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COVER STORY
Why Most Black Men Won’t Go To Church
By Rev. Dr. William J. Harris
I am sure you will agree that there is
something strikingly odd on Sunday
morning in your local church. The oddity
is that the church is almost all female.
This is not only true of the black church:
white churches across America have, on
average an over two-thirds female
membership. Many times the question is
posed by the young and inexperienced
and by the seasoned and tested — where
are the men?
The question is often answered
cynically or negatively with spurious
comments and suggestions that they are
in the bars, at the dog track, or on the
basketball or tennis courts. Given the
persistent power and potential of the
church and the strength and inspiration
that is forthcoming from the worship
experience, it seems odd that more black
men are not in church. Right? Wrong!
Quite frankly, I am surprised that the
church has as many men as it does.
Given the acuteness of this problem, I
want to prayerfully share with you some
of the reasons that many black men won’t
and don’t attend church. Since it would
be impossible to list all the reasons, I will
list seven major reasons based on my
experience and I will confine my
comments principally to the black
Christian church.
The first (but not most important)
reason that many black men choose not to
attend church is that they find church
hypocritical and untenable. Many black
men are not gainfully employed and
church is a social setting where many
people are more concerned about what
someone is wearing rather than the
substance and relevance of the minister’s
message. It is frustrating and irritating to
go somewhere and sit for three hours
through song after song, and
announcement, with someone asking you
(more than .once) for money that you
don’t have: surrounded by people who
aren’t seriously trying to commune with
the divine presence anyhow.
The second reason many black men
don’t go to church is because the church
has not sought to accommodate men. The
church’s schedule has remained rigid,
preferring to compete against the NBA
and NFL for 1:00 p.m. Sunday, rather
than starting a little earlier so that people
may worship and have their afternoons
open for other personal and family
activities. Many churches start early but
drag the service on and on, dissipating an
inspirational mood into a tiring, boring,
bondage.
The third reason is that the prevailing
doctrine of today’s Christian church is
illogical to the 20th century man’s mind.
A theology that teaches “turn the other
cheek when struck; love your enemies;
bless those who persecute you,” that
presents a blue-eyed, long, blond-haired,
effeminate Jesus, that says, “just pray and
believe and you shall receive it,” runs
contrary to the psyche of an oppressed,
rejected, abused and disenfranchised
black male.
Every day black men see that praying
and getting emotional will not make
eveiything all right. There is a white man
and, now, a yellow man out there who are
whopping our behinds, and just praying
or talking about it does not appear to
change anything.
Now that I have given you a few
obvious reasons why many black men
won’t go to church, let’s get to some
deeper reasons. The fourth reason is that
the church is based on a love epic in
which the Heavenly is symbolized in
earthly relationships. Our Father’s
identity and role is understood most
easily by earthly fathers. Earthly fathers
are creators of life, and it is their role to
nurture, protect and bless it. The black
male that has never had an earthly father
they could depend on and ask things of
has a major adjustment to make to believe
that he can just pray and receive things
from a Heavenly Father.
When an earthly father is either absent,
irresponsible, disinterested, negligent or
unable to provide good gifts for his
children, the child comes up never having
experienced a father whom they can rely
on totally: who gives unconditionally and
is available consistently. This type of
early childhood creates a male child who
does not readily see that they can ask of
God, their Father, for whatever they need
and that He will hear and respond. For
this reason, the constant talk of god and
chatter about Jesus, God’s son, never
sinks in; it is blocked by the absence of
the experience of an earthly father that
gave good gifts. Since many homes have
no God-like male presence, many males
do not have the belief system that they
can receive from their Father.
Fifth, black males have a problem with
the church setting because they have a
problem with being submissive.
Submission is the act of yielding to the
power of another. In church, God is great;
all honor goes to Him, all glory belongs
to Him. His will shall be done. God is the
first and final authority. Black males live
in a world in which they are oppressed.
Oppression means you are forced to be in
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VOLUME 5 ISSUE 24