The Black Church and Womanist Thought: Empowering Churchwomen Engaged in Sustained Activism

• In Event: 262 - Section on Sociology of Religion Roundtables (one-hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 05. Piety, Gender, and Ethnicity

Abstract

Paper Abstract


Gender equity continues to be a problem in countries all over the world. In particular, women have remained loyal to their religious commitment in institutional churches governed by male authority. The aim of this paper is to examine elements within the Black church conceptualized as a gendered organization that perpetuates the oppression and subordination of churchwomen.

Womanist perspectives allow women to affirm themselves as black and claim their roots in black history, religion and culture. Womanist thought, stemming from black culture, highlights determination and the creative spirit despite hardships and struggles. Codes of conduct for womanists dictate ways to initiate challenge; engage in dialogical discourse; critique; advocate for the disenfranchised; and, push for liberation and empowerment. Thus, womanist perspectives on suffering and agency address the social, structural, and theological interpretations specific to the traditions of church and community.

Womanist thought and reflection also engages theological discourse. Womanist scholars continue to search for voices, experiences, actions, and women of faith who have given of themselves to the church, sacrificially. It is by way of womanist consciousness that informs black churchwomen’s testimonies and their determination to seek gender justice and self-empowerment. The Black church and its people is where womanist thought resides. While sexism and classism abounds, womanist perspectives function as the guardian of religious, spiritual, moral, and ethical accountability in the Black church and the mainstay for social change.

Author

• Cynthia Barbara Bragg, Morgan State University