THE AUTOPSY OF DYING BLACK INSTITUTIONS IN AMERICA
There has been a multileveled and systemic assault to dismantle Black institutions in America. This dismantling of Black institutions is a causative response to the civil rights movement phenomenon. Cornel West refers to the emerging spirit from that era to the twenty-first century (post-civil rights) as a “democratic awakening focused on the poor and vulnerable in American society.” [1] It is the institutions of the black church and the family which have sustained and propelled to the action of social reform organizations. The organizations include the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), Historical Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to name a few of the many that fight against social injustices, inequalities, and racism.
The symbiotic organizations were formulated within the dynamics of the black church. According to Jeffery Tribble in his book, Transformative Pastoral Leadership in the Black Church, he states that W.E. B. Du Bois, “calls for the intellectual and moral leadership in the pulpit because of the dominant role the black church played in the lives of blacks.” [2] This writer argues that religion and politics are intertwined. The writer also argues that these institutions are in direct correlation to the dysfunctionality of the African American community which is under attack therefore in a state of emergency. They suffer from the lack of support, interest, funds, unfounded and unclear urgency for the need of their existence by some confused African Americans. Consequently, the closing of HBCUs, Churches and a drastic decrease in memberships of historical social reform entities has added to the state of emergency.
Ezekiel 37:1-14 describes the condition of a dying church to include its people, places, and things reside in a valley of dry bones. He states in verses 1-3, The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live? (NIV).
Ed Stetzer in his article, The State of the Church in America: When Numbers Points to a New Reality writes,
The polls are in, and the news is bad for the Church in America.
Christianity is on the decline, Americans have given up on God, and the “Nones”—those who have no religious ties—are on the rise. It is indeed true that parts of the Christian Church in America are struggling, while a growing number of Americans are far from God.[3]
Research on the church universal steady decline in growth begins with the shifting from being the assembly or Greek word ecclesia which shapes our religious and societal moral consciousnesses are experiencing oxygen intake problems. In other words, the Church’s influence on Americans is beginning to fade. Stetzer goes on to say that,
A growing number of Americans have given up on God—or at least on organized religion. They have become “Nones,” a term popularized by Pew Research. And their numbers are growing. Pew’s 2007 Religious Landscape study, which surveyed 35,000 respondents, found that about 16% of Americans claimed no religious affiliation. By 2015, that number had grown to 23%, almost one in four Americans.[4]
Gallup, another well-respected national firm, gives a wider view of the rise of the “Nones”. In 1967, Gallup found that about 2% of Americans—or 1 out of every 50—claimed no religious preference. By 2014, that number had grown to 16% or about 1 in 7. Pew has also tracked the decline in the percentage of Americans who claim to be Christians. In 2007, Pew found that about 8 in 10 Americans identified as Christians. That number dropped to 7 in 10 in 2014—a statistically significant change in a relatively short time. Pew also found that less than half of Americans (46.5%) now identify as Protestants for the first time in American history.[5]
These statistics are alarming. However, the black church or church home to include the biological family has not been placed on life support. God breathe of life which can renew and synergize like a consuming fire has the final words. Therefore, the prognosis for recovery is obtainable, the assembly or ecclesia has yet to enter fully into Ezekiel’s valley of dry bones, but the theopneustos, Greek for “God-breathed, or God-inspired”[6] is the suggested method for treatment. The primary treatment intervention is to create a sustaining atmosphere of perpetual “fellowship” which in Greek translates to the word Koinonia. The concept of table fellowship as depicted in the Lord’s supper narrative is the prescription. The purpose-driven display where the Spirit of the Lord is upon the body of believers is of utmost importance. It requires however unwavering and uncompromising commitments to permanent shifts in our lifestyles to continuous Christ-centeredness, beginning first in our hearts, homes especially at our dinner tables and our places of employment. To put in another way, the Spirit of the Lord must radiate throughout our daily walks where these radiations of lights pierce the darkness of this world.
There must be intentionality when modeling a table of fellowship which offers a seat or open invitation to those seeking salvation. The intentionality involves creating holy spaces where the generations of voices can be heard and appreciated thus bridging the generations of ‘Motowners’ and ‘Hip-Hoppers’ to a common theme of building and sustaining together the Kingdom of God. Thom S. Rainer, writes in his book, Autopsy of a Deceased Church: 12 Ways to Keep Yours Alive, in this work the coroner’s autopsy list 11 signs and symptoms of a deceased church, they are:
- The church refused to look like the community;
- The church had no community-focused ministries;
- Members become more focused on memorials. More and more emphasis was placed on the past;
- The percentage of the budget for members’ needs kept increasing;
- There were no evangelistic emphases;
- The members had more and more arguments about what they wanted;
- With few exceptions, pastoral tenure grew shorter and shorter;
- The church rarely prayed together;
- The church had no clarity as to why it existed;
- The members idolized another era, and
- The facilities continued to deteriorate. [7]
The autopsy of a deceased church does not have to come into fruition. Ezekiel reminded us when he petitioned God’s intervention he said, Sovereign LORD, you lone know. Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! This the Sovereign LORD says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the LORD (vv. 3-6). The black church is in a state of emergency due to the drastic decrease in church attendance especially with Baby Boomers (born 1946-11964) Generation X (born 1965-1980), and the-Millennials (1981-1996).
This writer contends that there is a great disconnect with these generations with them treating the church as an institution rather than an organism. It is apparent that whenever a living organism is not cared for and tended to, loved, nurtured, and regularly attended then neglect sets in causing decay and eventually death if not remedied. William B. Oblesby Jr. concurs with the writer that an unhealthy and unwhole organism can risk death.[8] Alvin J. Lundgren in his book, Foundations for Purposeful Church Administration cites that the Church is the body of Christ and Christ is the head of that body. [9] He further writes,
The church is a living organism and not a static organization. The church must be conceived as a living organism which grows and develops by the transformation from within. First of all the church is alive; as has been indicated, it is the body of the resurrected living Christ who continues to speak and act…God’s living witness. One must, therefore, think of the church in dynamic, changing terms. Because [of] the church as a body of Christ is alive, it is best described as an organism rather than an organization. An institution may be static and stilted, perpetuating its traditions or present influence. A building may be expanded by adding bricks and boards to enlarge it. A body or living organism grows not by adding separate parts but through growth from within by multiplying cells.[10]
Black churches and the African American community, in general, are two crucial organisms that need to be safeguarded and protected if Black people in America are to survive such tumultuous and hostile times, especially in a systemically oppressive land. History is replete with evidence that the sound health and wholeness of a strong family and church were centrally paramount to the survival of Black America. Therefore, our biological and church families need not be connected to an artificial life support system but wholly lend to Christian ethics and values mandated through the Triune God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). Black Churches and other organizations in America, let the Lord’s breath of life-breath afresh on us so that we might grow with the halting of stagnation and complacency.
Dr. Lamont Foster, EdD, DMin, is President of the Hood Seminary Alumni Association and Senior Pastor, Mt. Pisgah AMEZ, Rockingham, North Carolina.
[1] Cornel West, “Forward,” in Michelle Alexander, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, (New York, NY: The New Press, 2011), ix.
[2] Jeffery L. Tribble, Sr., Transformative Pastoral Leadership in the Black Church, (New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005), 4.
[3] Ed Stetzer, “The State of the Church in America: When Numbers Point to a New Reality,” in Christianity Today (October 1, 2013), assessed May 30, 2018, www. Christianitytoday.com.
[6] Stanley J. Grentz, David Guretzki and Cherith Fee Nordling, The IVP Pocket Reference Series: Dictionary of Theological Terms, (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1999), 113.
[7] Thom S. Rainer, Autopsy of a Deceased Church: 12 Ways to Keep Yours Alive, (Nashville, TN: B & H Publishing Group, 2014).
[8] William B. Oglesby Jr., Biblical Themes For Pastoral Care, (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1980), 151.
[9] Alvin J. Lindgren, Foundation For Purposeful Church Administration, (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1965), 552-53.
Bibliography
Alexander, Michelle.The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. (New York, NY: The New Press, 2011).
Grentz, Stanley J., David Guretzki and Cherith Fee Nordling. The IVP Pocket Reference Series: Dictionary of Theological Terms, (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1999).
Lindgren, Alvin J. Foundation For Purposeful Church Administration. (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1965).
illiam B. Oglesby Jr. William B. Biblical Themes For Pastoral Care. (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1980).
Rainer, Thom S. Autopsy of a Deceased Church: 12 Ways to Keep Yours Alive. (Nashville, TN: B & H Publishing Group, 2014).
Stetzer, Ed. “The State of the Church in America: When Numbers Point to a New Reality,” in Christianity Today (October 1, 2013), assessed May 30, 2018, www Christianity today. Com.
Tribble, Sr., Jeffery L. Transformative Pastoral Leadership in the Black Church. (New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005).
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