scholarly journals “We Are Doing Everything That Our Resources Will Allow”: The Black Church and Foundation Philanthropy, 1959–1979

Religions ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 234
Author(s):  
Philip Byers
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Black Church ◽  
Wealth Inequality ◽  
Black Churches ◽  
Education Politics ◽  
Black Life ◽  
Black Christians ◽  
Virginia Union University ◽  
Foundation Philanthropy

Contemporary wealth inequality has prompted a renewed and increased interest in the role that external funding plays in civil society. While observers frequently consider how big philanthropy influences education, politics, and social services, few historical treatments of the postwar era have addressed the interaction between foundation philanthropy and American religion. Black Christianity stands as one clear example of this oversight. Numerous studies of black life in the twentieth-century have engaged the tensions between internal prerogatives and external influences without applying those questions to black churches. This article begins that exploration by focusing on Lilly Endowment, Inc.—the most consistent twentieth-century source of foundation support for religion—and analyzing its interactions with a series of summer seminars for black ministers hosted at Virginia Union University. Though contextual changes in the latter twentieth century altered the nature of Lilly Endowment’s relationship with its recipients, two decades of collaboration reveal how black Christians exerted substantial influence over the trajectory of Lilly Endowment’s growing program in religious giving.

To Condemn or Not to Condemn: Perceived Climates Concerning Sexual Orientation in Black Churches

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luther Young
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Sexual Orientation ◽  
General Population ◽  
Black Church ◽  
Black People ◽  
The United States ◽  
Black Churches ◽  
Potential Explanation ◽  
Black Christians ◽  
Depth Interviews

Abstract Although the United States is becoming more accepting of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer (LGBQ) identities, black people are still more likely than the general population to disapprove of non-heterosexuality. Previous research points to the conservative views of the Black Church as a potential explanation for this disparity, but few studies have considered the diversity of perspectives within the Black Church. Drawing upon in-depth interviews with black Christians, this article examines how black congregants experience their churches’ climates concerning sexual orientation. Findings suggest that black congregations tend to foster climates that are not affirming of non-heterosexuality; however, they vary in how they demonstrate non-affirmation. Furthermore, the study finds considerable differences in how congregants perceive and make sense of their perceived church climates concerning non-heterosexuality. These results suggest that the Black Church is not monolithic in its stance concerning sexuality and have implications for efforts to promote LGBQ inclusion within congregations.

The Black Lives Matter movement: A call to action: Acts 10:11–16, 25–28, 34–35

2017 ◽  
Vol 114 (3) ◽  
pp. 347-356 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Alfred Smith
Keyword(s):  
Police Officers ◽  
Black People ◽  
White Supremacy ◽  
Call To Action ◽  
Black Lives Matter ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Black Life ◽  
Black Christians ◽  
American Society ◽  
Justice Movements

The Black Lives Matter movement is one of the most dynamic social justice movements currently emerging in the USA. This movement led by young Blacks unapologetically calls out the shameful, historical legacy of American racism and White supremacy while asserting the humanity and sacredness of Black lives, particularly those of unarmed persons senselessly murdered by police officers. While Black Lives Matter is a new movement, it is also an extension of the 400-year struggle of Black people in America to affirm Black dignity, equality, and human rights, even while the major institutions of American society have propagated doctrines and enforced unjust rules/laws to denigrate Black life. Black Christians have found hope and inspiration from the Gospel to claim their humanity and to struggle to gain justice for Black lives and for the lives of all oppressed people. In addition, the Black Lives Matter movement provides a helpful critique of many Black churches, challenging them to confront their biases, which label young Black males as “thugs” (the new N-word) and which cruelly demonize the LGBTQ community. The story of Peter and Cornelius in Acts 10 provides a scriptural basis for Christian introspection and responses to God’s vision for beloved community, and for the call to action from the Black Lives Matter movement.

scholarly journals Social Assistance in the Conditions of Population Aging: Comparative Analysis of Domestic and Foreign Experience

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 165-172
Author(s):  
Mikhail V. Firsov, ◽  
◽  
Margarita V. Vdovina ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Chronic Diseases ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Population Aging ◽  
Social Assistance ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Support Provision ◽  
Homes For The Elderly ◽  
Demographic Aging

Since the second half of the twentieth century, humanity has increasingly begun to face the contradictory consequences of population aging. In our country, various practices of social assistance to aging citizens have also begun to expand, primarily related to their medical, social and material support, provision of social services at home, which were an alternative to living and servicing in homes for the elderly and disabled. It was during these years that the system of social assistance to the older generation (first of all, the lonely, those with chronic diseases and those in need of outside help), which is currently functioning, was laid. However, the domestic model was quite different from the foreign ones. Nevertheless, it made it possible to support various groups of people of late age and to develop certain socio-political approaches in the context of demographic aging.

The Personal Responsibility Act of 1996: The Bitter and the Sweet for African American Families

1998 ◽  
Vol 79 (4) ◽  
pp. 424-432 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jerome H. Schiele
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Black Church ◽  
Personal Responsibility ◽  
African American Families ◽  
African American Community ◽  
Service Delivery System ◽  
Social Service Delivery ◽  
Contract With America ◽  
American Families

The Personal Responsibility Act of 1996 represents the most tangible legacy of the 104th Congress and the Republicans' ‘Contract with America.’ Though the act will have devastating consequences for all poor and working-class families, its effects on the African American community will be especially ominous. This is because African American families experience poverty at a greater rate than do European American and other families. More over, the feature of the act that reduces the amount of financial assistance to families when one of their members has been convicted of a drug-related felony will also endanger African American families since African Americans are most likely to be convicted of drug-related crimes. In the midst of these harsh outcomes, the feature of the act that allows states to establish contracts with religious organizations could bode well for aggrandizing the role the black church can play in providing social services and employment opportunities for African American families. This paper examines the paradoxes the act poses for African American families and offers suggestions to assist the African American community in meeting the challenges and exploiting the opportunities of a rapidly changing social service delivery system.

The right to welfare

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Pinker
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Social Class ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
Welfare Capitalism ◽  
Welfare Pluralism ◽  
The Right ◽  
Right To Welfare ◽  
The Relationship

In this chapter, Robert Pinker discusses T.H. Marshall's concern with welfare pluralism, his study of citizenship and welfare, and his contribution to the development of social policy and administration. He begins with an overview of Marshall's achievement in the field of sociology and some of his major works such as Sociology at the Crossroads and Social Policy in the Twentieth Century, along with the essays entitled ‘Value Problems of Welfare-Capitalism’ and ‘Citizenship and Social Class’. Pinker continues by analysing Marshall's thoughts on the relationship between the inequalities of class and the prospective equality of citizenship and his argument that collectivist social services contribute to the maintenance and enhancement of social welfare so long as such interventions do not subvert the operation of the system of competitive markets. Pinker concludes with an assessment of Marshall's views on social and political rights, the problem of poverty, and the concept of ‘democratic-welfare-capitalism’.

Foremost Musician and Engaged Citizen

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean E. Snyder
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Twentieth Century ◽  
African Americans ◽  
Black Community ◽  
Black Church ◽  
Active Participation ◽  
Race Riots ◽  
Du Bois ◽  
General Welfare ◽  
Eastern Seaboard

This chapter examines how Harry T. Burleigh came to represent African Americans as their premiere baritone and leading composer while also establishing a reputation as an engaged citizen in the first decades of the twentieth century. It first considers Burleigh's active participation in the life of the black community in New York and other cities on the eastern seaboard, lending the weight of his renown to benefit numerous social and educational causes, including efforts to improve the health and general welfare of African Americans. It then discusses Burleigh's connection with the city's black church community, including St. Philip's Episcopal Church and other Episcopal congregations, along with his relationships with Booker T. Washington, Afro-British composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, and W. E. B. Du Bois. The chapter also describes Burleigh's position regarding the lynchings and race riots in various parts of the country.

The Doors of the Church are Now Open: Black Clergy, Collective Efficacy, and Neighborhood Violence

2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 289-314 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kashea Pegram ◽  
Rod K. Brunson ◽  
Anthony A. Braga
Keyword(s):  
Collective Efficacy ◽  
Black Church ◽  
Urban Youth ◽  
Community Organizing ◽  
Youth Violence ◽  
Political Action ◽  
Crime Control ◽  
Social Institution ◽  
Black Churches ◽  
Black Clergy

Prior research has documented the historical significance of the black church beyond serving parishioners’ religious and spiritual needs. Specifically, several black churches are involved in community organizing, social service activities, and political action. Scholars, however, have paid less attention to its role as a potent social institution in community crime control and prevention efforts. We conducted face–to–face interviews with 30 members of Boston's Ten Point Coalition of activist black clergy to document the motivations for and mechanisms through which ministers became involved in efforts to reduce street violence, the varied methods through which ministers develop strategic coalitions and manage violence reduction initiatives, and the ways ministers address the complex challenges involved in doing this work. Study findings suggest that black churches can serve as sources of collective efficacy that can help mobilize other churches, community organizations, police departments, and neighborhood residents in a coordinated effort to address urban youth violence.

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