The church has failed the community...

aribell

formerly nicola.kirwan
This phrase comes up a lot. I was just talking to a friend who said that he believed the church has failed our communities. My question was, "Who is the church?" The church is composed of people in the community and is only going to be as good as the people in that community, as spiritual as those people choose to be. Does the church have the power to fix a community when it is a reflection thereof?

What do you think about this idea of the church failing the community?
 
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Just what you said. That is like the statement "Somebody should do something" being uttered by a crowd of able bodied ppl each waiting on the other to step up while the person in need goes unassisted. I hear that too. None of us is perfect but, we live in a do nothing society by far. There have been several documentaries on TV that show even when ppl's lives are at risk many folks just KIM. Someone posted a vid of this in OT I think a few weeks back. A teen was assaulted while several ppl including security looked but chose to do nothing. In our current society a lot of folks believe in doing nothing for themselves, waiting on someone else to act first, and never assume responsibilty for their own actions, thoughts, persons, etc. It's always someone else's fault:rolleyes:. Good post.
 
I just read an article about this earlier today on Huffington Post. I'll try to find it.

ETA: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eddie-glaude-jr-phd/the-black-church-is-dead_b_473815.html

The Black Church, as we've known it or imagined it, is dead. Of course, many African Americans still go to church. According to the PEW Research Center's Forum on Religion and Public Life, 87 percent of African Americans identify with a religious group and 79 percent say that religion is very important in their lives. But the idea of this venerable institution as central to black life and as a repository for the social and moral conscience of the nation has all but disappeared.

Several reasons immediately come to mind for this state of affairs. First, black churches have always been complicated spaces. Our traditional stories about them -- as necessarily prophetic and progressive institutions -- run up against the reality that all too often black churches and those who pastor them have been and continue to be quite conservative. Black televangelists who preach a prosperity gospel aren't new. We need only remember Prophet Jones and Reverend Ike. Conservative black congregations have always been a part of the African American religious landscape. After all, the very existence of the Progressive Baptist Convention is tied up with a trenchant critique of the conservatism of the National Baptist Convention, USA. But our stories about black churches too often bury this conservative dimension of black Christian life.

Second, African American communities are much more differentiated. The idea of a black church standing at the center of all that takes place in a community has long since passed away. Instead, different areas of black life have become more distinct and specialized -- flourishing outside of the bounds and gaze of black churches. I am not suggesting that black communities have become wholly secular; just that black religious institutions and beliefs stand alongside a number of other vibrant non-religious institutions and beliefs.

Moreover, we are witnessing an increase in the numbers of African Americans attending churches pastored by the likes of Joel Osteen, Rick Warren or Jentzen Franklin. These non-denominational congregations often "sound" a lot like black churches. Such a development, as Dr. Jonathan Walton reminded me, conjures up E. Franklin Frazier's important line in The Negro Church in America: "In a word, the Negroes have been forced into competition with whites in most areas of social life and their church can no longer serve as a refuge within the American community." And this goes for evangelical worship as well.

Thirdly, and this is the most important point, we have witnessed the routinization of black prophetic witness. Too often the prophetic energies of black churches are represented as something inherent to the institution, and we need only point to past deeds for evidence of this fact. Sentences like, "The black church has always stood for..." "The black church was our rock..." "Without the black church, we would have not..." In each instance, a backward glance defines the content of the church's stance in the present -- justifying its continued relevance and authorizing its voice. Its task, because it has become alienated from the moment in which it lives, is to make us venerate and conform to it.

But such a church loses it power. Memory becomes its currency. Its soul withers from neglect. The result is all too often church services and liturgies that entertain, but lack a spirit that transforms, and preachers who deign for followers instead of fellow travelers in God.

Black America stands at the precipice. African American unemployment is at its highest in 25 years. Thirty-five percent of our children live in poor families. Inadequate healthcare, rampant incarceration, home foreclosures, and a general sense of helplessness overwhelm many of our fellows. Of course, countless local black churches around the country are working diligently to address these problems.

The question becomes: what will be the role of prophetic black churches on the national stage under these conditions? Any church as an institution ought to call us to be our best selves -- not to be slaves to doctrine or mere puppets for profit. Within its walls, our faith should be renewed and refreshed. We should be open to experiencing God's revelation anew. But too often we are told that all has been said and done. Revelation is closed to us and we should only approximate the voices of old.

Or, we are invited to a Financial Empowerment Conference, Megafest, or some such gathering. Rare are those occasions when black churches mobilize in public and together to call attention to the pressing issues of our day. We see organization and protests against same-sex marriage and abortion; even billboards in Atlanta to make the anti-abortion case. But where are the press conferences and impassioned efforts around black children living in poverty, and commercials and organizing around jobs and healthcare reform? Bishop Charles E. Blake Sr., the presiding bishop of the Church of God in Christ, appears to be a lonely voice in the wilderness when he announced COGIC's support of healthcare reform with the public option.

Prophetic energies are not an inherent part of black churches, but instances of men and women who grasp the fullness of meaning to be one with God. This can't be passed down, but must be embraced in the moment in which one finds one's feet. This ensures that prophetic energies can be expressed again and again.

The death of the black church as we have known it occasions an opportunity to breathe new life into what it means to be black and Christian. Black churches and preachers must find their prophetic voices in this momentous present. And in doing so, black churches will rise again and insist that we all assert ourselves on the national stage not as sycophants to a glorious past, but as witnesses to the ongoing revelation of God's love in the here and now as we work on behalf of those who suffer most.

Eddie S. Glaude, Jr. is currently the William S. Tod Professor of Religion and chair of the Center for African American Studies at Princeton University.
 
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I see two reasons ( among many):

1. In this day and age Blacks have many more outlets and places to recieve the things they did from Chruches back in the day. Think about it...the black church was one of the only organizations that Blacks could go to for help. They couldnt go to the united way, catholic charities, the governemnt etc. It was also one of the only entities that COULD help blacks without backlash from a prejudiced public even if they were so inclined. Now we belong to numerous social organizations, have tons of outlets, and political representation outside of the hallowed halls of the church.

2. Our society has gotten more secular and no one wants to be TOLD what to do. People want to sin without anyone even pointing it out. Back in the day their was "shame" and pressure for someone in the church to do the right thing according to the Bible. Nowadays we want to "shack up", lay up, and do whatever we want without being called out for it. So when you have choices...why conform to the group thats going to hold you responsible (to a certain extent) for your sins? Many do not want to conform to the word of God. My pastor put it like this...we want Jesus to be our savior, but we dont want him to be our Lord. basically, give me what I need but ima still do what I wanna do.
 
People are going to do what they want. They have no fear of God. It's also the community itself that is in crisis. Teen Pregnancy, black on black crime, gangs, etc. When I was younger, my community was small. They all watched out for each others' children, and we all knew each other by name. Times have changed since the early 70's.:blush: People back then genuinely cared about their neighbor's well being. Great thread.
 
I think it matters which type of church and its structure. When you look at the massive sexual or financial abuse in some, I can see where they failed the church body because they truly had no say-so in the matters that were swept under the carpet at the higher level. But you are surely right in that the church is the people and it's reflection. Leadership is what people look up to. The church body has to have strength to choose wisely and remove wisely if appropriate.
 
We should all remember (and when I say We I mean Christians of all races) is that the true Church of Christ lies within us as individuals. The buildings we walk in to assemble ourselves are just that, buildings and the wheat and tares grow together.

My understanding when people make this statement is they are expecting more from religious leaders (which is a mixed bag of truly called AND false prophets), when they should be expecting more from themselves as far as their spirituality, getting to know Christ on a personal spiritual level, and make studying the Bible on their own time a priority for themselves.

After being baptized by the Holy Spirit, I can walk into any sanctuary and praise God. Whether I know the Pastor is a whoremonger, or the musician is a homosexual, I'm not focused on them. In fact, I pray for them and keep it moving. Their issues are between them and God. I just do my best to be who God called me to be regardless of it all.

Bottom line, "the community" needs to take more responsibility for themselves.
 
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Bottom line, "the community" needs to take more responsibility for themselves.

The bolded sums it up for me! I know my church does a lot of things for it's congregation and the community (health, education at all levels, feeding the homeless, job training programs, career advisement, etc.)! I often wonder what these people that are criticizing the church actually expect from the church or better yet what they are doing for the black community!
 
the church is not supposed to be a reflection of the community it is in.

it is supposed to contain members of that community but it is to be distinctly different.

the corporate church body has failed the community and will continue to do so as long as there is compromise and sin in the leadership and the members. the pulpit and the pew need to be examples.

god is not politically correct & neither should be god's church.

also, the last time i checked it is not exclusive to blacks. the christian church is colorless and the community of believers it is made up of and serves is colorless. just because a church building is located in a demographically abundant black area and its congregation is made up of the predominant population does not make it the "black church". there is no such animal. there is only one church: one body of believers who happen to fellowhip and worship in various buildings in the name of jesus christ.
 
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I agree with the statement. The true Church has been slipping so ever slightly into a place where love is lacking. I mean true Agape love. We are judging the community and condemning them. We are sitting up in our little church houses like we're in a fortress and looking down our nose on those who don't/wont/can't come to church for whatever reason.

There is nothing wrong with wanting people to give their lives to Christ, but denying people prayer and assistance isn't gonna get them into the kingdom or even on the road to the kingdom any quicker.

Also the Church has become so PC that we let stuff slide and meanwhile, the blood is on our hands for not telling the truth to the masses.

Churches use to be considered havens for help physically and spiritually. Now the church looks just as jacked up as the world. church leadership messing around in the pulpit, stealing monies, misappropriating funding and leadership positions. jealousy eating up the church, vanity and a host of other sins.

Whewww, that felt good to get it off my chest. Thanks op
 
The true 'Church' is a collective of individuals that belongs to God and will never slip away from Him... Pillars. Jesus stands in the gap, so that this is so. The parable of the wheat and the tare is indelibly written, so "attacks" on the 'church' will always be, until the end of time.

It is written....
 
Okay why blame the chruch for something you should be doing in your own home. Doesn't it begin at home first?

Parents failed their communities and some of these people DO go to church
 
I'm not sure that the church on the whole is any worse now than it ever was. Paul was scolding people in Corinth for letting a man sleep with his father's wife. In the letters to the churches in Revelation, Jesus named a whole bunch of things that were going wrong and were shameful. As Laela mentioned wheat and tares, I don't think that there will ever be a point before Christ's return where the church is spotless or anywhere close to it.

Also I feel that it is so easy to point out the worst and say that they are "the church" as a whole. It's not that I don't think the church is called to holiness, but I think that anyone pointing their finger should be a part of the solution by working to build up Christ's body.

And...the world is going to hell in a handbasket. I am quite sure of that...it is also biblical. I don't think there's anything the church can do to prevent that. I was talking to my pastor last week about the community we're in, and he is busting his behind to tend to the drug addicts and prostitutes, to provide the recovering alcoholics in our parish a supportive community, to run this feeding ministry and we can barely afford to keep the heat going in the sanctuary. There are so, so many pastors and churches like this. And the fact of the matter is that the only real thing we have to give is the Gospel. St. Marks (my church) is not going to be able to change the system, give real jobs to the night walkers, prevent high school truancy. But we can preach the gospel so that people's own lives are changed and they can experience transformation through following Christ. Then they can parent their own children, can put down the bottle, can show up to work on time and be a productive member of their community.

The televangelists are a very small minority who get a lot of attention. But anyone who has actually tried to do the work of the ministry knows that it has little to nothing to do with making money, getting attention, etc. It's hard as all get out.
 
2. Our society has gotten more secular and no one wants to be TOLD what to do. People want to sin without anyone even pointing it out. Back in the day their was "shame" and pressure for someone in the church to do the right thing according to the Bible. Nowadays we want to "shack up", lay up, and do whatever we want without being called out for it. So when you have choices...why conform to the group thats going to hold you responsible (to a certain extent) for your sins? Many do not want to conform to the word of God. My pastor put it like this...we want Jesus to be our savior, but we dont want him to be our Lord. basically, give me what I need but ima still do what I wanna do.

:amen: I cannot agree with your second point more, excellent post.
 
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