The Black Church At Its Best

The Black Church At Its Best

Bishop Larry L. Macon

Published by St. Paul Press at Smashwords

Copyright 2010 Larry L. Macon

ISBN 978-1-4524-2274-9

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

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CONTENTS

Preface

INTRODUCTION

ONE: An Orientation and Thesis of the Black Church

TWO: the Historical Roots of the Black Church

African Religion

African Traditional Beliefs

African Traditional Worship

THREE: Slavery

African Religion During the Middle Passage

African Religion in American Slavery

Slave Religion & Hermeneutics

FOUR: The Heart & Mind of the Black Church and Black Religion

Religion in the Fields

Religion during Oppression

Family Religion

Religion in the Black Church

FIVE: Present Day Black Religion

Black Denominations & Worship

Black Church & Politics

SIX: Thoughts About the Black Church

Psychological Impact of the Present

The Black Church from Historical Roots

Mind and Heart of the Black Church and Its Theological Perspectives Today

Behaviorism in Various Black Churches

SEVEN: Impacts of the Nation & the Negro Church

Marcus Garvey and the Black Church

Wallace D. Fard and the Black Church

Elijah Muhammad and the Black Church

Malcolm X and the Black Church

Martin Luther King Jr., and the Negro Church

When The Black Church Is At Its Best, It Points People to Jesus Christ. Do You Know Him?

APPENDIX

Summary

Sermon

Mt. Zion

Bibliography

Acknowledgements

This book is my small contribution to the vast area of Black Religion in the United States. It is my intent to help the reader get at the heart, mind and soul of the Black Church from a first person perspective—my own. I want to share over 55 years of experience in the Black Church, 15 years in teaching black religion in America at the Cleveland State University, and over 40 years of pastoring and ministering in the Black Church.

The Black Church is far more than a relevant institution; it is also a much needed institution in the community during the 21st Century.  I believe that the Black Church encouraged me as a child and during my teenage years, and it can also serve as the catalyst of nourishment and viable experience for black, white, Hispanic and all communities across the world.

I will always remain indebted to those who exposed me to the rich experience of the black church. My father and mother,  Louis and Delina Macon, who both have gone to be with the Lord and sit in that eternal church in Heaven, must receive most of the credit for introducing me to this rich and authentic experience.

Furthermore, I want to give credit to what I think might be one of the greatest churches and people in the world, the Mt. Zion Church of Oakwood Village, located outside of Cleveland, Ohio. I am also thankful to my wife, Marilyn Macon, who has never ceased to remain a beacon of light in my life in over 30 years of marriage.  I am also grateful to my older son, Minister Larry Macon, Jr., who not only graduated from Law School at the historic FAMU in Florida, but also sacrificed his moments of attorney-hood to work with his father as the Co-Pastor and Administrative pastor of this more than 5,000 membership mega church.  Also, to his lovely wife, Elodie, who brought our future  generation into life with our first grandchild, Alana Maria Macon.

Notwithstanding, I could never overlook my youngest son, Minister Daniel Macon, who graduated from the Bowling Green State University and is in his Master’s degree program at Ashland Theological Seminary in Ohio, at the writing of this book. He has never deviated from his call to ministry starting at the tender age of twelve.  By the way, I too, started preaching at twelve years old and the call came at the First Baptist Church in Cincinnati.

I am also grateful to the many who mentored me such as: Dr. Bennett Smith, former president of the Progressive National Baptist Convention and my first pastor at First Baptist Church in Cincinnati who has passed on to glory; Dr. Otis Moss, Jr., Pastor Emeritus of the Olivet Institutional Baptist Church in Cleveland, Ohio;  Dr. William Myers and Dr. Douglas Little, my professors at Ashland Theological Seminary where I graduated, and colleagues like Rev. Dr. Marvin A. McMickle and Rev. Dr. Charles J. Matthews, Dr. Charles E. Booth and Dr. Walter Scott Thomas, all of whom read this book and made valuable suggestions. Also, I cannot fail to mention my two early life friends, Emery Ivery and Larry Griffin.

Again, I am most grateful to God for His divine providence of birthing me into this world to two of the greatest people I have ever known and loved, Deacon Louis J. Macon and Deaconess Delina Macon, both who have joined the cloud of witnesses in Heaven who constantly look over its balcony of eternity shouting support of joy for their minister son, his family, and the rich institution known as the Black Church. May their memories and inspiration ever remain within our next seven generations. I hope the reader is blessed by the extension of their lives through this work in my life, The Black Church at Its Best.

Preface

Larry Macon has created a wonderful methodology for retelling the history and development of the black church in America. Moving us from recollections from his father as told on the front porch of the family home in Cincinnati, Ohio, Macon then takes us on a journey back in time to the earliest days of black religion in this country. The reader is afforded two stories that are being told simultaneously and then woven together. One story is about where the black church has arrived, and the other story is about the long and difficult journey that has led us to this moment. Either story could stand on its own, but when taken together they form a compelling narrative.

This book points out the central role that religious institutions have played, and have had to play as black people struggled to survive in the hostile environment of America from the 17th century to the present. This book will allow the reader to observe the shift from the invisible institution as defined by E. Franklin Frazier to the mega churches and multiple denominations that populate the black religious landscape of 21st century America. This book not only points out the most notable moments in the history of black religion in America, but it also lifts up many of the most notable persons in that history. As you read this book you are walking in the footsteps of Richard Allen and Nat Turner, Vernon Johns and Martin Luther King, Jr. You are walking through the periods of slavery, the Great Migration, the civil rights movement, and the emergence of Black Theology. It is a wonderful story that has been captured with power and passion.

The general reader in this field will appreciate the breadth of material being covered in this book. The scholars in this field will recognize and appreciate the multiple sources that have been consulted that serve as the research base for this study. The stories about life in the black church may have been told to Macon on the front porch of the family home during his childhood, but the references to scholars of international reputation make this book worthy of attention by anyone interested in the history and impact of black religion in America.

This book bears the unmistakable touch of a writer who is both a pastor and professor. Attention is given here not only to dates and data, but the basis of most historical studies. Attention is also given to the quirks and foibles of human beings who are working together inside local churches. Not every story told here is about heroics and courage; some are about petty disputes that emerge within all churches and denominations. It is as true today as it was when the first disciples of Jesus were overheard arguing about which of them was the greatest. Macon does not hide anything from the reader that might cast the black church in a negative light. Instead, he tells the whole story; faults and all. This book reads well but teaches much. It covers much but does so in a way that can be easily accessed by all readers.

The black church can be seen at its best in this book—opposing slavery, resisting forced colonization, demanding civil rights, and inventing Black Theology. If the church of the 21st century can follow in the footsteps of those who have come before us, in terms of courageous actions and bold and inventive thinking, then the future of the black church will be as bright and glorious as its past.—Marvin A. McMickle, Ph.D., Author of An Encyclopedia of African American Christian Heritage and Profiles in Black: Phat Facts for Kids (Judson Press)

Introduction

It’s Saturday night in the Queen City of Cincinnati, Ohio, and my mother has asked all nine of her children to get ready for church the next day, Sunday morning. The lights are on throughout the house and the water in the bathtub is running, all the while I can still smell the Sunday dinner being cooked in the kitchen: green beans and ham, fried chicken, smothered potatoes, and yes, the peach cobbler pies.  We were getting ready for the big event of the week – going to the First Baptist Church in Mt. Auburn of Cincinnati, which was the neighborhood church in the area. We couldn’t wait to meet and greet all of our young friends, the Deacons and the mothers of the church, the army-led ushers and the line of children. Yet, the central figure was the preacher and pastor, Pastor Bennett W. Smith, with his entourage of ministers.

It is now Sunday morning and all the children in the Macon home are whisked off to the bathroom to relieve themselves and quickly wash up and put on their Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes. The church clothes were the special pants, shirts, socks and shoes that could only be worn on Sundays. The breakfast was prepared with the aroma of bacon, fried potatoes, eggs and homemade biscuits made by my father, the Chairman of the Deacon Board, Deacon Louis J. Macon. Afterwards, we were ready to ride to church in shifts in daddy’s brand new Cadillac car which he purchased every other year.  The youngest of the siblings led off the first shift so they could also attend Sunday School on time.

Going to church was not a chore or ritual but moreso a venture and spiritual journey from start to finish.  All of the children had to attend Sunday School. It was exciting because Sunday School for children was held in the sanctuary area, the same area where adult Sunday School was held so we could see the big folk.

In the adult class, my father was usually the adult Sunday School teacher and chief debater, arguing his points, whether they were right or wrong, and using the intonation of a man in authority. He’d always tried to convince his hearers that his points were always valid and were to be accepted by virtue of his position in the church. This was always most exciting to us youngsters who heard him yell and scream his way through the convincing arguments he set forth. We thought he was like a young Plato or Aristotle debating on Mars Hill or in Athens.

Although, Dad did not have a high school diploma and had not even completed elementary education, only graduating from the third grade in a one-room school from one of the towns near Opelika, Alabama, Dad always had a convincing and compelling theological slant to his arguments. My father could not even write his own name when he joined the U.S. army and only wrote an X next to his name that the recruiter signed on his behalf. In fact, my Dad’s original name was  LJ Macon and because the recruiter could not accept an initial only as a name, Dad was smart enough to interpret the initials LJ, as Louis James. From that point on, instead of being called LJ he was known as Louis James, but later dropped the James and became known as Louis.  He learned to read and write through an army buddy who committed to helping this young sixteen-year-old black male, who looked more like a young army colonel, on a daily basis. My dad was an unusually handsome Negro being six foot and two inches, having jet black wavy hair, a light complexion, being half white, half black and part Cherokee Indian.

It was this mixed black man who I saw on Sunday mornings with his beautiful wife, Delina, from Hazard, Kentucky. He often told us how he met her after he drove a truck with a friend up North and stopped for a minute in Hazard to eat at one of the local negro restaurants. There he discovered one of the most beautiful young Negro women in the city.  She was only nineteen years of age and daughter of a coal miner from a large family.  He eyed her, approached her and proposed marriage to her.  After giving her a kiss to seal the agreement, though she was already committed to one of the local boys in the community as his girlfriend, she and he promised to get married upon his return to the area. It was within two weeks my dad made his intention known to my mother’s father.

My mother was under twenty-one and was not of legal age to get married and she needed her father’s written permission to acquire the marriage license. Although Dad often boasted about not caring whether her father signed off or not to allow his daughter to marry, he’d often tell us how he was going to marry this beautiful, long black-haired, light-skinned girl named Delina with or without his permission. Without reluctance, her father consented to the marriage and Louis and Delina were married and off to the bright lights of Cincinnati, Ohio, where within ten years they had nine children—seven boys and two girls who they would make sure grew up in church.

Here again, Sundays were those days that a new awakening began. The event started with a line to the one  and only bathroom in the house at 401 Bodman Avenue in Cincinnati. Afterwards, there was the drive to the First Baptist Church that stood on