Churches: Black Power in the Pulpit

The next target of Black Power is the churches. In a speech to a meeting of white ministers in New York City recently, Floyd McKissick, national director of the Congress of Racial Equality, announced that a major project of Negro militants is to expose "those who prostitute the church." McKissick charged that predominantly white denominations have used comparatively little of their tax-exempt financial resources to aid the Negro, and warned that they must "reevaluate themselves in terms of Black Power and the needs of black men." CORE plans to publicize what it considers disparities between church preaching and practice on race.

Even more significant than CORE'S threat was the formal organization in Dallas this month of the National Committee of Negro Churchmen, composed of 300 members from twelve Protestant denominations. Its chief founder, the Rev. Benjamin F. Payton, president of South Carolina's Baptist Benedict College, concedes that U.S. churches have generally demanded equal justice for Negroes, and that white clergymen have been at the forefront of civil rights demonstrations. Nevertheless, says Payton, "I don't think we have yet the concrete actions that clearly suggest that the churches are moving to remedy the great evil of social injustice."

Without Superiority. As an experiment in "black ecumenism," the committee will attempt to arouse Negro churches to a keener awareness of their own responsibilities. It plans to form a nonprofit corporation that will solicit funds from Negro congregations and other sources to finance housing and small businesses in urban ghettos. The committee will also try to help Negroes in predominantly white churches achieve a greater voice in policy. According to Payton, the organization represents "an effort to relate to the Black Power movement without adopting a philosophy of separation or black superiority. Our definition of Black Power is the power to participate."

In some churches, there are already indications that Negro members are no longer content to be seen but not heard. An example is the Unitarian-Universalist Association—traditionally noted for its equality-flavored pronouncements on race. At a meeting of 200 Unitarians in Manhattan last month to discuss racial problems, 31 Negro delegates held a separate caucus, accusing their church of denying Negroes fair representation in leadership positions.

Even without prodding from militant black clergy, most white church leaders are aware that Christianity could do far more than it already has to assist the Negro. Reflecting the need for further action, the Very Rev. Pedro Arrupe, General of the Society of Jesus, sent a twelve-page letter to American Jesuits, accusing them of failing to do enough for the Negro. "The racial crisis involves, before all else," wrote Arrupe, "a direct challenge to our sincerity in professing a Christian concept of man." Arrupe laid down a series of suggestions for U.S. Jesuits, including the creation of new missions in urban ghettos. He also ordered each superior to draw up a specific plan of action on behalf of Negroes in his province.