Marcia Dixon, Contributor"IT WAS the best of times; it was the worst of times." The opening line of Charles Dickens's classic novel A Tale of Two Cities also describes the current state of Britain's black Christian community.
On one hand, we've never had it so good. It's estimated that 40 per cent of Britain's million-strong black population regularly attend church.
They can be found in traditional denominations like the Church of England and the Baptist Church, where their attendance, particularly in inner cities, is helping to keep churches going, while black Pentecostal churches are among the largest in the UK and still growing.
There are numerous congregations where attendance is over 500, and a growing number of mega-churches have Sunday turnouts regularly in excess of 1,000 people.
Coupled with the growth of the black church has been the move away from reactionary preaching to sermons that equip congregations with the spiritual, emotional and inspirational tools they need to draw closer to God and fulfil their life purpose.
Many people testify that the church has helped them to handle their destructive behaviour patterns and attitudes, motivated them to live a balanced life and attain spiritual, personal and professional success.
This in turn has led to better educated and more prosperous congregations. In fact, there are now more black Christians occupying positions of power and influence in society than ever before.
And no one could fail to notice the improved links between black church leaders and Christians of other denominations. Soul In The City, a London-wide evangelistic initiative, is a prime example of this. Of the more than 600 churches taking part, almost a third are black-led.
These are just examples of the great things that are happening within our Christian community, but it's not the whole picture.
While black churches have been getting bigger and richer, there has been a growth in a black underclass that has little or no contact with the church, which has made only half-hearted efforts to tackle the problem.
For example, how many churches have initiated crime-prevention measures? Although numerous churches run good prison ministries, why are so few actively involved in tackling the causes of crime, such as poverty, poor education, peer pressure and broken families?
The large number of single parents and fathers who take little or no interest in their children, and the increase in the breakdown of marriage are other issues that need to be dealt with head-on.
Although a growing number of churches run marriage seminars, sessions for singles and even parenting classes, what steps are they taking to help people outside the church to build strong families and develop wholesome relationships?
And what about the issues of church governance and accountability? Churches need to be more open with members on how they are run and how money is spent, and put in place guidelines on how relationships between those in authority and lay members should be conducted.
Nobody wants to see a repeat of the goings on at the now defunct Victory Christian Centre, which was closed down by the Charity Commission and its leader convicted of indecent assault.
Then there's the question of women. Although the majority of black churchgoers are women too few occupy positions of leadership and power. What steps are being taken to change this?
The black Christian community has come a long way since the 1950s and 1960s. It has contributed immensely to improving the quality of life for large sectors of the black community. However, changing times bring fresh concerns, and while the black church has never had it so good, it cannot and must not lose sight of the fact that there is still a lot for it to do.
Taken from the web site of
The Voice newspaper.
