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Transcending the 80/20 Rule in the Black Church by Using Selected Human Resources Tools and Practices
Get PDFSpread the Word Christian Ministries (SWCM) for all intent and purposes is a thriving midsize Black church in an African American College Park community. It is a church boasting a membership of 250. This article reveals deep-rooted problems affecting this church’s membership retention and satisfaction. The researcher is using SWCM as an example of how small and midsize churches experience a myriad of issues relating to membership retention, membership care, support for ministries, fundraising, and attracting millennials. The premise of this article is that churches lack membership satisfaction due to a lack of regular evaluation of their operation to identify areas of strength and weaknesses. The article also suggests thatchurches should apply the Pareto Principle to assess how involved its members are in the ministries of the church
Revelation As Revolution: Black Pentecostal Theology as a Means of Radical Social Change, 2017
Get PDFTwo critical works recognizing the correlation between Black Pentecostalism and black Power were written in the last years of the 1970s, both dissertations are still unpublished. In 1978 at Howard University, James Tinney completed “A Theoretical and Historical Comparison of Black Political Movements.” He compared the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, The Black Panther Party, and Black Pentecostalism, and concluded that Black Pentecostalism was not anti-political, non-political, or other-worldly in nature. In the following year, Leonard Lovett, an ordained Church of God in Christ preacher, completed at Emory University his dissertation, “Black Holiness-Pentecostalism: Implications for Ethics and Social Transformation.” Lovett's study stands as a needed theological counterpart to Tinney’s political project. Lovett’s insightful overview and analysis provide a comprehensive socioethical treatment of Black Pentecostalism, and it serves as my point of departure for the premise of this paper. The present essay argues that Lovett’s Black Pentecostal theology of pneumatological liberation recovers the indispensability of revelation for initiating the social and political activism that, due to their beliefs, history, and experience, Black Pentecostals are best in position to pursue
Botho/Ubuntu: Community Building and Gender Constructions in Botswana, 2016
Get PDFBotho/Ubuntu is a community-building ethic that urges individuals to define their identity by caring, welcoming, affirming, and respecting the Other. Tis article investigates how botho/ubuntu ethic was understood and manifested in traditional Botswanan communities. It explores how botho/ubuntu is expressed in the preparation and arrival of a new daughter-in-law, the reception of the mother-in law, and the preparation for the arrival of a new baby. The article analyses these three cases to investigate the possible co-habitation of botho/ubuntu with patriarchy by exploring the practices and rituals surrounding the welcoming of new members by the community and key hosts. The investigation focuses on marriage and the arrival of a new daughter-in-law (ngwetsi); mother-in- law (matsale) as a key host; and the arrival of a new baby, including the care offered to a nursing mother (go baya botsetse). It seeks to examine how botho/ubuntu practices create female spaces and networks while t still co-existing with patriarchy in the Setswana rituals and practices of welcoming the Other. The article will also explore how women are using some of these activities to create female cultures that deconstruct oppressive gender roles
Fifteen Goals for African American Congregational Education, 2014
Get PDFAlthough all areas of theological discourse can be encouraged, this article focuses upon the need for an in depth appreciation and analysis of the message and mission of Jesus Christ. This undertaking leads directly into the mission- oriented framework that Is being suggested
The Bible and the African Experience: The Biblical Period, 2014
Get PDFDr. Charles Copher is one of the black pioneer scholars of Old Testament. His distinction lies in his scholarly and analytical study of the black experience in the entire Bible. He notices that “numerous references to Africa and Africans are located in several types of the biblical literature: in the Pentateuch or five books of the Law; in the so-called historical books; in the books of prophecy; in poetical-wisdom books - all in the Old Testament; and in the New Testament Gospels, the one historical book, letters, and the apocalypse.