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GGH: And at the same time there was national attention to the L.A. riots.
That's right. All at the same time, Spring of '92. We were then able to recruit some clergy. And the Boston Ten Point Coalition was born in 1992. Now, from that success and the work with the archdiocese of Boston, this ecumenical movement—led initially by black clergy and in partnership with every law enforcement agency in the state, from the federal to the local, including the Boston police—has evolved into a national Ten Point Leadership Foundation that is working to replicate the model in cities across the United States.
It has been featured as a prototype for developing a more comprehensive model of youth ministry to at-risk kids, in addition to evangelism doing the public safety outreach and the policy advocacy. And so, there are nine cities that have versions of the Ten Point Coalition—cities like Gary, Indiana; Indianapolis; East Chicago; Philadelphia; Lawrence, Mass. And so these coalitions are proliferating. U.S. News and World Report last week did a nice story on the Indianapolis Ten Point Coalition.
And so there's a new movement that's emerging from the ground, focused on measurable outcomes and not on personalities and preachers.
CSE: What is the future of the African American church in the city? And in relation to that, what about Islam in the inner city … how are they related?
Excellent question. I'm glad you're asking this. The black churches are undergoing a process of socioeconomic differentiation and class stratification. In other words, black churches will mirror the stratification and the tendency toward the maldistribution of wealth that characterize the larger society, so that upper-middle-class black churches with largely commuter congregations will become increasingly disconnected from the inner-city neighborhoods within which the churches themselves are located. These substantial class divisions in some cases may be deeper and stronger than the differences between races.
At the same time we will see the emergence of new wineskins, new models of ministry. The work I've been involved in with my colleagues has generated a whole new thrust which is insurgent, challenging the political and theological hegemony of an old-school model of ministry in the black church that emphasizes the charismatic personality—the preacher as performance artist, as opposed to a more programmatic vision that revolves around an agenda and the institutionalization over the long term of vision, program, and mission.
You see, traditionally black churches have been very charismatic-centered, so there's been relatively little emphasis put on long-term goals and objectives. You know, you're a good black preacher, you can holler … well, get a good minister of music, create yourself a good concert, sort of like a Vegas show, and you can pack the house.
CSE: Some white churches do that too.
Yes, exactly, right. So, the black church is now in the middle of ferment as it gropes for direction.
Now, Islam … a fascinating question because the big challenge to the black church which they have not confronted in any significant way is the challenge of Islam. The big apologetic challenge to the black church is Islam. And yet the vast majority of black preachers, theologians, seminarians have no training in how to undertake an apologetic offensive at the level of philosophical theology and scriptural theology.
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