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African-American Pastors and their Spouses: Changes in spousal roles in the past 100 years.

By: Nikia Anderson, M.S.

In an effort to continuously recreate a new and better identification, African Americans have worked to change how society sees and refers to them. They were first Africans sold into American slavery; and post slavery became Negroes/Coloreds, moving on to being called Blacks during the 1960’s civil rights movement, and then finally African Americans. Change is an inevitable principle. People change, religious organizations change, and societies change. This paper will examine changes in the roles of pastors and their spouses in their places of worship. What were, and what are, the actions or behaviors expected of pastors and their spouses? In this examination of change a question emerges: Have the roles of the pastors and their spouses changed from the early 1900’s until now, within the Negro, Black, or African American Church[1]?

The Negro Church

From the early 1900s through the 1940s, pastors and their spouses were no longer solely defined as slaves from Africa (Woodson, 1921). They were sharecroppers and rural leaders who presented Jesus Christ to the poor and destitute, and they were also shepherds who evolved from titles of merely slaves into “the Negro Church” (Dubois, 1898). The Church and the church[2] have different definitions. Post slavery, the Negro church served as a meeting place for community topics, unification of the race and a safe zone from an oppressive society (Moberg, 1962). Pastors and their spouses became the first leaders, teachers, counselors, and examples within their immediate neighborhoods and the surrounding communities. The Church became one of the first authorities representing positive change within the Negro society.

Post slavery, the escape from oppression through the Church gave a sense of empowerment within the Negro community. The Church also developed a reputation for creating an atmosphere where members or visitors could escape from the bondage of racism and the mistreatment from the world (Pipes, 1951). In one world, the Negro was reminded everywhere he and/or she went that they were nothing more than, in the grand scheme of things, an uneducated second-class citizen. On the other hand, in the Church, the Negro was taught that they had opportunities that allowed them to know how to receive respect. This ultimately gave them the inspiration to dream of a better life and personal improvement.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909 served as a major example that helped Negroes to visualize new opportunities (Appiah & Gates, 1999). The NAACP was originally called the National Negro Committee (Harley, 1995). During this time Colored was a preferred name because Negro had a strong negative influence, and Negroes who were educated preferred to be known as Colored. Although the NAACP came from a group of multi-racial activists (Trueman, 2000), during the future civil rights movement, pastors, through their churches, along with the NAACP played a major role in changing socially unjust laws against Negroes/Coloreds.

The respect for, and the ability of, the Negro pastors to improve the image of the Negro through the Church came with a price. Negroes not only suffered from a corrupt racist society, they also experienced problems inside the Church primarily through leadership (Woodson, 1921). During slavery the Church began to split into denominations[3] due to differing ideas about the role of the Church. Negroes in the Church started as Christians through whatever denominational background with which the Caucasians were involved (McKinney, 1971). Caucasian hierarchies controlled many of the organizations that Negroes were allowed to join. These organizations required specific sermons, scriptures, and by-laws that promoted their biased and racist ideology (McKinney, 1971). Negro denominations began as early as the 1740s. The first Negro Christian denomination that started was through the African Methodist Church (Harley, 1995). While slavery continued to exist, freedmen[4] such as Reverend Richard Allen and Reverend Aboslom Jones had begun to start their own Church, the African Methodist Church, due to the biased and racist depiction of Christianity shown through the Caucasian Methodist Churches (McKinney, 1971).

Post slavery, after Negroes left the Caucasian churches to worship God in freedom, more and more of them began to debate among each other and started to split into further subgroups. The division from one body of believers into various subgroups and different denominations is cited as a break within the strength of the Church in the Negro community (Woodson, 1921). Because of Pastors and their spouses, and regardless of the denominational separation, the Church as a whole, remained an important vehicle for Negro liberation, through providing shelter, safety and a positive image within the neighborhood.

Pastors and their spouses directed a new era for the Negro (Frazier, 1964). Ultimately, the leaders guided the progress for the future of their community. When families were in need of food, clothing, shelter, jobs, and networking within the community, they went to the pastors and their spouses at their homes or through the church facilities. Woodson (1921) wrote The History of the Negro Church, which spoke to the plight of the pastors’ struggle to establish positive images associated with the religious organization through their identity crisis. The positive changes in the Negro community were coupled with major struggles. Although some Negroes were freedmen during the slavery period, with lower to higher levels of education and/or skills for specific types of labor, the majority of them were not. Many Negro pastors and their spouses were either uneducated, could not read, and/or stripped of their African heritage[5] during slavery. The development of the Negro church introduced the formation of a new identity that replaced what had been lost during slavery. In the process of obtaining the new identity many pastors were criticized for their lack of training, couth, and their ineffective response to political topics (Savage, 2000).

W.E.B. Du Bois assessed the formation of the Negro Church although he was not a Christian. Du Bois was not believed to be an atheist, but he was more associated with being an agnostic who researched the plight of the social Christian (Aptheker, 1982). At this time in history, research concerning the Negro would have, at some level, ultimately lead back to the Church. The leadership within the Church, pastors and their spouses, were under extreme scrutiny. The motive of the Church’s leadership was in question. Was the leadership in the Church specifically focused on its development as a religious institution that followed the teachings of Jesus Christ, or was their agenda primarily political (Du Bois, 1898)? The church, in this time period, was the only place Caucasian powers allowed Negroes to organize and function as a group without towering inspections. Were Christians really simply social Christians or true followers of Jesus Christ? According to Du Bois, a social Christian was an individual who was not focused on the lifestyle devoted to Christ, but his or her focus was on using the religious organization for just personal gain.

Critics of the Negro church’s leadership had valid observations concerning the problems within pastoral administration; however, untrained Negro pastors and their spouses could only use the resources he or she had at the time (Frazier, 1964). The church was expected to become an institution, depending on who was inquiring, that was both religious and political in its service to the community. In one regard, the perceived responsibility of the Church was to uplift the Negro race through biblical practices. On the other hand, the Church was expected to also open their doors as a vehicle for fighting political and racial inequality. If the pastor and his spouse had the educational, financial, and networking resources, then the pastor was able to provide more service to his/her members and community. Because resources were far and few between for pastors, progress in the Negro community (both religious and political) proceeded at a slower than desired rate. This perceived religious and political responsibility remains a conflict within the Church today.

Articles, books, and journals did not discuss the characteristics within the marriages of pastors and their spouses. The literature discusses how Negro pastors and their spouses helped others, as well as how others critiqued their leadership skills; but, there was no literature found that articulated if there was any kind of assistance that was given to them. Pastors and their spouses were responsible for others although there were no recorded instances of help being given to them (Woodson, 1921). The responsibility of each generation deals with demonstrating improvement from the previous era, and the Negro pastors with their spouses were able to do that. From a slave to emancipation and from being a fugitive in America to a place of sanctuary, through the church, the pastors along with their spouses were able to establish a rich foundation for future generations to improve upon.

The Black Church

From the early 1940s through the 1980s another period began in America, the Black Church (Vedlitz, Alston, & Pinkele, 1980). The transition from being a slave to becoming a Negro was a horrific journey. The unavailable resources were devastating to the Negroes who were trying to adapt to the desired yet frightening new era. The emergence of the Negro Church was an overwhelming and daunting task. Although many critics gave their subjective analysis of the problems that existed during this period (Frazier, 1964), the goal to empower and provide a means of progress within the Negro mindset was accomplished. As stated earlier, change is inevitable. In spite of the criticisms, pastors and their spouses had continued to play an important role in their member’s identity change (McKinney, 1971). From the classification as a slave into becoming a Negro, and then to being known as the Black Church in America, regardless as to how slow it appeared, progress continued to take place.

Black clergymen began to play a major role in political arenas in this era. Caucasian politicians began to see the influence pastors had with their members and started to target their voting support (Davidson, 1972). As the Black church became stronger in its resources and structure, endorsements from Blacks created an opportunity for black politicians to emerge. By the late 1940s, Blacks had a greater opportunity to attend school and receive some form of education. Due in part to their increased educational level, and the additional resources received from the Black Church for their congregations and the communities’ at large (Vedlitz, Alston, & Pinkele, 1980), the social Christians began to branch out and separate to the point that they became secular politicians and/or activists.

The effect that the church had on Blacks in their day-to-day lives was significant (Frazier, 1964). The newly found Black secular politicians and activists, along with Caucasian scholars, argued that the Church served as an opiate[6] rather than a stimulant that produced, for the group or the individual, social activism[7] (Marx, 1967). Due to the slow positive changes in the black community, the argument became stronger: Is the Church in the black community an inspiration or an opiate (Feagin, 1975)?

During the period from 1900-1939, the post slavery church could use an opiate approach to helping the congregation gain healing, hope, faith, and a positive self-image (McKinney, 1971). With so many men, women, and children (over 3000 estimated over 30 years) who were lynched, and the racist ideologies in power within America (Beck & Tolnay, 1990), the Negro Church had the chains of slavery taken off their arms and legs, but mentally they were still in bondage. Due to the intense pain associated with the slave to Negro life in America, it is this writer’s opinion that the message preached by pastors: Christ died to save you from a sin filled world, was a healing mechanism for Blacks. However, racial inequality, the murders of innocent Negroes, and the increasing economic depravity promoted the need for unified actions towards progress within the Black race. There was a requirement of pastors to include more than just an opiate approach, but also to include a message that motivated changes to address the negative conditions in America for Blacks as well.

There was an obvious need for pastors to stand up for more in the pulpit than healing wounds from the ill treatment of the racist society. Slave master approaches continued to be used to castrate the Negro, Colored, and Black people. With the blatant verbal and nonverbal violent behaviors, and the laws that were passed with the purpose to cripple any ability for Blacks to achieve the American dream, something had to be done. Pastors along with their spouses began to address the requirement for the immediate changes needed to effect social injustice and unequal treatment in America towards the Black community. One such pastor was Martin Luther King. There were many pastors whose labor prior to Martin Luther King (including his father’s work) assisted in allowing King to have a platform to achieve the non-violent protest to social injustices (Stanford University, 1997). However, King’s efforts were extremely instrumental in producing a positive effect that eventually reached the world.

The Black Church began to form alliances among each other with the purpose to non-violently addressing social injustices through biblical principles. In 1957, Martin Luther King, along with Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, Ralph David Abernathy, and Bayard Rustin began a refreshing and intense struggle against the Caucasian laws of the land concerning the prejudices within America, through the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (Appiah & Gates, 1999). Through Rosa Park’s incident on the bus, the civil rights movement began in America headed by Black Churches, some Caucasian supporters, and the NAACP (Collier & Franklin, 2001). Little did the slave owner know that introducing Christianity to the slaves would one day turn the tables on them and free the slaves from their slave master’s physical and mental control? The very Bible the “white man” gave to the slaves (which they used to validate slavery and racism), was later used by Martin Luther King (condemn slavery, racism, and unjust laws) to address their “ungodly” attitudes and behaviors through the Black Church. Through various boycotts of different activities, places, and people, the Black Church supported and in some cases started civil rights movements around the country (Morris, 1994).

During this era, some pastors and their spouses were afraid to speak out against wrong, even though the Bible spoke against hate, jealousy, pride, envy, and spiteful behaviors. These pastors criticized civil rights movements publicly in an attempt to not suffer the consequences associated with protesting (King, 1963). After the Supreme Court overturned the bus segregation laws through Browder v Gayle in 1956, more pastors joined the moral fight against injustices (Morris, 1994). “One hundred years later the Negro is still not free,” states Martin Luther King, Jr. on August 28, 1963 at the nation’s l Lincoln Memorial steps during the “I Have a Dream” speech. The example King gave to pastors ultimately dealt with exercising one’s ability to stand up for what is right. After all of the civil rights marches, boycotts and protests, changes occurred. King started with a goal of equality focusing on Blacks, and ultimately the equality he preached grew to affect policies concerning injustices of other nations across the world. The era of the Black Church was an explosive one that demolished overt mistreatment and helped establish moral boundaries in America.

The African American Church

After the explosive era of the Black Church, through the civil rights and Black power[8] movement, much reconstruction was needed within laws, as well as within various Caucasian and Black ideologies. During this reconstruction phase, racially prejudiced laws were in the process of being amended, and both King and J. F. Kennedy were assassinated. Kennedy was, prior to his death; in the process of addressing the unjust segregation laws and practices against Black people (McAdams, 1995). There were rumors of conspiracy surrounding both King’s and Kennedy’s deaths (McAdams, 1995). The tragic and joyous changes in society invited Blacks to change their name. A majority of Blacks no longer wanted to be defined by their pigmentation; they felt a need to be identified by their country of origin and their current citizenship, African American

(Martin, 2005).

Pastors and their spouses were in positions to gather additional resources to the point that their churches were no longer predominately small shacks[9] or storefronts[10] (Billingsley, 1994). The African American Church was freed up to focus more on a variety of helps and services offered to their members and communities (Toth, 1999). African American churches remained highly emotional during their church services; however, they also provided outreach within the community in social and political arenas. Martin Luther & Coretta King not only assisted in the amendments to laws concerning African Americans and social injustices, but they also gave other pastors and their spouses the confidence to stand for what was/is right (according to the Bible), within the Church and political arenas.

During the African American Church era, facilities that were once shacks and storefronts are now small or mega churches. Where there were maybe only fifty or a hundred (sometimes a few hundred) at a church, now there are a number of churches with thousands. During the Negro and Black Church, pastors had some form of education; now, however, most pastors and their spouse have formal higher education, giving them greater resources to offer their members and community. Examples of successful African American pastors in America are Bishop T. D. Jakes, Bishop Eddie Long, Bishop Paul Morton, and Pastor Creflo Dollar (Bazemore, 2005).

Jakes, Long, Morton, and Dollar are only four among many pastors who lead mega churches. African American mega churches were researched and found to have similar patterns in their pastors’ sermon from the traditional Black churches’ message (Bruce, 2006). Both their themes correlated and surrounded God the father, Jesus the son, and the Holy Spirit (Ghost); turning away from sin and accepting salvation; the purpose of the church; having faith in all things; being a sower; Black power (Bruce, pg 1).

The Black Church had to focus on political roles that outweighed personal movement. The argument among pastors from within the same denomination, and from differing denominations, dealt with the question, “Should the message over the pulpit be political, spiritual, or both?” The African American Church, as a whole, was in position to approach both political (in relation to social injustice and moral decay) and spiritual concepts with their members and surrounding communities (Billingsley, 1994). The Church, through its pastors and their spouses, no longer focuses only on emotional opiates, but now also offers solutions to the economic, social, and environmental difficulties that build versus only sedation of their congregations.

Self-transformation has become a major role of the African American Church (Roof, 1999). Self-transformation specifically involves giving God the opportunity to change the individual. According to the Bible, when God begins to change the individual, the person through their faith and repentance is now considered to be Born-again[11] Roman 8:10 (NIV). A profound book written by Dantley[12] (1994), an African American pastor, called Born-Again, discusses what it means to be Born-again. Born-Again, is a book with a unique purpose. From its title, to be Born-Again, has been taken to a higher definition that goes beyond a religious exercise, to a dynamic experience. Dantley poses different questions concerning the Born-again Christian to cause the church, as a whole, to move beyond the natural[13] understanding of God to a spiritual[14] one. Although the concept of being Born-again was preached in the early 1900s, the emphasis was more associated with God’s deliverance from an extremely overt racist society. In the last thirty years, the emphasis within the Born-again Christian community is centered more around the individual’s need to improve him or herself psychologically, financially, and spiritually.

The African American Church began a more psychologically driven and therapeutic approach to the personal improvement of their congregants. Through the pulpit, pastors were emphasizing how to improve ones own self through spirituality, education, and basic self-enhancement. By focusing on their self-transformation, the Church as a whole would ultimately produce a better community and society.

The African American Church, through its foundation from the past, has elevated its approach and capacity as to how affective the assistance is that the pastors and their spouses offer (Toth, 1999). The African American Church has a path towards success that was paved on the backs and pain of their Negro and Black ancestors in the gospel (Billingsley, 1994). The role of the pastor and his/her spouse has changed since the early 1900s. “To whom much is given, from him much will be required,” it states in Luke 12:48 Holy Bible (KJV). The Church’s role and responsibility toward each generation’s improvement has increased. In each generation from the Negro, to the Colored, to the Black, and into, currently, the African American era, the role of pastors and their spouses has changed. The Church moved from having a merely opiate affect on its members, to include reformation within their psychological, financial and spiritual lifestyle. The role of the pastor and his/her spouse will continue to change as the needs of society changes. Throughout the literature from the 1900s to the present, there is little research that discusses the relationship between the pastor and his/her spouse. The emphasis was on their leadership role toward their congregation and community. Further examination within the dynamics of the relationship between the pastor and his/her spouse are needed. Who is currently helping the helpers?

References

Appiah, K.A. & Gates, H.L. (1999). The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience. New York: Basic Civitas Books.

Aptheker, H. (1982). W.E.B. Du Bois and Religion: A Brief reassessment. Journal of Religion Thought, 39(Spring/Summer), 5-11.

Bazemore, J. (2005). The most influential evangelicals in America. [magazine] Times, February.

Beck, E.M. & Tolnay, S.E. (1990). The killings fields of the deep south: The market of

cotton and the lynching of the blacks. American Sociological Association, 526-539.

Billingsley, A. (1994). The social relevance of the contemporary black church. National

Journal of Sociology, 8 (1-2).

Collier-Thomas, B., & Franklin, V.P. (2001). Sisters in the struggle: African American women in the civil rights-black power movement. New York: University Press.

Davidson, C. (1972). Biracial politics: Conflict and coalition in the metropolitan south.

Baton Rouge: Louisiana State Univ. Press.

DuBois, W.E.B. (1898). The study of the Negro problem. Annal, 1, 1-23.

Feagin, J.R. (1975). The Black church: Inspiration or opiate. The Journal of Negro

History, 536-540.

Frazier, E.G. (1964). The Negro church in America. New York: Schocken.

Harley, S. (1995). The Timetables of African American history: A Chronology of the most important people and events in African-American history. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.

King, M.L (1963). I have a dream. [Speech], Civil Rights March-Lincoln memorial. Washington, D.C.

King, M.L. (1963). Why we can’t wait. New York: Harper Row.

Martin, J.K (2005). What’s is a name? Oxford Journals, 69(3), 429-438.

Marx, G. (1967). Protest and prejudice: A study of belief in the Black community. New York: Harper & Row.

McAdams, J. (1995). The Kennedy assassination. [Online]. Retrieved on March 17, 2007,

from http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/home.htm

Moberg, J.G. (1988). The church as a social institution. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-

Hall, Inc.

Morris, A. (1994). The Origins of the civil rights movement: Black communities

organizing for change. New York: The Free Press.

Pipes, W.H. (1951). Say amen brother! New York: William Fredrick Press.

Roof.W.C. (1999). Spiritual Marketplace: Baby boomers and the remaking of American

religion. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press.

Savage, B. (2000). W.E.B.Du Bois and The Negro church. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 568, 235-249.

Stanford University (1997). Martin Luther King Jr. paper project. Stanford, Ca: Stanford University.

Thompson, F.C. (1903). The original Thompson chain-reference study bible: King James Version. Iowa Falls: World Bible.

Toth, J.F. (1999). Power and paradox in an African American congregation. Review of Religious Research, 40 (3) 213-229.

Trueman, C. (2000). NAACP. [Online] Retrieved on March 16, 2007 at:

http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/NAACP.htm

Woodson, C.G. (1921). The History of the Negro church. Washington, D.C.: Associated.

[1] A Christian religious organization

[2] A building or premises where divine services of a Church take place

[3] Religious congregations unified under a mutual faith, name, and organized under a single administrative with legal hierarchy eg. Baptists, Pentecostals, Catholics etc

[4] A man, a woman, or a child who had been freed from slavery

[5] Belief systems, religion, customs, and their language of origin

[6] A natural or synthetic derivative of opium, a drug that has similar PAINKILLING and calming effects

[7] A behavior that achieves a desired goal

[8] A term that encompasses a wide range of activities in the late 1960s through the early 70’s aimed at increasing the power of blacks in American life. Its leaders, including Malcolm X, generally favored more forceful action than those of civil rights leaders like Rev. Martin Luther King. The more extreme leaders, organized in the Black Panther Party, called for measures like armed resistance to police brutality

[9] A house or building that is falling apart and in need of major repairs

[10] A church that can not afford an entire building and rents the facility that is meant for small retail business in order to have a meeting place for worship.

[11] Born-again refers to a person who accepts Jesus Christ as the son of God and his/her personal savior. The acceptance begins the spiritual rebirth of the individual’s mind and lifestyle.

[12] Dantley is an associate dean in the Department of Educational Leadership at Miami University. He is also an African American senior pastor of Christ Emmanuel Christian Fellowship, a 3200 member church in Cincinnati, Ohio

[13] the first birth through the mother womb, mean the physical existence on earth

[14] the rebirth of the individual’s mind through the teachings of Jesus Christ in the holy bible, the true born-again experience