Black Churches and Ecumenism

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

Ever wondered about configurations of Christian faith that address systemic problems in American society such as racism? This class explores those configurations from the perspective of Protestant ecumenical activity that has taken place since the early 1900s. What is ecumenism? Should all Christians have a uniform faith, doctrine, and worship? How does race inform Christian belief and practice in the United States? Must one’s theology and behavior be in sync? Designed as an introduction to ecumenism (Christian church unity movement) in the United States and its relationship to Protestant black churches, this class examines the mosaic of the American pluralist religious scene by honing in on the different ethical approaches that exist. Black churches are often described in terms of their function—a social response to the prejudice and discrimination experienced by black Christians; nonetheless, black churches can also be described as addressing the search for ultimate meaning in light of the dominant racism that denied blacks in the United States their personhood and severely limited their life choices. With this historical background, whenever members of the Black Church enter into ecumenical dialogue, issues of race and ethics become a part of the discussion along with questions of doctrine, theology, and ecclesiology. Emphasizing the ecumenical experiences of black Anglican, Methodist, and Pentecostal Christians, students will investigate what prompts black churches to engage in ecumenical activity with the very denominations from which they broke away, ideological methods to ecumenism, and the differences in the theological and ethical approaches to ecumenism between black and white Christians.