Black church
The Black church is the faith and body of Christian denominations and congregations in the United States that predominantly minister to, and are led by, African Americans, as well as these churches' collective traditions and members.
Black churches primarily arose in the 19th century, during a time when race-based slavery and racial segregation were both commonly practiced in the United States. Black people generally searched for an area where they could independently express their faith, find leadership, and escape from inferior treatment in white-dominated churches.
Throughout many African American houses, churches reflect a deep cultural emphasis on community and shared spiritual experience providing an important cultural and historical significance that the African American community places on the act of gathering and the people themselves, rather than the location.
The number of Black churches in the United States is substantial. According to the Pew Research Center in 2005, there were approximately 25,000 Black churches across the country, encompassing a wide range of denominations and independent congregations.
A majority of African American congregations are affiliated with Protestant denominations, such as the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the Church of God in Christ, or the National Baptist Convention and related churches, some of them are affiliated with predominantly white Protestant denominations such as the United Church of Christ, integrated denominations such as the Church of God, others are independent congregations. There are also Black Catholic churches.
In many major cities, Black and predominantly white churches often exist near each other; however, they remain segregated by race, a division which was shaped by deep historical, cultural, and social factors, including racism. During the eras of slavery and segregation, African Americans were largely excluded from white churches, which often upheld racial hierarchies and discrimination. This exclusion led to the creation of Black churches, which became vital spaces for community support, activism, and spiritual freedom.
Even after formal segregation ended, white churches frequently resisted integration, preferring to maintain homogenous congregations.
Background
Most of the first Black congregations and churches which were formed before 1800 were founded by freedmen—for example, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Springfield Baptist Church ; Petersburg, Virginia; and Savannah, Georgia. The oldest black Baptist church in Kentucky, and third oldest Black Baptist church in the United States, the First African Baptist Church, was founded about 1790 by the slave Peter Durrett. The oldest Black Catholic church, St. Augustine in New Orleans, was founded by freedmen in 1841. However, Black religious orders such as the Oblate Sisters of Providence in Baltimore have existed since the 1820s.After the American Civil War, many white Protestant ministers moved to the South to establish churches where both Black and white congregants could worship together. However, these efforts were often met with resistance, particularly from white Southerners who opposed racial integration. Despite these initial efforts toward inclusive worship, most integrated churches did not survive long due to racial tensions, societal segregation, and differing cultural and religious practices. Over time, the Black church emerged as a vital and independent institution for African Americans, offering not only spiritual sustenance but also a space for community organization and social activism, distinct from the predominantly white congregations.
In Wesleyan-Holiness denominations such as the Church of God, the belief that "interracial worship was a sign of the true Church" was taught, with both white people and black people ministering regularly in Church of God congregations, which invited people of all races to worship there. In some parts of the country, such as New Orleans, Black and white Catholics had worshiped together for almost 150 years before the American Civil War—albeit without full equality and primarily under French and Spanish rule.
History
Slavery
While some slaves arrived with prior exposure to Christianity - particularly Catholicism from the Congo - or Islam, almost all first encountered Protestant Christianity in North America. Over time, African American Christianity became a distinctive form of Christian practice that combined evangelical teachings with African religious traditions, creating spiritual and communal spaces under conditions of slavery.Early efforts at conversion were often led by Anglican missionaries and groups like the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, with limited success. The First Great Awakening in the 18th century and the rise of Methodists and Baptists in the South brought evangelical preaching to slave communities, appealing to them through messages of spiritual equality and deliverance and offering some leadership roles although in some congregations black worshippers could face restrictions and segregation. Nevertheless, clandestine gatherings known as hush harbors and the formation of "invisible churches" allowed slaves to worship freely, and adapt Christian teachings to their own experiences, and incorporate African rhythms and traditions into worship.
By the early 19th century, African Americans established independent black churches and congregations, often led by freedmen, such as the African Methodist Episcopal Church founded by Richard Allen in 1816. These churches became centers of resistance and community support, including being active in the underground railroad.
Christianity also played a complex role in the ideology of slavery: slaveholders used biblical passages to justify enslavement and enforce obedience, while slave preachers and communities drew upon biblical narratives like the Exodus for inspiration in seeking freedom and equality.
Reconstruction
After the Emancipation Proclamation and the end of the Civil War, the Black church emerged as a central institution in African American communities during the Reconstruction era. Northern denominations and free Black churches sent missionaries to the South to minister to freed people, offering religious instruction as well as education in literacy and civic life. Leaders like Bishop Daniel Payne of the African Methodist Episcopal Church organized widespread efforts to establish schools and congregations across the South. Within a year of the war’s end, the AME Church added 50,000 new members, eventually expanding to over 250,000 congregants from Florida to Texas by the close of Reconstruction.This period also saw the rise of other independent Black denominations. The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church gained tens of thousands of Southern members, and in 1870 Black ministers in Tennessee founded the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, growing from 40,000 to over 67,000 members within three years. At the same time, Black Baptist churches flourished, culminating in the 1895 formation of the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc., which unified three national African American conventions and became one of the largest Black religious organizations in the country. Some smaller groups, like the Church of God, emphasized interracial worship as a sign of spiritual unity, though they often faced hostility for their stance.
The Black church quickly became the cornerstone of African American public life, fostering leadership, mutual aid societies, and schools while providing a space for autonomy beyond white oversight. Churches served as hubs for political organizing and community building, reflecting the strength of “invisible churches” from the slavery era. Middle-class Black women, denied ordination, played vital roles through missionary societies that promoted education, social welfare, and racial uplift. These developments during Reconstruction cemented the Black church’s role as a cultural, spiritual, and political anchor for African Americans in the post-emancipation United States.
Twentieth Century
Black churches held a leadership role in the American civil rights movement. Their history as centers of strength for the black community made them natural leaders in this moral struggle. In addition they had often served as links between the black and white worlds. Notable minister-activists of the 1950s and 1960s included Martin Luther King Jr., Ralph David Abernathy, Bernard Lee, Fred Shuttlesworth, Wyatt Tee Walker, C. T. Vivian, and Fr. Ted Hesburgh, who would later be recruited by President Johnson to help craft the legislation that would later become the 1964 Civil Rights Act. During this movement, many African American Baptists split over using black churches as political centers alongside spiritual centers; this led to the formation of the Progressive National Baptist Convention.After the assassination of Dr. King in 1968, by James Earl Ray, African American Catholics began organizing en masse, beginning with the clergy that April. A Black Catholic revolution soon broke out, fostering the integration of the traditions of the larger Black Church into Black Catholic parishes. Soon there were organizations formed for Black religious sisters, permanent deacons, seminarians, and a brand-new National Black Catholic Congress organization in 1987, reviving the late 19th-century iteration of the same. This era saw a massive increase in Black priests, and the first crop of Black bishops and archbishops.
Black theology
One formalization of theology based on themes of black liberation is the black theology movement. Its origins can be traced to July 31, 1966, when an ad hoc group of 51 black pastors, calling themselves the National Committee of Negro Churchmen, bought a full-page ad in The New York Times to publish their "Black Power Statement" which proposed a more aggressive approach to combating racism using the Bible for inspiration.Black liberation theology was first systematized by James Cone and Dwight Hopkins. They are considered the leading theologians of this system of belief, although now there are many scholars who have contributed a great deal to the field. In 1969, Cone published the seminal work that laid the basis for black liberation theology, Black Theology and Black Power. In the book, Cone asserted that not only was black power not alien to the Gospel, it was, in fact, the Gospel message for all of 20th century America.
In 2008, approximately one quarter of African-American churches followed a liberation theology. The theology was thrust into the national spotlight after a controversy arose related to preaching by Rev. Jeremiah Wright, former pastor to then-Senator Barack Obama at Trinity United Church of Christ, Chicago. Wright had built Trinity into a successful megachurch following the theology developed by Cone, who has said that he would "point to first" as an example of a church's embodying his message.
Scholars have seen parallels between the Black church and the 21st century Black Girl Magic movement, with social media interactions involving the Black Girl Magic hashtag seen as a modern extension of "he Black church traditions of testimony, exhortation, improvisation, call and response, and song," which Black women can use to form a "cyber congregation."