The Black Megachurch: Theology, Gender, and the Politics of Public Engagement

4--“PROGRESS NOT PROTEST”; Black Megachurches and Community Development

103 The mission of The Abyssinian Baptist Church is to win more souls for Christ through evangelism, pastoral care, Christian education, social service delivery, and community development. —Abyssinian Baptist Church, Harlem, New York The repertoire of black church public engagement activities comprises three broad categories: protest politics, electoral politics, and community development . The tradition of black churches’ participation in protest politics was best exemplified during the Civil Rights Movement as activist black churches served as meeting places, trained leaders, and mobilized black communities to protest against racial apartheid.1 As African Americans gained greater access to the electoral sphere, activist black churches became increasingly engaged in electoral politics. Activist black churches in post–civil rights America hold candidate forums and distribute voter guides, and in more than a few cases their ministers have run for public office.2 The examination of the public engagement activities of black megachurches reveals that many also practice a third approach—the community development strategy. Abyssinian Baptist Church represents a clear case of a church that since the late 1980s has sought to answer the “knock at midnight” through community Chapter 4 “PROGRESS NOT PROTEST” Black Megachurches and Community Development 104 THE BLACK MEGACHURCH development. Abyssinian has a long tradition of social activism. In fact it was founded as a result of a protest. In 1808 African American and Ethiopian sea merchants walked out of First Baptist Church of New York in protest of segregatedseatingintheworshipservice .Theysubsequentlyformedtheirownchurch and named it“Abyssinian” after“Abyssinia,” the ancient name for Ethiopia.3 Calvin Butts III, Abyssinian’s senior pastor, has continued this tradition, and throughout the 1980s and 1990s Butts, from his platform as first the executive minister and then senior pastor, practiced a somewhat confrontational politics. He has been an outspoken critic of former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, even publically calling him a racist. He organized and led a number of protests and boycotts against racism in employment and law enforcement, malt liquor advertising billboards in Harlem, negative rap music lyrics, and a variety of other issues. Over time, however, Butts has led his church toward more of an emphasis on the community development approach and cooperating with government rather than confronting it. In 1989, when Butts became senior pastor of Abyssinian, the church established the Abyssinian Development Corporation (ADC). It has since become a leading participant in community revitalization efforts in Harlem.4 Calvin Simms,a New York Times Magazine reporter,asked Butts about the increased emphasis on community development in a 2006 interview. Simms pointed out the change in Butts’ approach to public life and asked why he no longer seemed to practice a“King era protest” style of politics. Butts’ response was that the activist black church had matured beyond strictly focusing on the protest politics of the civil rights era and even the electoral strategies that followed .“Many of us feel that we have outgrown that.” He explained that while sometimes protest is still necessary “to make sure that people focus on issues that are negatively impacting the community,” in order to truly address the issues of the twenty-first century many activist black churches have embraced the community development strategy.According to Butts, these churches focus on“progress not protest.”5 The community development approach differs from both electoral politics and protest politics in that while participation in electoral politics refers to supporting or participating in elections and protest politics refers to political dissent and application of pressure to the system from outside the electoral sphere, the community development approach consists of the direct production of goods and services and the building of assets.Abyssinian participates in a number of community development activities including real estate development , a home ownership program, and a small business development program. “PROGRESS NOT PROTEST” 105 Abyssinian has developed multiple units of housing, has engaged in commercial development projects and a head start program,and partners with the New York Board of Education to help run a public school. The most telling evidence of the church’s partiality to community development is their establishment of a community development corporation (CDC), the ADC. It is through the ADC that Abyssinian collaborates with government, local and national foundations , and private sector partners to deliver social services and produce many of their community development projects. Abyssinian is not alone in pursuing this approach to public engagement. In fact (in 2000) the majority of the black megachurches in this study had...