0614 the black church and the transformation of society

• 1. Education BA Harvard University, 1980 MDiv New York Theological Seminary, 1993 Dmin New York Theological Seminary, 2013 Ecclesial Experience Senior Pastor, Congregational Church of South Hempstead, United Church of Christ, 1995- Executive Director, United Church of Christ Church Building & Loan Fund, 2012- Professional Experience Nassau Deputy County Executive, Office of Economic Development, 2004-2009 Founder/Executive Director, Sustainable Long Island, 1998-2004 Director of Community Relations, York College/CUNY, 1991-1995 Director, Regional Campaigns, United Negro College Fund, 1990-1991 Director, Tap Center #4, Federation Employment Guidance Service, 1989-1990 Program Director, Jobs for Youth, 1985-1990 Sales Manager, Tandy Computers, 1982-1985 Teacher, Junior Academy, 1980-1982 Volunteer Experience Director, Greenfaith, 2014-2017 Founder/President, Social Enterprise Alliance-LI Chapter, 2011-2012 Rev. Dr. Patrick G. Duggan

2. 1. The notion of a white Jesus is fantasy. 2. While centered in Judaism, Jesus life and ministry was formed in a multi-cultural, multi-racial and religiously diverse environment. 3. From its birth in Acts 2 throughout its 2,000 year history, the church has always been international, multi cultural, -racial, and ethnic (Acts 2:9-11--Iran, Iraq, Israel, Turkey, Egypt, Libya, Rome (Italy), Crete and Saudi Arabia). See also Rev 7:9. 4. The theology, doctrine, and witness of the church in the world has always proceeded along an international, multi cultural, -racial, and ethnic trajectory. 5. Africa and Africans played a significant role in the formation of foundational elements of the Christian faith. (the Trinity, Apostles Creed, Catholic doctrine, etc.) July 8: Africa in the History of the Church Videotape excerpt: Lost Kingdoms of Africa: EthiopiaAlexandria, Egypt, before Alexander the Great: A multidisciplinary approach yields rich discoveries 3. 1. The black church is a uniquely American religious tradition with a distinctive history, purpose and role in society. 2. The black church originated from a range of Christian traditions including slave masters churches, hush harbor meetings, denominations founded by African Americans, churches within Mainline Protestant denominations, and independent church traditions. 3. To understand the formation of the black church, it is important to: a) understand the adaptive challenges facing African Americans in the 16th 19th centuries, b) understand the role of key leaders and founders, c) maintain a highly critical view of the historiography of early America. July 10: Why A Black Church? YouTube: The Front Porch Louis Love, Thabiti Anyabwile, and Tony Carter, Published Jan 21, 2014 4. July 10: Why A Black Church? YouTube: The Front Porch Louis Love, Thabiti Anyabwile, and Tony Carter, Published Jan 21, 2014 5. 1. Black church leaders have always been forced to engage adaptive challenges thrust upon them by oppressive socio-economic, psychological, spiritual, religious and cultural forces legitimated by American society. 2. The various ministries, programs and services offered by each black church are usually determined by facts on the ground. July 12: Leadership & The Black Church: Engaging Adaptive Challenges through Transformational Leadership 6. 1. First in rice and then in cotton, the wealth of the USA was created, literally, on the backs of African & African American slaves. 2. Through centuries of chattel slavery, innumerable physical, economic, social, spiritual and psychological atrocities were perpetuated upon people of African descent in the Americas. 3. From the inception of slavery, Africans and African Americans survived through the use of tactics ranging from subtle accommodation to violent resistance. Black churches and black church leaders aided & abetted all of these tactics. July 15: American Slavery: The Womb of the Black Church 7. 1. Out of the toxic social milieu of early America, the black church was born. It emerged as a mother institution for the survival and advancement of African Americans and the healing of the American psyche. 2. The black church was born out of necessity, not choice. 3. The black church was the only indigenous American institution devoted to the transformation of slaves into free human beings. July 17: Slavery, Race & The Rise of the Black Church 8. 1. The civil rights movement was a sustained, orchestrated, purposeful national phenomenon, dominated at its height by the SCLC, a black church- led organization that employed an effective strategy of non-violent resistance. 2. Prior to his assassination in 1968, Dr. King was the most recognizable global leader of the black church (arguably in all of Christianity). At that moment in history, the black church was at the zenith of its influence as a transformational agent of society. July 21: The Black Church & the Struggle for Equality in the 20th Century 9. 1. Consider T.D. Jakes two statements that: 1) there is no black community today and 2) there is no such thing as the black church; it is a sociological construct. Your thoughts? 2. Consider Eddie Glaudes premise that the black church is dead in the context of his dialogue with Josef Sorett. Your thoughts? 3. How is God speaking to you at this crossroads? July 22: The 21st Century Black Church at The Crossroads Liberals today mostly view racism not as an active, distinct evil but as a relative of white poverty and inequality. They ignore the long tradition of this country actively punishing black successand the elevation of that punishment, in the mid-20th century, to federal policy. President Lyndon Johnson may have noted in his historic civil-rights speech at Howard University in 1965 that Negro poverty is not white poverty. But his advisers and their successors were, and still are, loath to craft any policy that recognizes the difference. (VIII. Negro Poverty is not White Poverty from The Atlantics The Case for Reparations by Ta-nehisi Coates) 10. ConformTransform Bible-olatry Self-comfort Oppression, marginalization Conversation Position, pomp Reign of violence: exclusion, segregation nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom (Matt 24:7 NRSV) Critical Interpretation Self-inventory, appropriation Dialogue Transformational leadership & ministry Reign of God: inclusion, diversity from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages (Rev 7:9 NRSV)