Red states and blue states, right wing and left, liberals, conservatives, Republicans, Democrats, Progressives, Independents, Libertarians, Green Party, Trumpers, Never Trumpers, anti-vaxxers, Black Lives Matter, Blue Lives Matter, All Lives Matter, Q-Anon, the list goes on and on. Even though we are supposed to be “one nation under God”, it seems that we, as modern Americans, have divided ourselves “six ways to Sunday.” Yet, there is another division that doesn’t get nearly as much media play, and I suspect that the reason may be that so few have actually borne witness to the differences between “Black Church” and “White Church” firsthand.
First of all, let me assure all the good “white folks” (that’s what we call you, when you’re not around, by the way – “white folks”) who might be reading this essay, that you all can relax. This isn’t going to be a diatribe on racism, segregation, or intolerance among white churchgoers. Also, to the white brothers and sisters who identify with the Pentecostal religion, a lot of what I’m going to say will probably sound quite familiar to you, so for simplicity’s sake, when I refer to things like “getting the Holy Ghost”, “speaking in tongues” or “being slayed in the Spirit” – know that “I see you” even though I might not call you out by name. This is not meant to be an indictment of anyone’s worship practices, but simply and enlightening and hopefully, mildly entertaining, peek behind the curtain to see how the other half lives – especially on Sunday mornings in America.
So, to prove that I come in peace and in the spirit of good clean Christian fun, let’s start off with a little quiz, shall we? This is from a 2005 post to the Long Hair Care Forum by Delta QT. The quiz is totally biased, black church goers will probably know most, if not all of the answers (although there may be regional variations). Everybody else – you will likely have no clue. But that’s ok. This isn’t to shame anyone or make you feel bad. It’s just to provide a little enlightenment to those who might be tempted to say, “Black Church? White Church? How different could they be?” So, just fill-in-the-blacks as best you can. Ready?
“First giving ______ to God, who is the _______ of my life, I’d like to say I’m glad to be in the ________ of the Lord one mo’ time. Cause he brought me from a _____long_____. I coulda been dead, sleeping in my________, but God is_______ all the ________, and all the_____, God is _______. He’s a _______ over troubled waters. He’s a mother to the ________, and a _________to the __________, a doctor in a ________ room, and a___________ in the courtroom! He’s a ________ fixer and a _______ regulator. He made a ______ out of no _______. He made the ______ to see, and the ______ to walk. He’s the_______ of the valley, the bright and ________star. I’m ________ that he _______ me up this mornin’, _______ me on my way,_________ and in my _________ mind. Pray for me that I grow in the _________ and ________ of the Lord.
Also, as you look in your church_______, under the sick and _______ in list, please keep Sister Beulah Mae Jenkins in _______ as she will be having her ________ surgery this week. In addition to giving your ______ and _______ , we humbly ask that you contribute to the church_______ fund. Also, we will be celebrating the pastor’s fifteenth________ next week so anybody who serves on the _______ board please meet in the ________ following_________. The Women’s _______ will be selling ________ dinners for $7.00 a _____ along with the Sunday School ________ who will be having their annual ______ sale to help fund their trip to the national youth __________in Tennessee this summer. Parents please be _______that Vacation _______ School begins June 19, please have your child________ by May 13.”
(Answers will be given at the end and there is extra-credit on a couple of these if you correctly use “Black Church spelling.”)
I should also provide the disclaimer that I am not in any way disparaging the black church. I’ve been a churchgoer all of my life. I was baptized at age 10, served on the Junior Usher (aka “Ersher”) Board, was secretary of the Sunday School, and President of the BTU (Baptist Training Union). My mother was a Sunday School teacher and president of the Senior Choir, my dad was a deacon and a trustee, and my grandmother was the Church Clerk. I am an African-American woman who spent the first forty-five years of my Christian life as a member of Baptist churches across the country (the result of several corporate job transfers) which were almost always exclusively African-American. Even after my marriage to a Caucasian man in 2005, we continued attending a predominantly African-American church. I love the Lord and many of the black church traditions. But what I’ve come to realize is that there isn’t one single “right” way to “do church.”
Even before I married my previously Roman Catholic husband, I had attended “white” churches before. When I was a child our pastor decided to engage in a short-lived experiment with a white congregation in which we hosted one another for joint services. I remember my parents commenting that the white congregation was “too quiet” and “didn’t even say ‘Amen’” during the sermon. Other parishioners must have had the same reaction because once each congregation had visited the other I don’t remember our ever having another joint service with the “white church” again.
In the ensuing years I attended weddings of friends in predominantly white churches of various denominations; during my single years I attended a synagogue service with my Jewish blind date and was the guest of my white college roommate and a couple of white co-workers at their churches (one a Lutheran, the others were Baptists like me). I can honestly say that I was welcomed warmly in every circumstance and always felt the presence of God. I can even remember telling my mother how the white Baptist churches seemed “just the same as ours” except that the services didn’t last nearly as long; being both impressed and a little dumbfounded by how that could be. But as lovely as those experiences were, I never seriously considered joining any of those churches. Even now I can’t really say why; I’m not even sure that it was a conscious decision on my part. I suspect that it was simply a matter of tradition; black people belong to black churches, period.
Part of this probably had to do with the decidedly different worship styles. White churches, even the most friendly and down to earth, seem to follow a more formalized order of service. The worship experience flows according to a predictable pattern which seems to have been designed for maximum efficiency. There is very little that is done “off-the-cuff”.
African-American churches, on the other hand, seem to be a little more “free form.” If people get “in the spirit” just about anything goes. People vocalize in the “call-and-response” tradition with the preacher. The congregation will routinely shout out “Amen” and other words of encouragement like, “Preach!”; “Say that!”; “Yes, Sir!” and “Well, come on now!” Prayers are unscripted and have been known to ramble on for as long as half an hour. I once saw a preacher “get happy”, jump down from the pulpit and run, full speed around the entire perimeter of the church, screaming at the top of his lungs, “I’m so happy!” (In all fairness though, he was recounting a rather miraculous story in which fifteen years previously his doctor had diagnosed him with cancer, giving him three months to live. Yet with no treatment of any kind, he had survived in seemingly good health every day since).
In interesting contrast, however, white churches, for all their formality in the conduct of the service itself, seem much more relaxed and casual in ways that would cause jaws to drop in the African-American religious community. When I realized that the church members in my current (white) congregation, including the children, addressed the pastor by his first name rather than as “Pastor” or “Rev. So-and-So” I was shocked. People wear shorts and sandals to church in the summer. (It is unusual in most black churches to see women in slacks or sans pantyhose or men without coats and ties). There is no official “Mother’s Board”, no “Nurse’s Guild”, no lengthy “devotional period” led by the deacons as a sort of “warm-up” to the “real” service. There aren’t any “rules” like, “Don’t walk up the center aisle to get to the podium” or “Don’t cross the pulpit” or “Women aren’t allowed to serve at the communion table.”
Having attended both types of churches I can’t honestly say that either is “better” than the other. There are things that I admire and enjoy about both. I like how white churches always start and end on time. I like seeing women and even members of the LGTBQ+ community participate in the services on an equal basis with straight men. I like their scholarly approach to Bible study. But, at times I wish things were a bit livelier. I wish people didn’t seem uncomfortable clapping their hands; I wish they’d give the pastor a little bit of verbal encouragement when he makes a great point during his sermon; I’d even like to see the choir “march in” with a little soul in their steps rather than just sauntering into the choir stand from wherever they happen to be in the sanctuary when it’s time for them to sing.
But although the electricity that seems to fill the air in an African-American church when the “spirit is moving” in a genuine way is exciting and energizing, there were times, I must confess that all the shouting and jumping up and down didn’t seem all that sincere and unfortunately took on a rather “sideshow” quality for me. The other problem at times seemed to be that for all the noise and emotionalism on Sunday morning there was very little application of faith and love of neighbor and self during the other six days of the week. While the white church seems “quiet” by comparison, sometimes that opportunity for silent reflection is exactly what I need in order to take an introspective view of my own life and spiritual progress and to ask for God’s help whenever I recognize that I’m probably off track. That can be hard to do with too much commotion going on in the adjacent pews.
Finally, there are the differences in the sermons themselves. With either flowing robes or purple suits, black preachers have style, no doubt about it. And while many are very knowledgeable about the Bible and genuinely led by the spirit of God as well, there are others, sadly who seem to be all style and no substance. These are the ones who verbally berate the congregation for not adequately participating in the “call and response” tradition. With every sentence punctuated by, “Can I get a witness?” or “I sure wish somebody understood what I was talking about,” or the one that I have always found to be the most obnoxious, “Amen, Walls!” it can be difficult to follow the thread of what these preachers are actually trying to say. As a child I remember listening to one preacher who would make this weird, half-sneeze, half-throat clearing sound after every sentence once he really got going. “And the Lord appeared!” (achk) “to Moses” (achk) “in the burning bush” (achk) “and the Lord said” (achk) “to Moses” (achk), ‘Moses, take off thy sandals from off thy feet!’ (achk) ‘for the place where thou art standing is Holy ground!’” (achk). One hot Sunday afternoon my friends and I counted 147 “achks” but probably have no clue what the sermon was about. There have also been times when I have found myself wondering if there even was an underlying spiritual message, or whether the preacher’s only goal was to whip the crowd into an emotional frenzy, collect a large offering, and call it good.
I remember I first began attending my current, predominantly white, church. The then-pastor took a much more cerebral approach. He knew the Bible to be sure, but also pulled in examples from literature (he once preached a sermon that was interwoven with the story line from Les Misérables) and other thoughtful and esoteric images which fed my intellect as well as my soul. I often wish there was a way to effectively blend the gifts of both types of preachers. I grew up with black preachers adept at evoking feeling and now attend a church with a white preacher who engages my brain but since both are important parts of the qualities imparted in human beings by our Creator it would seem to me to be more appropriate to invoke both aspects of ourselves in our worship of Him as well. The challenge is merging two distinct cultures and worship styles requires work and a willingness to change on both sides; and change, unfortunately, even among those of us with Christian beliefs that are, at the core, basically the same is something that remains difficult for human beings to do.
Finally, as promised here are the answers to the “quiz.”
“First giving HONOR to God, who is the HEAD of my life, I’d like to say I’m glad to be in the HOUSE of the Lord one mo’ time. Cause he brought me from a MIGHTY long WAY. I coulda been dead, sleeping in my GRAVE, but God is GOOD all the TIME, and all the TIME God is GOOD. He’s a BRIDGE over troubled waters. He’s a mother to the MOTHERLESS, and a FATHER to the FATHERLESS, a doctor in a SICK room, and a LAWYER in the courtroom! He’s a HEART fixer and a MIND regulator. He made a WAY out of no WAY. He made the BLIND to see, and the LAME to walk. He’s the LILY of the valley, the bright and MORNING star. I’m GLAD that he WOKE me up this mornin’, STARTED me on my way, CLOTHED and in my RIGHT mind. Pray for me that I grow in the KNOWLEDGE and WISDOM of the Lord.
Also, as you look in your church BULLETIN, under the sick and SHUT in list, please keep Sister Beulah Mae Jenkins in PRAYER as she will be having her HIP surgery this week. In addition to giving your TITHES and OFFERINGS , we humbly ask that you contribute to the church BUILDING fund. Also, we will be celebrating the pastor’s fifteenth ANNIVERSARY next week so anybody who serves on the “ERSHER” (AKA “USHER”) board please meet in the VESTIBULE following WORSHIP. The Women’s MISSIONARY SOCIETY will be selling CHICKEN AND/OR FISH dinners for $7.00 a PLATE along with the Sunday School “CHIRREN” (AKA “CHILDREN”) who will be having their annual BAKE sale to help fund their trip to the national youth CONVENTION in Tennessee this summer. Parents please be MINDFUL that Vacation BIBLE School begins June 19, please have your child REGISTERED by May 13.”
If you’re black, I hope that made you smile! If you’re white, well…I hope it made you smile too!
quietlyradical 