The Black Church: Purpose and Function

The purpose of this research is to examine the historical functions of the Black Church in the U.S. as a social institution. The plan of the research will be to describe the details of the purpose of the study as well as the significance and need for it, and then to discuss the historical/comparative methodology employed to analyze appropriate data and commentary, anchored chiefly in the theories of social analysis contained in Social Theory and Social Structure by Robert Merton and, secondarily, in Sociology: A Systematic Introduction by Harry M. Johnson. The body of the study will review and analyze related literature with a view toward discerning meaningful patterns of institutional organization and behavior that can serve to appropriately position the Black Church vis-a-vis modern society in general and other modern social institutions in particular. It is hoped that the findings and conclusions derived from this study will have the effect of adding to the existing sociological knowledge base pertaining to Black Churches while encouraging future research efforts aimed at a fuller understanding of such institutions.

It is a truism of the popular culture that much of the culture of the black American community is manifest to a significant extent in the experience of the black church. Many black popular musicians received their initial exposure to music in the church

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o political awareness. The NOI for its part remained comparatively on the fringe of direct social, economic, and political activity, although NOI has had a voice in activist rhetoric. This is most notable in activities of leaders of the NOI in recent years. Among the most prominent spokespersons for the Nation of Islam in the 1990s have been Minister Louis Farrakhan and Khalid Abdul. NOI's activist agenda is decidedly race relations and economic inequality, brought to public attention chiefly through the NOI leadership's rhetorical expression of anti-Semitic views, chiefly in speeches given on college campuses. Louis Farrakhan first came to national prominence in the mid-1980s, as spokesman on a wide range of issues for NOI. One feature of his message was that of economic empowerment for black Americans (Monroe, 1987). He received praise from prominent black leaders, including black clergymen, mainly in regard to his advocacy of black economic power. Molotsky (1993) cites a meeting of the Congressional Black Caucus at which Jesse Jackson, formerly a staff member of SCLC, pledged "a united effort" on behalf of American blacks' economic status. His public appearances have also been marked by controversy and criticism fro

Category: History - T