©2003 Said Sewell, III.  Any archiving, redistribution, or republication of this text in any medium requires the consent of the author.

References

©2003 Said Sewell, III.  Any archiving, redistribution, or republication of this text in any medium requires the consent of the author.

References

©2003 Said Sewell, III.  Any archiving, redistribution, or republication of this text in any medium requires the consent of the author.

References

©2003 Said Sewell, III.  Any archiving, redistribution, or republication of this text in any medium requires the consent of the author.

References

©2003 Said Sewell, III.  Any archiving, redistribution, or republication of this text in any medium requires the consent of the author.

References

©2003 Said Sewell, III.  Any archiving, redistribution, or republication of this text in any medium requires the consent of the author.

References

©2003 Said Sewell, III.  Any archiving, redistribution, or republication of this text in any medium requires the consent of the author.

References

©2003 Said Sewell, III.  Any archiving, redistribution, or republication of this text in any medium requires the consent of the author.

References

©2003 Said Sewell, III.  Any archiving, redistribution, or republication of this text in any medium requires the consent of the author.

References

©2003 Said Sewell, III.  Any archiving, redistribution, or republication of this text in any medium requires the consent of the author.

References

Independent Variables

Background Traits

This research used nine separate variables to measure background traits: age, education, theological position, years in the pastorate, adherence to Black Liberation Theology, convention affiliation, participation in civic and social, involvement in the Civil Rights Movement, and proximity of pastoral home to the church. Below we present the general rationale, based on the existing and relevant literature, for each variable as well as nominal categories for each response.

Age. This trait was used to measure pastors' level of participation. It drew on two studies which noted that younger black ministers were more likely to be directly engaged in their community and in secular issues than middle-aged and older pastors (Mays and Nicholson 1922 and Johnston 1969). The variable contained a five-item scale: 1= less than 23, 2= 24-35, 3= 36-45, 4= 46-65, and 5= 66 and older.

Education. The levels of education were divided into eight categories: 1= no formal education, 2= some elementary school education, 3= completed elementary school, 4= some high school, 5= high school graduate, 6= some college, 7= college degree, and 8= graduate/professional degree. This variable was later examined as a four-category variable for easier analysis: 4= those black pastors who were high school graduates; 3= those with some college education; 2= college graduates and 1= those with graduate/professional degrees. Scholars have concluded that ministers who are educated are more likely to be community involved (Mays and Nicholson 1922, Muelder 1969, and Lincoln and Mamiya 1990). Johnstone (1969) advanced that highly educated pastors tend to be directly active in social issues than those who were less educated.

Theological Position. Although theological positioning is quite complex with an array of meanings, it is central to understanding ministers. There were four theological position identified in this study: fundamentalists, conservatives, moderates and liberals (Reid et al 1990). "Fundamentalists" interpreted biblical passages literally, and viewed the role of the church as being strictly sacred. The next group, "conservatives," closely aligned themselves with fundamentalists because they believed that the church's primary mission was to engage in sacred work, namely "saving souls," and rejected the liberalization of society's standards and of culture in the church; "moderates," sought to accommodate a balance between the two extremes of the debate -- "other worldly" and "this worldly" -- by linking their views of the church and pastor to contemporary issues and culture; and lastly, "liberals" tended to see the role of the church as being primarily secular in nature. The positions were divided into five categories: 1= fundamentalist, 2= conservative, 3= moderate and 4= liberal and 5= other. Liberal pastors were expected to be more active in their communities than their moderate to fundamentalist counterparts (Nelsen et al 1971).

Years at their Present Pastorate. The pastors were compared in terms of their length of time in their present pastorate. The categories ranged from less than six months to more than ten years. We hypothesized that pastors who had been in their pastorate for more than five years would be more inclined to be directly involved in their community than those who had less experience. The reason was that they would have had ample time to understand the needs of the church, the surrounding community, as well as the consequences of not engaging in community development. Essentially, the longer a pastor had been in his/her pastorate the greater the chance he/she would have had developed a supportive church structure that would be needed for developing new projects (Reed 1994). The categories for years in pastorate were: 1= less than six months, 2= six months to one year, and 3= 1-3 years, 4= 4-5 years, and 5= 6-10 years, and 6= 10 years of more.

Adherence to Black Liberation Theology. Black Liberation Theology was defined as a method of making the Christian gospel relevant to black people who had struggled daily against an oppressive white power structure both from within and outside of the church (McCall 1975, Anderson 1995). It insisted that one's view of God and his action in the world was profoundly altered by one's personal life experiences. Thus, the goal of this theology, according to Cone, one of the fathers of the theology, was "not giving Christmas baskets, but working for political, social, and economic justice, which always means a redistribution of power. It is the kind of power which enables blacks to fight their own battles and thus keep their dignity" (Cone 1969). As such, we theorized that pastors who subscribed to this theology would see the importance of engaging directly in their communities. Thus, the variable was categorized into 1= yes and 2= no.

Convention Affiliation. There are two major black Baptist conventions in the United States: the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. formed in 1895 and the Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc. established in 1960 (Lincoln and Mamiya 1990 and Fitts 1985). Each of these conventions had subunits in Georgia: the General Missionary Convention of Georgia for National Baptist Convention USA, Inc., and the New Era State Convention of Georgia for the Progressive Baptist Convention, Inc. These conventions, both nationally and statewide, were generally accepted as important entities, mainly as a source of missions, publishing, affiliations, and assistances, for local black Baptist churches and their pastors. They, however, had no direct governance over how a local pastor led his/her congregation. We deemed that this variable would be useful for this study because of the way in which the Progressive convention was founded. In short, Joseph Jackson, then President of the National Baptist Convention, differed fundamentally and practically with a faction of Baptist ministers, led by Dr. Martin King, Jr., over the involvement of the church in the 1960s Civil Rights Movement. As a result, they chose to form a counter convention, which had as one of its key tenets the direct involvement of their affiliated churches in the movement. Thus, we drew on social psychologists who argued that people were influenced by their group affiliation (Bourne and Ekstrand 1985). The responses were divided into three categories: 1= General Missionary Baptist Convention, 2= New Era State Convention, and 3= not affiliated.

Participation in Civic and Secular Activities. Although the laity in many black Baptist churches placed an overwhelming burden on their pastors to be totally committed to their congregations, many pastors involved themselves in various secular organizations from fraternal to political organizations. These activities afforded pastors the opportunity to socialize and interact, both professionally and personally, with persons outside of their respective churches. No research on this variable has surfaced within our literature review. Our interpretation of this variable, like that of convention affiliation, drew heavily on sociological theory. The respondents were given six types organizations and asked to select which type the were actively engaged: 1= Clergical Associations (e.g., General Missionary Baptist Convention), 2= Community Organizations (e.g., community planning), 3= Community Political Organizations (e.g., school board or zoning board), 4= Political organization (e.g., Democratic Party, S.C.L.C., NAACP), 5= Greek-lettered Organizations (e.g., Alpha Phi Alpha, Inc.), and 6= Fraternal Orders (e.g., Masons, Shriners).

Civil Rights Activism. The 1960s Civil Rights Movement was critical for African Americans. Though it was not the first time blacks became active in challenging the social, legal, and political barriers of America, it represents one of the more significant contemporary periods of Civil Rights activism. Consequently, it was inferred that pastors who were directly involved in the 1960s protest movements and were active members of a civil rights organizations would be directly active in ameliorating the existing problems in their communities (Morris 1980). These pastors were asked to select, from seven prominent civil rights organizations, the one group in which they were most active in during the 1960s civil rights movement: 1= Black Panthers, 2= NAACP, 3= National Urban League, 4= Operation Breadbasket, 5= Operation PUSH, 6= SCLC, 7= SNCC, and 8= none.

Proximity to the Church. There has been little research in the area of proximity of a pastor's residence to their church and its influences on their decisions regarding the church. However, this variable was seen as key because social scientists had pointed that social proximity, or the proximity principles, was an influential variable in understanding the actions of individuals. Quite simply, people were more likely to be attracted to, concerned about, and committed to people and communities to which they were in close social proximity rather than to those elements that were farther away (Stuhr 1970, Bourne and Ekstrand 1985 and Mark Davis et al. 1998). The response to this variable was as follows: 1= less than ½ mile, 2= ½ mile to 1 mile, 3= 1-2 miles and 4= 2 or more miles.

Methodology

The purpose of this study was to address whether pastors' background influenced their community participation. The primary method for collecting data for this study was a forty-nine (49) -item questionnaire -- a closed-ended, forced response survey that was mailed to respondents. A universe of black protestant churches was constructed using the university's database of ministers, the local ministerial alliance membership list, the local newspaper's religious section, the most recent edition of the city telephone directory, and the city's black funeral homes. The reason this study chose Baptist pastors was that they, due to their denomination's congregational governing structure, had total control over the actions of their individual churches. This stood in sharp contrast to the churches, like Methodists or Church of God in Christ, which received mandates from various jurisdictional leaders. Although the representative nature of the list was not infallible, it was the best technique to garner a list of black churches. The process produced a list of 79 black Baptist churches.

In April of 2000, using Don Dillman's model (Dillman 1978 and Mangione 1995), a survey printed on white paper was mailed to every black Baptist pastor in Atlanta with a request that it be returned by April 30, 2000. For the convenience of each pastor, a self-addressed stamped envelope was enclosed with each questionnaire along with a cover letter and letters of endorsement from the state presiding officer representing their respective denominations, as well as the president of the local black ministerial alliance. The endorsement letters were included in an effort to increase response rate. According to Dillman, letters from organizational leaders add credibility and legitimacy to the study, as well as serve as a motivation to the respondents to participate (Dillman 1973). Because of a low return rate (1%) on April 30, a follow-up letter and questionnaire printed on green paper were mailed, and calls were made, to those pastors who had not responded. They were then given a second deadline of June 1 to return the survey. This deadline garnered a total of 50 (63% of the total targeted population) usable surveys. However, we must note that all of the 50 respondents were male. On surface, this immediately skews the findings toward one segment of the Baptist denomination. It is believed, nevertheless, that since, according to Rasor and Dash, the majority of the black Baptist pastors in the United States, particularly in the south, are men, the findings in this study would be valid.

Although this study sought to understand in general the church's level of community participation, its results were based on responses provided by the church's pastor. The literature affirmed that a black pastor's perceptions were often very reflective of his/her congregation's views, and that it was his/her vision, for the most part, that set the direction, or "mission," for the church and the black community (Hamilton 1972). W. E. B. Du Bois, writing about black pastors in Philadelphia, advanced that "Taken on the average the Negro ministers of the city are good representatives of the masses of the Negroes. They are largely chosen by the masses…and must in every way be men whom the rank and file of the race like and understand" (Nelsen, Yokley, and Nelsen, 1971). Mays and Nicholson continued: "The [black] pastor is one of the [freest], as well as most influential men on the American platform today. This is due to various causes, but chief among them is the factor of the long-time prestige of the [black] minister" (Sernett 1999). They pointed out that: "What the [black] church does and will do…will depend in a large measure upon the leadership as expressed in the [black] pulpit" (Sernett 1999). Likewise, Lincoln and Mamiya argued that black churches were predominately pastor-centered institutions with the black clergy having a greater degree of authority over their congregations and church than their white counterparts (Lincoln and Mamiya 1990). In comparative studies, this method has been used by other scholars to investigate black faith groups (Mays and Nicholson 1920, Johnstone 1969, Lincoln and Mamiya 1990, and Dash and Rasor 2002). The data was analyzed using Pearson's chi-square:

Data Analytic Procedures

Data analyses included a general descriptive analysis of the respondents' nine determinant variables. The variables were measured for means, mode, medium, and standard deviations. Afterwards, the relationship between the independent and dependent variables was measured at a .05 level of significance. If the calculated P-value was lower than (P<0.05), then the hypothesis was seen as valid. Significant variables were presented in table format.

Summary Results

Frequencies

In our sample of 50 clergy, none were younger than 22 years of age, 4 (8%) were between 24 and 35 years of age, 12 (24%) were between 36 and 45 years of age, 30 (60%) were between 46 and 65 years of age, and 2 (4%) were 66 years and older. For Lincoln and Mamiya's sample of 1,531 urban pastors, the median age of was 51.5. The median age of pastors in this study was 49 years old. The age of pastor was an issue that was considered important for most black Baptist churches because pastors who were middle-aged would have lived and experienced many external programs, particularly governmental, and may have come to the conclusion that the only way their communities can be saved would be a return to organic community institutions responding to salient issues in their communities.

The educational level of the pastors in this study showed that they were a highly educated group. This was not unexpected given recent research by Dash and Rasor (2000) and Lincoln and Mamiya (1990). This change from older studies could be attributed to three factors: 1) the growing number of black persons in urban cities attending and receiving post secondary degrees; 2) the number of graduate schools and seminaries in the city; and 3) the desire of many churches for a professional minister as opposed to a preacher. In Lincoln and Mamiya's 1990 study of black urban churches they noted approximately 70.2% of the urban black pastors in their nation-wide study had some level of college training with 37.9% of them having some form of training beyond four years of college. Dash and Rasor's 2000 national study of black Baptist churches discovered that nearly a third (33%) of the pastors had educational experience post-Master's degree, while only 10% had a certificate of completion from high school or less. In this study, the average level of education for black pastors was four years of college. Our study found that nearly all of the pastors, 49 (98%), had some college training. However, what was more significant was the fact that the majority, 31 (62%) of them had "Graduate or Professional Degrees." This trend, according to Johnstone, would make these pastors very inclined to engage in less traditional means for meeting the needs of their community. The theological position of the pastor in the sample ranged from fundamentalists to other with the mean position being moderates. Specifically, 10 pastors (20%) were "fundamentalists," 7 pastors (14%) were "conservative," 17 pastors (34%) were "moderates," 6 pastors (12%) were "liberal," and 1 pastor (2%) indicated that they fell into the category of "other." An understanding that the black church had to be both other-worldly and this-worldly in orientation, or active in sacred as well as secular activities, probably reflected the educational level of the pastors who, based on their training and understanding of contemporary issues, believed that the black church has had, and must continue to have, a dualistic existence.

In regard to the length of time a pastor had served in his/her present pastorate, 6 respondents (12%) reported being in their present pastorate between six months to one year, 17 (34%) reported being in their present pastorate between one and ten years, while 23 (46%) had been in their present pastorate more than ten years. It was interesting to note that four respondents chose not to answer this question. At any rate, the mean length of time that most pastors have been in their pastorate was 8.4 years. Although many might have wanted to argue that this phenomenon was best explained by the lack of other opportunities, it was quite clear based on this study that the majority of these pastors had chosen to remain at their present church, as opposed to frequently changing churches. We assume that each had a vision for their church and its community and had not selected to leave until their plan had been accomplished. In field observations, pastors who were the most active in their communities had been at their church very long time.

Out of the 50 pastors survey in this study 4 pastors (8%) reported that they were not affiliated with the General Missionary of Georgia, Inc., or the New Era State Convention of Georgia, Inc. This was ironic considering the fact that we used the two conventions' membership list for selecting churches to participate in this project. That not withstanding, 27 respondents (54 %) noted that their church was affiliated with the General Missionary and 19 (38 %) with the New Era. The slight difference in pastors' convention affiliation can be attributed to two facts: the General Missionary Baptist Convention, like its parent body, is the oldest existing black Baptist association in Georgia and its strong attraction for less educated pastors. However, while the General Missionary Convention had most of the pastors in this study, the pastors who were in the New Era Convention led churches that have been the most active in the struggle for parity of city services and enfranchisement for blacks in Atlanta, were the oldest in terms of date establishment, and had more economic resources. These churches, in general, though not the most popular for recent generations, had a highly educated, older, and upper middle class congregation.

As part of the background examination of black Baptist pastors, we asked about their involvement in civic and/or social organizations, from clerical to fraternal. Of the 50 pastors in this study, 35 respondents (70%) were affiliated with a religious organization. This was not surprising since membership in either of the two state conventions constituted membership in a religious organization. Although more than 90% of the pastors in this study claimed to be concerned about their communities, our survey discovered that slightly more than half, 29 respondents (58%), were active in grassroots community organizations, 22 (44 %) were members of community organizations that dealt with political issues, and only 20 pastors (40 %) chose to be involved in political organizations, such as the Democratic Party or the NAACP. In spite of these pastors' relatively limited participation in community organizations, approximately half, 24 pastors (48 %) participated in in Greek-lettered organizations and 26 (52 %) in fraternal orders. Such memberships, though likely made either in college or when they were much younger, did suggest an understanding of the importance of helping those in need, albeit if in a less direct way.

Because the Civil Rights Movement has been so important for African American progress, the question of whether pastors had been directly involved in the 1960s Civil Rights Movement was posed to the entire surveyed population, out of which 22 (44 %) responded in the affirmative. Because this number is less than the majority surveyed, one could possibly discount on the surface that this researcher's assumption is invalid. However, when one takes into account the fact that only 32 pastors surveyed fell within the age range that would have allowed them to be at least old enough to participate, one can clearly see that the majority (68%) of them were directly involved in the movement.

In examining the levels of community participation we asked, "how far is your home from your church?" The results were that only 4 (8%) of the total sample of black Baptist pastors responded that they lived between one and two miles from their church, while 45 (90%) reported that they lived two or more miles from the church. No respondent reported living a mile or less from the church. The approximate mean distance that black Baptist pastors lived from their church was two or more miles. The idea of black pastors living away from the church and its community was relatively new phenomenon. Historically, what made the pastor so important to their community was that though they were typically the most educated, the most accepted by the white establishment, and the most economically stable they still remained in the community of their congregation. As I reported in another study based on the same data, the majority of black Baptist congregations in Atlanta lived more than two miles from the church (Sewell 2001). It would not, of course, be unreasonable to conclude that as "white flight" happened in the 1970s in many urban cities, many blacks followed suite in the 1980s, participating in what this researcher terms "black flight."

Bivariate Analysis

The association between the dependent variable, level of community participation, and the background traits of the independent variables was interesting, because certain hypotheses were supported while others were found invalid. The background variables that did show an association to the level of community participation were: education (X²=16.119, p<.013); Black Liberation Theology (X²=7.511, p<.023); Greek-lettered organization (X²=10.211, p<.001); Years in the Pastorate (X²=11.846, p<.019), Proximity to the Church (X²=11.034, p<.001) and 1960s Civil Rights Movement (X²=9.781, p<.008). On the other hand, there were several variables of black pastoral traits that did not show a relation to the level of community engagement: age (X²=2.984, p<.811); theological position (X²=3.479, p<.323), Convention Affiliation (X²=6.111, p<.191).

Conclusion

This study suggests the complex interactions that shape pastors' participation in their communities. The fact that 100% of the pastors noted that they had participated -- directly (20) or indirectly (30) -- in responding to the needs of their community indicates some degree of support for the current focus by policy makers on churches or faith groups' participation in community services as a strategy for addressing community needs. However, effective strategies for involving black churches appear to be based on a number of issues, particularly those that are related to pastors. Ultimately, this study has determined that among the fifty pastors surveyed, those with high levels of education, who subscribe to Black Liberation Theology, have worked in their churches for more than ten years, and were directly active in the 1950s-1960s Civil Rights Movement were predisposed to direct community participation. These findings were consistent with several national studies, which had examined the role of black pastors in America (Dash and Rasor 2002, Billingsley 1999, and Lincoln and Mamiya 1990).

Although consistent with previous studies, the above findings confront this study with the prevailing question of why these personal characteristics contribute to community involvement of black pastors. It is my belief that there are serious implications that can be drawn from this study. This study indicates initially that most black Baptist ministers have themselves become sensitive, albeit to varying degrees, to the underlying causes as well as the conditions in their communities. The type of response to such information also varies, as some pastors have chosen to take a passive stance toward responding to the needs, while others have selected to develop programs and initiatives that precisely seek to ameliorate the problems. What can we infer from the findings?

Pastors who are highly educated understand that 21st century needs of black communities, like those of the 19th century, calls for more than just biblical interpretation and esoteric jargon. These pastors believe that problems do not just fade away without a level of engagement. It is my assumption that black liberation theology is a factor for community engagement, because it is both an academic realization about the black church experience and a function of its present day suffering. But, more importantly, adherents to this theology understand that resources are never given willingly or without strings; thus, it becomes imperative for them to combine the concept of hope with the model of action for community development. Regarding the civil rights variable, many historians have noted in various journals over the years that the majority of black Baptist pastors in general did not play a predominant role in the struggle for civil rights. Many scholars, conversely, have noted the importance of the 1960 civil rights movement as a strong variable for shaping an active contemporary black leadership.

Pastors who are highly educated understand that 21st century needs of black communities, like those of the 19th century, calls for more than just biblical interpretation and esoteric jargon. These pastors believe that problems do not just fade away without a level of engagement It is my assumption that black liberation theology is a factor for community engagement, because it is both an academic realization about the black church experience and a function of its present day suffering. But, more importantly, adherents to this theology understand that resources are never given willingly or without strings; thus, it becomes imperative for them to combine the concept of hope with the model of action for community development. Regarding the civil rights variable, many historians have noted in various journals over the years that the majority of black Baptist pastors in general did not play a predominant role in the struggle for civil rights. Many scholars, conversely, have noted the importance of the 1960 civil rights movement as a strong variable for shaping an active contemporary black leadership. One can infer from this argument that a pastor who had been directly involved in the struggle for equality and equity in society, during the zenith of America's modern day revolution, would not have yielded the cause because of a few public policies and societal changes. At best, they would be even more sensitive to the needs of the community, due to their level of consciousness. Other aspects of these results were, however, surprising. For example, the appearance of general civic and social memberships as not being associated with community engagement was unexpected. At the same time, there was a relationship between membership in a Greek-lettered organization and community involvement. On the surface, it seemed that pastors who participated as members of any secular organization would be most interested in working explicitly to not only advance the needs of their community but to address their issues.

One possible explanation for this is recognizing that most persons joined secular organizations for the purpose of belonging or status. Although they may have embraced the history and programs of the group, they found it difficult or low on their priority list to put forth the time and commitment to endeavor for the organization's mission. These memberships became more symbolic than substantive in nature. This was especially true of black pastors who were often beseeched by organizations that were hoping to capitalize on the pastor's influence in the community and his/her direct and indirect resources. However, for persons who were members of black Greek-lettered organizations, they tended not to join these societies haphazardly. For the most part they had become members during the most formative period in their life, their matriculation in college, after having examined directly the ideas, the precepts, the membership, and the activities of the association for at least a year. Likewise, these organizations, unlike other secular organization, allowed for various approaches to carrying out their community mission -- from tutorial to mentorship and from local voter registration drives to community feed the homeless projects. Such a myriad of community engagements allowed for these leaders to work with or in programs that they found interest in; whereas, in other organizations (i.e., NAACP, political parties, or neighborhood planning units), all of their activities tended to use one approach. Although this was not a negative attribute, it might explain why pastors who were in fraternal organization were more predisposed to being engaged communally.

It also suggests that black pastors who have - collectively -- the above characteristics are emerging as the new religious leaders. It is my contention that these pastors have observed that politicians are too entangled with the politics of keeping themselves in office or supporting interests that are financially beneficial to them to act on behalf of their local communities. Therefore, it is necessary for "organic" leaders, persons who are not afraid to challenge the status quo, not only to speak out against community and societal ills, but to advance a plan of action. The pastors' available leadership combined with the above characteristics and sensitivity have made them direct responders to the needs of their community. This begs the questions: 1) Are these findings replicable in other urban communities and with other denominations? And 2) Are they other variable that also might predispose black Baptist pastors to community engagement?

By drawing conclusions based entirely on fifty black Baptist pastors, this study may be disproportionately focused on an elite segment of churches that want, for perhaps self-serving reasons, to engage in their community and have a mentality that does not always lend itself to substantive work. Although the data in this study, as well as in previous studies, suggests that most black pastors reflect the inclination of their congregations and that black faith communities are nurturing environments for meeting the needs of their communities, it is not clear that these findings are typical of all black churches.

Nevertheless, assuming that what we have found in Atlanta is true in other cities, significant concerns can be raised regarding the role, or the lack thereof, of black pastors in the formulation and implementation processes of the faith-based initiative which been put forward by the Bush administration. Perhaps most seriously, the conception of the faith-based initiative as advanced by the conservatives assumes a role for black church participation while weakening the idea of a separation of church and state, particularly the entanglement argument of Lemon vs. Kurtzman (1971), and autonomy that churches, especially black churches, embrace and advance.

Cross-national studies strongly suggest that the most successful strategies for community policy formulation are linked with institutional as well as non-institutional community actors. Experiences with the formulation and implementation of community programs in the U.S. should be considered in implementing the faith-based initiative. More studies are needed to help ground the current faith-based initiative debate in a better understanding of the type of church that will be most effective.

Part I | References