(RNS) — If the blurb on the back of a history book dared admit it had begun life as an academic paper, you wouldn’t be blamed if you replaced it on the shelf and kept perusing.
But the Rev. Boise Kimber’s new book about Black women in ministry, born as a Yale Divinity School master’s thesis, doesn’t suffer from its scholarly start: Kimber, president of the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc., fills his book, “Breaking the Stained-glass Ceiling,” with his own pioneering promotion of women in his historically Black denomination.
“I have appointed women in ministry, including pastors, to my cabinet, placed them in leadership roles and opened national platforms for them to preach, teach and lead,” said Kimber. His book, which is dedicated to his wife and “all women in ministry — past, present and future,” is intended, he said, to “chart a future where not only is the stained-glass ceiling shattered, but also the brick wall of resistance is dismantled,” said the author.
Kimber’s is one of three new books by prominent Black denominational leaders that examine the role of the Black church and the work of its clergy and lay people — all historical analyses pegged to Black History Month, but all of them vibrant with the experience of authors who have watched the Black church’s evolution over their decades of ministry.
“This project resurfaced my own memories of attending segregated schools, sitting in the ‘colored’ balcony section of the movie theater, and ‘whites only’ water fountain signs in public buildings and restaurants in my hometown,” wrote Bishop Teresa E. Snorton, the ecumenical bishop and program development officer for the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, whose “Roots of Resilience: Black History Through the Eyes of Faith” came out earlier this year.
“A substantial portion of my recollection of certain events and facts came from those “Black History Moments” in my home church and the numerous Black History programs I have attended or participated in over the years,” said Snorton.
The Rev. W. Franklyn Richardson, chair of the Conference of National Black Churches and former general secretary of the NBCUSA, calls his new book, “Never Lost: The Black Church as God’s Ark of the Covenant,” a historical tribute to the Black church and “a rallying cry for its ongoing relevance.” In it he argues that it is imperative to include young people in leadership roles and feature technology-integrated worship and social justice issues that may help retain their involvement.
“As Black communities face new challenges — from economic struggles and mental health crises to systemic inequities and cultural threats — the Church’s role as a stabilizing and unifying force is more critical than ever,” Richardson writes.
But Richardson’s clarion call is also the result of having pastored Grace Baptist Church in Mount Vernon, New York, for 50 years, during which time he sought to stave off his congregants’ isolation by finding new ways to meet online, with talent shows, discussion forums and other gatherings. Now offering hybrid worship, he continues to emphasize “a power in gathering that cannot be fully replicated online.”
Though filled with personal insight, the three books are also deeply researched. Snorton got the idea for her book after lamenting that there was not a “simple, historical volume” for use by church leaders that covered the sweep of Black history.
Sure that faith wedded together different eras of Black history, she said, “I had not seen anything in print in that format that could be used by pastors and laypersons,” she wrote in the epilogue of the book that she hopes will also appeal to people of a wide range of traditions.
Her study guide, with each chapter starting with a Scripture reflection, traces Black history from African traditions and the transatlantic slave trade through the emergence of the Black Lives Matter Movement, which she notes “was a departure from earlier protests that arose out of the Black Church and was led by religious leaders.”
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Snorton focuses explicitly on resilience as a key for the Black church’s survival and advancement over the centuries, but the theme can be found in Kimber’s and Richardson’s studies as well.
“While White slave owners spent a great amount of time preaching to keep slaves subordinate and obedient to the laws of the land, slaves understood the Bible and Christianity differently; the Bible’s verses were meant to liberate, not oppress them,” wrote Kimber.
Richardson locates some of that resilience in Black liberation theology, which theologian James H. Cone considered to be the gospel for Black churches. It focused on Jesus as a liberator undergirding the oppressed in hopes of giving them dignity. “The origins of liberation theology in the Black Church are grounded in the experiences of enslaved African Americans, who crafted a theology of resilience and liberation amidst their suffering,” writes Richardson.
Snorton sees a model of resilience in the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who died Feb. 17 at age 84, and who exemplified pushing through the back-and-forth of achievement and backlash, including the cutting of social programs during the Reagan administration.
“Despite these challenges, Black political influence grew: Rev. Jesse Jackson (a founding member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating (Committee)) … ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988, building the ‘Rainbow Coalition’ to advocate for civil rights, workers, and marginalized communities,” wrote Snorton.
Despite their common themes, the books don’t portray the Black church as a monolith. “(W)e are as diverse as the very nature of Christianity and humanity,” writes Kimber of the people within the “oneness of the Black church universally.”
Even support for the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was not universal among Black Christians, Snorton notes, as many were concerned about potential threats to their livelihoods and homes.
“While King’s popularity and influence grew and the protests gained momentum, bringing attention to the pervasiveness of racism in the country, all Blacks were not in favor of the movement as it was unfolding,” she writes. “Churches were primary sites used for mass meetings and organizing. But many Black churches refused to host King and the (Southern Christian Leadership Conference).”
Nonetheless, the Black church has always been anchored in community as a national movement for education and protest formed.
“Our journey exemplifies how the Black Church remains a safe haven and guiding force for African Americans, affirming that we are not bound by physical walls but united by our shared faith and purpose,” Richardson said.
In the 1800s, schooling originally offered by Black churches grew into historically Black colleges and universities. Fisk University, supported by the American Missionary Association, was founded in 1866 in Nashville, Tennessee. Spelman College was founded in 1881 for Black women by white Baptist women. Black congregations were also instrumental in using soup lines to feed the hungry during the Depression, Snorton notes.
Decades later, some of these institutions’ buildings as well as their alumni and other members were part of the infrastructure for planning civil rights activities. “The intersection between church life and the Civil Rights Movement was very blurred, as churches were often the meeting places for various groups and the center of Black life and community in much of the South,” writes Kimber.
Today, Richardson says, Black church collaborations for economic empowerment, such as with banks and credit unions, and partnerships with mental health professionals are needed to address the financial and emotional needs of their congregations. “When counselors respect the church’s culture and engage in ways that resonate with its practices and values, they can gain the trust of the congregation and provide support that feels genuine and respectful,” he said.
While marching and organizing for liberation of Black Americans in general, Black denominations have been slow to recognize the equality of women in their own ranks. The arguments for women’s inclusion have been multifaceted and longstanding.
More than 100 years before women were able to attain the office of bishop in Black Methodist circles, many arguments, such as those in the AME Zion Church, proliferated, writes Kimber: “Those opposed to the ordination of women argued fear of changing the historically male-ordered hierarchy of the church, the inability and frailty of women to operate in all seasons and on all occasions, the inherent weakness of the female gender, and the ‘unsexing’ of women by elevating them to the office of elder.”
In 2000, Bishop Vashti McKenzie became the first woman episcopal leader of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, followed by Bishop Mildred “Bonnie” Hines of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, followed in 2010 by Snorton, who noted that this “new era in diversity in leadership in African American Methodism” has been joined with other instances of women clergy “breaking the gender divide that thrived for generations in Black church leadership.”
The recently released books are unanimous in calling for even greater openness. “Expanding leadership to include women’s voices is essential for fostering an environment of equality and empathy,” writes Richardson.
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But it is Kimber, who has served the NBCUSA for 45 years, who dwells most on the question of women’s advancement and the changes he has seen since he began writing as a divinity student in 2018 about women’s roles. “Women in ministry were too often unseen, unacknowledged, and certainly not affirmed within the Convention family,” he said. “But thanks be to God that seven years later, by His grace, progress has been made, yet the work is not finished.”
