There is some dissent from the emotional style of most African-American churches from within the black community itself. Ten Contemporary Reformed African-American pastors write compellingly in Glory Road of the difficulty each has faced in coming to the Reformed faith.[1] It hasn’t been easy. Typically they have been accused of betraying the African-American church, being inauthentically black and embracing the “white man’s religion.” They also write with inspiration. “It was as if I had been given a brand new pair of eyes,” says Reddit Andrews, III, senior pastor of the Soaring Oaks Presbyterian Church in Elk Grove, California, of becoming Reformed. “The sky seemed brighter, the grass appeared greener, and a freedom came into my heart that had not come from the world but from heaven.”[2]  

            These pastors also recognized a connection between Reformed theological convictions and the way the church worships. They speak of changes in their preaching, in the congregational singing, and in the overall emotional tone of their services. For example, exposure to biblical preaching led Louis C. Love, Jr., pastor of New Life Fellowship Church in Vernon Hills, Illinois, to what he calls a “letdown . . . beyond description” when he returned to “the whooping, hollering, rhythm and rhymes, no-Bible preaching tradition of our childhood.”[3] He says, “The knowledge of God’s sovereign grace in salvation that has set us free from the bondage of sin changed the way and manner of our corporate worship, especially the preaching” (my emphasis).[4] He speaks of replacing “the melancholy so-called Gospel songs” and replacing them with biblical hymnody.[5]

            Lance Lewis, pastor of Christ Liberation Fellowship in Philadelphia, describes a pilgrimage in which he grew to have “a greater appreciation for the worship at Tenth” (i.e. the very traditionally Presbyterian service of Tenth Presbyterian in Philadelphia). As he grew in biblical maturity, “God . . . opened my eyes to see the need for and beauty of a service of worship that intentionally emphasized the character, nature, and ways of God as expressed fully in the person and work of Jesus Christ.”[6] The practical application of Reformed theology, he insists, “shapes and directs the way you worship Him . . .”[7] Ken Jones, pastor of Greater Union Baptist Church in Campton, California, and co-host of the nationally syndicated radio program, The White Horse Inn, similarly describes a theologically-driven pilgrimage to less emotionally driven lectio continua preaching and biblical hymnody. “We made significant changes to our order of service, changes that made the word of God and the person and work of Christ central to the service.” He continues, “As a result, the tone of the services changed” (my emphasis).[8] Worship was to be regulated by God’s word, preaching was to be biblical, congregational singing was to take priority over “special music,” and the content of songs was to be biblical.

Thabiti Anyabwile, senior pastor of the First Baptist Church, Grand Cayman Islands, concludes his survey of “the decline of African American theology” recognizing the need “to recenter the Bible in the life and practice of the church.” Indeed, he says, “we need to read the Bible, sing the Bible, preach the Bible, pray the Bible, think the Bible, and live the Bible.”[9] What is this, but a call to historic and “catholic” Reformed worship and ministry? The biblical content and emotional discipline of historic Reformed worship will prove beneficial to its practitioners, whatever their demographic distinctions might be. The virtues of Reformed worship and ministry transcend the categories of culture, ethnicity, and race. Those who classify Reformed worship as “white” and distinguish it from “black” worship, do a disservice to both the African-American community and Reformed catholicity. No one liturgical culture (e.g. the Pentecostal) should be allowed exclusive claim to encompass the “authentic” religious expression of any given group. (to be continued)

[1] Anthony J. Carter, Glory Road, the Journeys of 10 African-Americans into Reformed Christianity (Wheaton: Crossway Books), 2009.

[2] Ibid., 23.

[3] Ibid., 131.

[4] Ibid., 137.

[5] Ibid., 138.

[6] Ibid., 119.

[7] Ibid., 120.

[8] Ibid., 90.

[9] Anyabwile, Decline of African American Theology, 241.