There is so much in this one tweet. I think that these white churches have been able to meet some of the needs of younger generations of black people in a way that our traditional churches don’t. The problem is that we trade one set of issues for another.
A common refrain that I hear from black people in these spaces is that it’s easier to go to these white churches than it is to be part of our churches. They want the benefits of being part of church but they want it to be convenient. That’s something that we have to own.
What I mean is that black people have to own that we don’t want to be with our own people in our own churches because we view being in those spaces as inconvenient and difficult. White churches remove a lot of the superficial difficulties.
These big box nondenom churches offer free child care. They offer ways to get involved that don’t require jumping through hoops. They have people that maintain the church. Everything is convenient.
A lot of black churches might have Sunday school. You have to manage your kids during service. Being involved in the church can be a bit more complicated than going to a three or four week clas for one hour.
Our buildings aren’t always state of the art. We don’t have imported coffee and wi-fi. You don’t have to have American Idol level talent to be a musician or singer.
Now I come from the rural black church with some city adjacency so others experiences may vary. But where I came from all levels of skill and talent was on the platform. There was good and bad and we accepted it all. A lot of these white churches are way different.
The truth is that we don’t want to invest in spaces with our own people. We want to go to the white man’s church where everything is ready made.
And lest I sound hypocritical, I struggle with some aspects of this as well. I want my kids to like going to church and to have fun learning about God. We are relocating soon. When I think about my options for black churches versus white churches, I feel frustrated.
The black churches don’t have any real options for kids, but the white churches often do.
There are times too when our churches become family affairs and the leadership and options for involvement are limited. When church becomes about one family putting on a show.
There are times too when our churches become family affairs and the leadership and options for involvement are limited. When church becomes about one family putting on a show.
I have a family member who was at a church for almost 20 years. Gave thousands of dollars. They could pay musicians and other things, but couldn’t fix the hot water heater so there would be water to wash hands. It’s a thing.
There are definitely things to be frustrated about in black churches. The black church isn’t this woke Beullah land of Blackness. I want y’all leaving white churches to know this and to stop fetishizing black churches in this way because it’s not helpful.
But with ALL the negative that I said (and all that I didn’t even touch)...I need black folks to get a vision for our people and our spaces.
Y’all complain that black church is too long but will be at church from 7am to 1pm singing, smiling, waving, and everything else at three whole services in the white man’s church.
Y’all can’t be bothered to be an ursher in the black church, but will lead 50-11 small groups at The Ekklesia Gathering Community of the City Harvest Encounter River Creek Church.
I understand that Bishop so and so and the Deacon board don’t want to change nothing. I get that they don’t want to sing new songs and that they don’t have the money for new, safe nursery equipment. When are y’all going to take y’all’s calling & talent and plant a church?
Pastor Mike at The River Crossing Journey Community Church moved to your city on a wish and a prayer and has a congregation of 75 people. Heck, Bishop so and so planted his church with no denomination and zero money. When are we gonna start doing the freaking same?
I’m all over the danged place, I know. But I guess all I’m saying is that I’m really freaking tired of black people acting brand freaking new when it comes to the black church. Y’all would rather sit under Pastor Chad and drink latte while you’re getting spiritually abused.
Black folks ain’t ever had crap. We started or own isht from day one. But a lot of y’all Gen Xers and Millennials would rather be spiritually abused by Pastor Chad because you’re are mad at Apostle Deacon Evangelist Leroy Watkins II because he’s giving the church to Leroy III.
Maybe instead of being mad at Bishop Apostle Leroy, you need go take your calling and start your own church instead of being a diversity hire at Pastor Chad’s church.
Maybe we need to stop basking in the convenience of being in these white spaces with these White people who don’t give a crap.
Like I think the ancestors are rolling in their graves right now offa how some of y’all be.
Like I think the ancestors are rolling in their graves right now offa how some of y’all be.
They were forced to go to the white man’s church and they put their lives on the line to be in their own spaces where their souls could get fed and where they could be black.
Y’all will throw on skinny jeans and a slouchy beanie in a minute to be on Pastor Mike’s platform.
Y’all will throw on skinny jeans and a slouchy beanie in a minute to be on Pastor Mike’s platform.
Our ancestors protested in them churches and got physically removed. A lot of y’all will keep drinking your Americano and are too afraid to make waves while your fellow church goers are living M*GA Christianity.
A lot of y’all have the talent, gifts, and most of all the calling to lead transformational black churches but y’all won’t do it without approval and resources from the Big House.
Our black ancestors started entire churches and denominations with NOTHING.
Our black ancestors started entire churches and denominations with NOTHING.
The problem is that we can be in the white man’s spaces and so we think we’ve made it and we’ve lost our edge. I’m not tryna glamorize the struggle; I’m just saying that a lot of us don’t want it like that. It’s easier to just go where our way is paid.
When are black leaders going to take what we’ve leRned in some of these places and create churches that are for us and by us? When are we going to invest in what’s already there? When are we going to revitalize what already exists?
