Black Lens - September 2021

Page 18
September 2021
www.blacklensnews.com
The Black Lens Spokane
The Black Church,
Explained by Pew’s
Biggest Survey of
African Americans
In-depth study of the faith of 8,660 Black Americans
offers an unprecedented snapshot of their congregations
and beliefs before COVID-19 and George Floyd.
Photo:Shutterstock
By Jeremy Weber and Morgan Lee
(Reprinted from Christianity Today)
Black Americans remain more religious
than other Americans, according to a
massive new survey. Yet fewer are attending
or seeking out predominantly
Black churches.
Among Black worshipers:
4 in 10 now attend a non-Black congregation—including
half of millennials
and Gen Z.
About half say it’s essential for churches
to offer “racial affirmation or pride,”
while only a quarter say sermons on political
topics are essential.
6 in 10 say Black congregations should
diversify.
6 in 10 say when church shopping, finding
a congregation where most attendees
share their race is unimportant.
Two-thirds of Black Americans identify
as Protestants, but only 1 in 4 of these
identify with historic Black denominations.
Yet retention is strong: 3 in 4 black
adults have the same religious affiliation
as when they were raised (significantly
higher than the rate for Americans at
large), while 1 in 4 black Americans
who were raised as unaffiliated or as
Catholic now identify as Protestant.
Note: Pew defined black churches as
“those where the respondent said that
all or most attendees are Black and the
senior religious leaders are Black.”
These are among the findings of “Faith
Among Black Americans,” released in
February by the Pew Research Center.
The study is Pew’s “most comprehensive,
in-depth attempt to explore religion
among Black Americans” ever,
comprising both a national survey of
8,660 adults who identify as Black or
African American as well as guided
small-group discussions and interviews
with clergy.
“Many findings in this survey highlight
the distinctiveness and vibrancy
of Black congregations, demonstrating
that the collective entity some observers
and participants have called ‘the Black
Church’ is alive and well in America today,”
stated Pew researchers.
“But there also are some signs of decline,
such as the gap between the
shares of young adults and those in older
generations who attend predominantly
Black houses of worship.”
The fact that the Black church isn’t declining
as fast as the white church is not
cause for celebration, says Mark Croston,
national director of Black church
partnerships for LifeWay Christian Resources.
“An 81 percent retention rate may be
a good number in business, but not for
the church,” he said. “The gospel is relevant
and needed in every generation.
We have to make sure we are ministering
it in ways that will cause it to connect
with people we are missing.”
Most respondents were surveyed between
January 21 and February 10,
2020, before COVID-19 disrupted
church life and before protests against
police brutality became widespread after
the death of George Floyd.
Pew also surveyed 4,574 adults who do
not identify as Black or African American,
in order to draw comparisons.
Overall, Pew found that Black Americans
are more likely than Americans at
large to believe in God, attend religious
services, say religion is “very important”
in their lives, and affiliate with a
religion.
Black Americans are:
More likely to say God talks to them
(48% vs. 30%)
More likely to say they have a duty to
convert others (51% vs. 34%)
More likely to say opposing racism is
essential to their faith (75% vs. 68%)
Pew found that 60 percent of Black
churchgoers attend predominantly
Black congregations, while 25 percent
attend a multiracial congregation and
13 percent attend a predominantly white
(or Hispanic or Asian) congregation.
Continued on Page 25