African American women in Religion and their Evolving Roles in the Church

In the typical African American church, women for the overwhelming majority, women do almost all the world and raise most of the funds, yet men preach, lead and enjoy most of the privileges. The statement above was true in the 19th century, remained true for most of the 20th century and still rings true in many churches in the 21st century! Indeed, the African American Christian woman has suffered a massive form of discrimination as she has been discriminated within a group that also faces discrimination in itself in a textbook example of intersectionality (Vivar, 2016). The African American woman has always been a pillar of faith in the family and the community. Most African Americans today give stories of how their mothers were great believers, their grandmothers were greater believers, and their great-grandmothers were heroes of faith. Based on this narrative, one would have expected African American women to be at the pinnacle of the church, but this was never the case. Throughout that period, there would always be found a man or two to take up leadership while the women did the heavy lifting. The role of African American women in the church has gradually evolved from the formation of the black church during slavery, through to the Jim Crow Era, the civil rights movement to the even date but discrimination has always dominated the narrative.

Background Information: Intersectionality

Racism Pushes the Black Woman to Church

Being an African American woman is characterized by several layers of discrimination both by the community at large and also within the specific community that also faces general discrimination (Vivar, 2016). As so aptly stated by Professor Stacey Floyd-Thomas: “ Black women have been the most mistreated and scandalized in U.S. society and culture as they wrestle both individually and collectively with the triple jeopardy of racism, sexism and classism, ” (Labbé-DeBose, 2012). From the broadest of perspectives, African Americans have to deal with the issue of racism both directly and indirectly. From a direct perspective, black women have been the victim of racism from the days of slavery to date. During slavery, it was even acceptable to civilized men to rape the women they owned as slaves. A lot has changed over the years, but racial discrimination against African American women still persists. From an indirect perspective, African American women are mothers and suffer when their children are racially persecuted (Vivar, 2016). From the days of slavery to the days of lynching and through to the modern days of police violence, African American women have suffered as the mothers of the victims. The oppression above can be considered as a contributing factor to African Americans being heroes of faith (Labbé-DeBose, 2012). Indeed, as reflected in the section above, the faith of African American women seemed to be the highest when racial discrimination was at its peak. That faith seems to have continued to diminish even as racial discrimination reduces in America.

Sexism and Classism Keeps the Black Woman Subordinate

Unfortunately, when the troubles faced by racism pushed the African American woman to church, she was then faced sexism and classism within her won the race that sought to retain her as a subordinate member of the church. A common trend in even the modern church involves the wife of the pastor being the leader of the women in the church, sometimes referred to as the ‘first lady’ (Laurel, 2015). Whereas there is nothing inherently wrong with the practice, it does tell the story of sexism and classism in Christianity, a concept that has traversed the times. Indeed, in some churches, a good example being the Catholic Church, there are strict rules that prevent women from rising to a position of leadership. Indeed, the best that a woman can hope for in the Catholic Church is sisterhood, a position that relegates her to doing what her male superiors in the church tell her to do. In most Pentecostal Churches, the strict rule about male leadership does not exist per se but it is still practiced. Men have led many of these churches from generation to generation, making it sexism a norm. With regard to classism, making the pastor’s wife the women’s leader reflects a community where merit is not factored when it comes to women! Women who may have risen to prominent leadership because they are capable of it are relegated and led by the women who married the male pastor. The story of racism, sexism, and classism dominates the historical narrative of the evolving role of black women in the church.

African American Women at the Advent of the Black Church

The advent of the role of African American women in the church can be traced back to the advent of the Black Church where women only played a subordinate role. The subordinate role of the African American woman is in part based on the culture that the African Americans founds in America and also the culture that the said community carried with them from Africa. It is important to state that African Americans had a brush with religion long before they came to the Americas. As the pictures below reflect, two of the major religions in the modern world, Christianity and Islam were present and thriving in African in the 18th century (Maffly-Kipp, 2005). It is also in the 18th century that the slave trade was at its zenith as slaves were brought to man plantations and provide the raw material for the industrial revolution. A common denominator in mainstream European religion such as Catholicism on the one hand and Islam on the other is sexism. Women are not allowed to play any leadership roles and can only do what they are asked to do by the men.

(Maffly-Kipp, 2005)

Unfortunately, the secular cultures involved at the time, the African culture that the Africans carried with them and the European culture that they found in the Americas were also sexist and male-dominated (Maffly-Kipp, 2005). At the advent of the Black Church during slavery, men only led and women played a submissive role because this was the order in the world at the time.

African American Women in the Jim Crow Church

During the Jim Crow era, African American women continued to play a fully subordinate role in the church, influenced by their past as slaves and also by scripture. The Jim Crow era can be defined as the period between the end of the Civil War in 1865 and the enactment of the Civil Rights Act in 1964 (Schueneman, 2012). According to Harvard Divinity School’s Professor Catherine Brekus, the role of White American women in the church changed to a large extent during this time, and they adopted leadership positions, but black women remained submissive. Professor Brekus argues that to some extent, the women were pushed towards being submissive, but they also aspired to be submissive to overcome past issues (Brekus, 2017). To begin with the past issues, slavers always sought to portray African women as immoral and prone to debauchery as a means of justifying preying on these women sexually. After the end of slavery, black women were determined to overcome this accusation. They thus not only flocked to church but also sought to be extremely virtuous. Unfortunately, among the virtues that were taught in the black church is 1 Corinthians 14:34: Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says (New International Version). Women dared not be seen as seeking to disobey scripture and thus allowed the men in the Black Church to lead. During this period, the role of women was relegated to activities such as singing, praying, and also providing money to run the church.

It is important to note that outside the church, African American women played prominent roles including in the Civil Rights Movement (Schueneman, 2012). As there was a close connection between the faith and the Civil Rights Movement, women could speak, teach and even preach outside the church in rallies and meetings organized for the movement. However, inside the church and during religious activities, women remained quiet and allowed the men to lead. They also followed men’s lead and did as they were told. When it comes to financing church activities, however, women, being the majority in the churches played a key role. In Christian tradition, there is a trend where women are expected to tend to the pecuniary needs of the church. In the New Testament Mark 15: 41 “ In Galilee these women had followed him and cared for his needs ” (New International Version). Jesus a man, led, the 12 disciples, all men assisted Jesus in his ministry while women served and met the needs of Jesus. In their bid to follow the bible to the letter, these are the limited roles that women played in the church. In this regard, it is important to qualify that at the advent of the Jim Crow era, African American women were not in a position to support the church financially per se. Most African Americans lived in rural areas where the men worked while the women took care of the homes and raised children (Brekus, 2017). However, after urbanization, more so in the 20th century, many black families moved to cities where both men and women worked. It is at this point that women took a more prominent role in financing the church.

African American Women’s Advent in Ministry

Whereas most women were relegated to play supportive roles in the church, there were clear exceptions that saw African American women preach and lead. It was these exceptions that would eventually usher an era where African American women would play more important roles in the church. For a start, some of the black women involved in the civil rights movement decided to take their fight to the church and seek to be treated equally as Christians. Through strive and determination, including litigation, some of these black women got admitted to mainstream schools of ministry where they studied and graduated (Schueneman, 2012). As graduate ministers, they could not be fully ignored and were sometimes allowed to minister as preachers. Conversely, according to Howard University Professor Kenyatta R. Gilbert even during the period when Black women were relegated to playing subordinate roles in the church, there were still some brave black women who persevered and preached. Professor Kenyatta tells the story of a woman whose only recorded name is Elizabeth from Baltimore in Maryland who preached for over 50 years beginning in 1808. On the other hand, there is Reverend Jarena Lee who, after asking her pastor of for a chance to preach had to wait for 8 straight years for the opportunity. The contention that they had to persevere so as to preach is not just based on the fact they faced opposition from outside but also doubts from within. According to Burnett, (2017) this women had been trained and drilled to believe that only black men could lead in black churches. A black woman who even aspired leadership in a black church definitely had a serious problem! However, these and other pioneers managed to open a path that, after the passing of the Civil Rights Act was exploited by other Black women who aspired to be preachers, pastors, and leaders.

African American Women as Ministers

The path for African American Women ministers that was opened by the brave pioneers was followed by many, and gradually, the concept of African American preachers became a reality. As African American women continued to excel in other fields such as law and medicine in the 20th century, they could no longer be fully ignored in the church. From an academic perspective, this women enrolled in Bible Schools and Schools of Ministry where they excelled (Schueneman, 2012). Further, women who were given opportunities to minister excelled and churches that allowed women to minister more thrived. Gradually, women were offered minor positions in the Black Church. Among the most common position for black women, ministers were associate pastor, working under the male pastors. Some of the mainstream churches also became amenable to ordaining black women as ministers although they would mainly work under the superintendence of male ministers (Burnett, 2017). Gradually but definitively, the associate pastor became a pastor and with time senior pastor then eventually bishops. Churches also became more independent leading to the advent of independent ministries. African American women opened their own ministries and they thrived to an extent that they could no longer be ignored. By the end of the 20th century, there were African American women ministers, evangelists, pastors, bishops, and prophets in America who were famous both at home and around the world.

African American Women and the Modern Church

The African American woman is currently playing a prominent role in the church although racism, sexism, and classism have still limited that role. There are many renowned and famous African American women church ministers across the USA in a vast collection of different religions. Most of these ministers, preachers, and leaders are part of what is called the Black Church. However, the numbers and ranks of African American ministers within the overall church in general and particularly in the Black Church are still minor According to Abernethy (2018), “ While African American women represent an estimated 66–88 percent majority (Barnes, 2006) in African American churches, men still tend to hold most of the leadership roles. ”. The author, Alexis D. Abernethy an expert in Black Church issues proceeds to indicate that most of the pastoral roles given to Black Women in the Black church are minor in nature with roles such as senior pastor and bishop being reserved for men. Indeed, even in the 21st century, the appointment of a black woman to a bishopric in the Black Church is still a rare moment that calls for celebration (Abernethy, 2018)! Based on the above majority of the 70% strong membership of African American women in the Black Church and the millions of others who attend mainstream churches continue to play subordinate roles under the instruction of the predominantly make clergy!

Conclusion

The America that existed when African Americans started attending Church in the 18th century has changed exponentially, but the fate of African American women in the church has almost remained the same. From the beginning, women have been relegated to playing subordinate roles in the church. After all, the cultures that African communities carried with them from African, the cultures that they found when they arrived were ridden with sexism. Further, even the Bible itself provides for women not to take up leadership roles in the church. The combination of culture and scripture has been exploited to keep women submissive in church and prevent them from taking up leadership roles. However, some of the women have broken available barriers and taken up leadership positions in the church. They not only preach but also lead. However, those who have excelled happen to be the minority, and they still face some form of discrimination based predicated in racism, sexism, and classism. It is no wonder that in most black churches, the most prominent leader is dubbed the first lady and her only merit is being the wife of the pastor.

References

Abernethy, A. D. (2018, January 30). Women's Leadership in the African American Church. Retrieved from https://fullerstudio.fuller.edu/womens-leadership-in-the-african-american-church/

Brekus, C. A. (2017, May 16). Women and Religion in Colonial North America and the United States. Retrieved from http://oxfordre.com/americanhistory/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199329175.001.0001/acrefore-9780199329175-e-35

Burnett, R. G. (2017). The Evolution of Women Pastors in Mainline Protestant Denominations.

Gilbert, K. R. (2019, February 28). Hidden figures: How black women preachers spoke truth to power. Retrieved from http://theconversation.com/hidden-figures-how-black-women-preachers-spoke-truth-to-power-73185

Labbé-DeBose, T. (2012, July 06). Black women are among country's most religious groups. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/black-women-are-among-countrys-most-religious-groups/2012/07/06/gJQA0BksSW_story.html?utm_term=.b88c33c29301

Laurel, S. (2015, April 11). A Lady First: Being a Pastor's Wife – The Reluctant First Lady. Retrieved from http://www.reluctantfirstlady.com/a-lady-first-being-a-pastors-wife/

Maffly-Kipp, L. (2005). African American Christianity, Pt. I: To the Civil War. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ©National Humanities Center . Retrieved from http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/tserve/nineteen/nkeyinfo/aareligion.htm

Schueneman, M. K. (2012). A leavening force: African American women and Christian mission in the civil rights era.  Church History ,  81 (4), 873-902.

Vivar, M. T. H. (2016).  Framing intersectionality: Debates on a multi-faceted concept in gender studies . New York: Routledge.