Word: pastorally
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Throughout black history in the U.S., the church has been the central institution in the African-American community, a fact still true in a country with 65,000 black congregations. As Baptist Pastor J. Alfred Smithing Sr. of Oakland's Allen Temple Baptist Church puts it, "The black church is the heart of black life." Today, as never before, that heart is enduring strains and challenges brought on by apathy, social ills and new directions in the black religious experience. Urban congregations are surrounded by neighborhoods demoralized by spiraling drug use, crime and family disintegration; the churches face a looming...
...examining the status of the clergy, The Black Church raises deeply troubling questions. The median age of black pastors in the U.S. has reached a dangerously high 52, which means that fewer young blacks are entering the ministry. Thanks to the civil rights movement, the ministry is no longer the sole redoubt of blacks with leadership aspirations. "We never had black mayors before the last 30 years," remarks Harlem Baptist Pastor Wyatt Tee Walker...
...ministry is also losing out in the economic competition. Only one- quarter of the black pastors in the U.S. have health insurance, a mere 15.7% receive pensions, and salaries are so low that nearly 40% of pastors hold second jobs. Less than one-fifth of pastors hold seminary degrees. The Rev. Calvin Butts, pastor of Harlem's Abyssinian Baptist Church, believes lack of formal skills is critical. "You can be 'called,' but 9 times out of 10 today if you are not trained, you are of no use to us," says Butts, who holds a Ph.D. from Drew University...
...graying of the clergy extends to the faithful. Black churches usually operate a wide array of community projects reaching all age groups, but "many black churches are senior citizens' homes," laments Los Angeles pastor Murray. "They do not attract young adults and youths." High rates of joblessness and crime among young blacks are significant factors, but the Rev. Richard Norris of Philadelphia's Mother Bethel A.M.E. Church (founded in 1794) cites the drug crisis in particular: "It's destroyed the family. It's weakened the church." Baltimore attorney Leronia Josey blames some middle- class black Christians for getting too "comfortable...
...Unity Village, Mo., a New Thought group that she quit in 1974 because of what she charged was a racist tinge. Colemon preaches reincarnation (she believes she was once an Egyptian princess) and an unapologetic quest for material prosperity ("Money is God in action"). Practicing what she preaches, the pastor lives in a 23- room mansion...