New Day Begun

African American Churches and Civic Culture in Post-Civil Rights America

Author: Smith, R. Drew; Baldwin, Lewis; Calhoun-Brown, Allison; Smidt, Corwin
Publisher: Duke University Press
ISBN: 9780822331315
eISBN Pdf: 9780822384793
Place of publication: Durham , United States
Year of digital publication: 2003
Month: July
Pages: 328
DDC: 277.3/0089/96073
Language: English

Caption

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

CONTENTS
Preface
Introduction: Black Churches Within a Changing Civic Culture in America. R.Drew Smith
PART I. Institutional Characteristics, Historical Contexts, and Black Church Civic Involvements
- 1. Revisiting the "All-Comprehending Institution":Historical Reflections on the Public Roles of Black Churches. Lewis Baldwin
- 2. What a Fellowship: Civil Society, African American Churches, and Public Life. Allison Calhoun-Brown
- 3. 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
- 4. "To Form a More Perfect Union": African Americans and American Civil Religion. David Howard-Pitney
- 5. Recognition, Respectability, and Loyalty: Black Churches and the Quest for Civility. Walter Earl Fluker
- 6. No Respect of Persons? Religion, Churches, and Gender Issues in the African American Community. Allison Calhoun-Brown
- 7. "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
- 8. Blyden’s Ghost: African American Christianity and Racial Republicanism. C.R.D. Halisi
PART III. Black Churches and "Faith-Based Initiatives"
- 9. Doing Something in Jesus’ Name: Black Churches and Community Development Corporations. Michael Leo Owens
- 10. Faith-Based Initiatives and the Constitution: Black Churches, Government, and Social Services Delivery. David Ryden
- 11. On Seducing the Samaritan: The Problematic of Government Aid to Faith-Based Groups. Samuel K. Roberts
Appendix
Contributors
Index