New Day Begun

R. Drew Smith (Editor)

Description

New Day Begun presents the findings of the first major research project on black churches' civic involvement since C. Eric Lincoln and Lawrence H. Mamiya's landmark study The Black Church in the African American Experience. Since the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act, the scale and scope of African American churches' civic involvement have changed significantly: the number of African American clergy serving in elective and appointive offices has noticeably increased, as have joint efforts by black churches and government agencies to implement policies and programs. Filling a vacuum in knowledge about these important developments, New Day Begun assesses the social, political, and ecclesiastical factors that have shaped black church responses to American civic and political life since the Civil Rights movement.This collection of essays analyzes the results of an unprecedented survey of nearly 2,000 African American churches across the country conducted by The Public Influences of African-American Churches Project, which is based at Morehouse College in Atlanta. These essays-by political scientists, theologians, ethicists, and others-draw on the survey findings to analyze the social, historical, and institutional contexts of black church activism and to consider the theological and moral imperatives that have shaped black church approaches to civic life-including black civil religion and womanist and afrocentric critiques. They also look at a host of faith-based initiatives addressing economic development and the provision of social services. New Day Begun presents necessary new interpretations of how black churches have changed-and been changed by-contemporary American political culture.Contributors. Lewis Baldwin, Allison Calhoun-Brown, David D. Daniels III, Walter Earl Fluker, C.R.D. Halisi, David Howard-Pitney, Michael Leo Owens, Samuel Roberts, David Ryden, Corwin Smidt, R. Drew Smith

Sujets

• Sociologie, société et politique
• USA
• Ethnic studies
• Cultural studies
• États-Unis

Informations

• Publié par: Duke University Press
• Date de parution: 02 juillet 2003
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780822384793
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

NEW DAY BEGUN

      ,  

NEW DAY BEGUN

       -  

EDITED BY R. DREW SMITH

    urham and ondon 

© uke niversity ress All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper  Designed by Amy Ruth Buchanan Typeset in Minion by Tseng Information Systems, Inc. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data appear on the last printed page of this book. An earlier version of chapter  was published inWomen and Politics () .

        .      .

Facing the rising sun of our new day begun, Let us march on till victory is won.

    ‘‘Lift Every Voice and Sing’’

CONTENTS

Preface

ix

Introduction: Black Churches Within a Changing Civic Culture in America R.Drew Smith• 

PART I Institutional Characteristics, Historical Contexts, and Black Church Civic Involvements

. Revisiting the ‘‘All-Comprehending Institution’’: Historical Reflections on the Public Roles of Black Churches Lewis Baldwin• 

. What a Fellowship: Civil Society, African American Churches, and Public Life Allison Calhoun-Brown• 

. System Confidence, Congregational Characteristics, and Black Church Civic Engagement R. Drew Smith and Corwin Smidt• 

PART II Black Churches and Normative Assessments of the American Political Context

. ‘‘To Form a More Perfect Union’’: African Americans and American Civil Religion David Howard-Pitney• 

. Recognition, Respectability, and Loyalty: Black Churches and the Quest for Civility Walter Earl Fluker• 

. No Respect of Persons? Religion, Churches, and Gender Issues in the African American Community Allison Calhoun-Brown• 

. ‘‘Doing All the Good We Can’’: The Political Witness of African American Holiness and Pentecostal Churches in the Post–Civil Rights Era David D. Daniels III• 

. Blyden’s Ghost: African American Christianity and Racial Republicanism C. R. D. Halisi• 

PART III Black Churches and ‘‘Faith-Based Initiatives’’

. Doing Something in Jesus’ Name: Black Churches and Community Development Corporations Michael Leo Owens• 

. Faith-Based Initiatives and the Constitution: Black Churches, Government, and Social Services Delivery David Ryden• 

. On Seducing the Samaritan: The Problematic of Government Aid to Faith-Based Groups Samuel K. Roberts• 

Appendix

Contributors

Index







PREFACE

This volume is the first of two volumes to be published by Duke Univer- sity Press featuring research developed as part of The Public Influences of African-American Churches Project (). The aim of this research ini- tiative, which is based at the Leadership Center at Morehouse College, is to examine the relationship of African American churches to American politi- cal life since the civil rights movement. The focus on the period after the civil rights movement is recognition of the fact that American politics in general, and African American politics in particular, have changed dramatically since the s. This point will be made in a number of ways by chapters in the two volumes. Moreover, the focus here on the latter-twentieth century context of black politics, and of black church involvement in politics, acknowledges not only new configurations of the political landscape but a troubling lack of research on recent black church involvements within that context. Although there is a substantial body of scholarship on black church activism during the civil rights movement, scholarly publications on contemporary political involve- ments by black churches have been limited, with only a few exceptions, to an occasional journal article or chapter. Consequently, a primary objective of theProject has been to increase scholarly research in this sub- ject area—working specifically with thirty scholars over a three-year period toward the development of a new generation of scholarship on black church public involvements. The volumes contain chapters contributed by many of these scholars. The first volume focuses on relationships between ecclesiastical and civic culture and, specifically, on ways that black churches draw on civil religious ideas, black nationalist concerns, and community and economic develop- ment objectives. Chapters in this first volume also explore ways that the political dispositions of black churches are shaped by theological, gender, and other cultural considerations. The second volume analyzes black church activism on national public policy issues such as affirmative action, health