Black megachurch to be: Black, charismatic senior pastors; multiple, energetic, high-tech weekend worship services; televised broadcasts; and, cafeteriastyle programs. These churches are said to be consumers of wealth. According to Schaller (2000), "consumerism has changed the rules of the game" (p. 1 7), meaning churches have become consumed with large congregations and buildings. Megachurches are typically populated by educated middle- and upper-class Blacks who feel that smaller Black churches are inadequate. This feeling of inadequacy tends to be "self-centered," which is contrary to the traditions of the Black Church. Traditionally, the Black Church has been a cornerstone for sustaining organizations and members who faced challenges and circumstances beyond their control (Barnes, 2005). Pattillo-McCoy's (1998) ethnographic study contends that the Black Church was designed to combat social problems such as drugs, gangs, and crime. In this chapter, the author sought to contextualize church efforts to address some pressing challenges within the Black community.

Chapter 2, "Church Culture in Real Time: Worship as an Educational Tool" describes the language, culture, and performances that are expected when one enters a megachurch building. In addition to the constrained traditional verbiage such as "halleluiah," "praise the lord," and "amen," other terminology is employed such as "bling bling," "bootylicious," and "chillaxing," which are extensions of the hip-hop and popular culture. These terms are considered as ways to engage and entice youths into being active participants in the worship experience. In light of her ethnographical studies, the author eludes to the notion that Black megachurches attribute their large edifices to excellence. She says, "Large sanctuaries, technological gadgetry, coffee shops, and praise dancers may seem ostentatious to outsiders, but are common features expected by members" (p. 62).

For a few hours per week, congregants are exposed to various images such as acacia wood floors; multiple elevators similar to those found in office buildings; 75-person usher board contingencies in tailored suits; ministerial staff in color-coordinated attire; 100-voice mass choirs; and flamboyant senior pastors. Unfortunately, most people who occupy seats in these congregations rarely, if ever, receive opportunities to communicate directly with leaders of these churches. Nevertheless, these church congregations have intentions to return the Black church to a place that mobilizes the Black community through education, teen ministries, drug addiction counseling, and so forth.

Chapter 3, "Church Socialization Processes: Each One, Teach Some!" provides an in-depth description of the church socialization process by considering how church cultural tools, practicalities, and specialized leadership training become driven by senior pastors to create spiritually driven management teams. In this chapter, the author interviewed several pastors in order to better understand the connection between the socialization process and church growth. One pastor contends that "part of the church socialization process involves communicating the relational dimensions of Christianity ... it will shape how members negotiate society and commit to their respective congregations." Another pastor says "a well-informed congregation can become a liberated one." Similarly, each clergy that was represented promoted education as a form of upward mobility.

Chapter 4, "Empowerment and Liberation Theologies: The Truth Will Make You Free" explores the connection between empowerment and liberation theologies and the Black megachurch. In order to make these connections, the author took in consideration the way pastors of theses churches engaged issues of race, racism, and Afrocentricity. As mentioned in this chapter, most clergy approach racial matters within a biblical or church context - which are often different based on hermeneutical variations. While being interviewed by the author, a Midwest pastor said "empowerment, self-efficacy, and a healthy identity are important objectives for such churches - particularly those more directly identified with the Black experience" (p. 1 12). Although each church approaches the topic differently, there is a common theme of a desire for liberation that is both spiritual and temporal. This chapter is likely to inspire readers to become powers for good within their societies and religious institutions.

Chapter 5, "Programs to Rightly Divide: Black Megachurch Profiles" highlights the participating Black megachurches that were a part of this study, including Greater Mount Calvary Holy Church-Washington, DC; Metropolitan Baptist Church-Washington, DC; New Birth Missionary Baptist Church-Atlanta; Pentecostal Church of Christ-Cleveland, Ohio; Ray of Hope Christian Church-Chicago; St. Stephen Baptist Church-Louisville, Kentucky; Trinity United Church of Christ-Chicago; Victory Church-Atlanta; Victory Church-Nashville, Tennessee, and several others.

Respectfully, the author acknowledges historical African American theological (liberation and womanist) giants such as James Cone, Major Jones, De Otis Roberts, Gayraud Wilmore, Jacquelyn Grant, Cornel West, and Williams Jones - all whom have contributed significantly to literature surrounding the theological underpinnings of this text.

Bames point of departure helps readers to better quantify the historical significance of the traditional Black Church, and she leads us into understanding the development of what is now labeled as Black Megachurches. The author uses "Cultural Theory " as a theoretical framework for consumers of this article to contextualize the content that is presented. According to Swindler (1986), culture can be defined as "symbolic vehicles of meaning, including beliefs, ritual practices, art forms, and ceremonies, as well as informal cultural practices such as language, gossip, stories, and rituals of daily life" (p. 273)

Barnes remained data-driven and objective throughout this text. She provided several thought-provoking questions for readers and interviewees such as:

* If Black megachurches are forces to be reckoned with, is it reasonable to reckon that their traditional and nontraditional educational efforts are working to dismantle negative structural forces? OR despite their expansive nature and impressive formats, are their programs largely priestly with an emphasis on individual initiative and self-efficacy? (p. 154)

* What are the contemporary Black Church and its variations? (p. 20)

* What types of Black churches tend to sponsor a large and varied number of programs? (p. 30)

* Does your church take part in activities to combat racism? (p. 1 76)

In light of the author's in-depth qualitative interviews with pastors of selected Black megachurches, she unveils a host of seemingly productive measures that they have taken to impact education and local communities, such as food pantries, clothing banks, and free HIV testing centers. This reviewer contends that the churches failed to address their involvement in current urban educational issues such as disproportionality of minority students in special education; increased drop-out rates among African American students over the past decade; bullying among students, particularly among the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) student population; culturally biased high-stake testing and pedagogy; and several others.

I encourage readers of this text to perhaps consider the Black megachurches' role in urban educational disparities and oppression among students. For example, one of the pastors in this sample study had delivered several homophobic sermons, in which he was reprimanded by the Gay Rights Organization of Washington, DC (King, 2006). Are Black megachurch pastors combating "homophobic bullying" or are they " bullying'"?

Secondly, all Black megachurches should be encouraged to become proactive as oppose to reactive to the inequities and inequalities that minorities, particularly underprivileged African American students confront throughout America. In light of their considerable human, economic, and political resources, megachurches are not doing all they can (Thumma & Travis, 2007). They also suggests that megachurches are more concerned with large congregations, large campuses, and large coffers than they are about using their resources to intervene on behalf of the less fortunate.

I strongly recommend this book to members of traditional Black churches, as well as mega Black churches. Sandra L. Barnes is to be applauded for her extensive research. In light of the lack of literature on this subject, certainly this text is grassroots and groundbreaking for educational researchers and theologians alike. This review is aimed to provide a brief overview and critically analyze the text; however, it does not address every aspect. Therefore, I encourage you to read the text to continue this conversation.

References

REFERENCES

Barnes, S. L. (2005). Black church culture and community action. Social Forces, 84, 967-994.

King, C. I. (2006). Gays, God and Bishop Owens. The Washington Post. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/12/AR2006051201657 .html

Pattillo-McCoy, M. (1998). Church culture as a strategy of action in the Black community. American Sociological Review, 63,767-784.

Schaller, L. (2000). The very large church. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press.

Swindler, A. (1986). Culture in action: Symbols and strategies. American Sociological Review, 51, 273-286.

Thumma, S., & Travis, D. (2007). Beyond megachurch myths: What we can learn from America's largest churches. San Francisco: John Wiley.