Beginning with African roots and attention to historical and cultural factors, this course introduces students to essential themes in the history of African-American religious experience (i.e., slavery, emancipation, urbanization, the black freedom struggle, consumer culture, class, race, politics, etc.), as the lens through which to examine the emergence of the black church.

The black church should not be understood as referring to a single institution or a monolithic set of religious experiences, practices, or faith systems. Instead, this language describes a broad set of religious and theological perspectives, each possessing the common, unifying thread emerging from the religious, cultural, and social experiences of black people. With its roots on the continent of Africa and in the Middle Passage, the black church is the institution providing structure and meaning for African people and their descendants in the Americas who struggled to survive the ravages and brutality of slavery and racial oppression.

This course will examine the black church looking at the external forces which give shape and substance to the work of the black church. This will include a focus on the theology underlying black religious experience.

Required materials, which will be provided:

• Bailey, Julius H., ed. Down in the Valley: An Introduction to African American Religious History. Augsburg Fortress, Publishers, 2016. (Available for purchase and online)
• The Black Church | Black Jesus and Christianity | PBS: youtube.com/watch?v=QdBhjtLtuDw
• Statement by the National Committee of Black Churchmen, June 13, 1969 (Will be provided in class the week before.)
• Jacquelyn Grant, “Black Theology and the Black Woman” in African American Religious Thought: An Anthology 831-848 (Will be provided in class the week before.)