ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with the role of the black church as a stimulant or opiate for civil rights activism mainly during the great civil rights movement of the 1960s. The founding of one of the major black church movements in the United States was itself a protest, and Rich Allen and his followers continued to demonstrate for black rights. The black church has further been considered the major repository of black heritage as best represented by the "Negro spiritual". Historically, most black churches were headed by authoritarian leaders, i.e., by strong men who dominated their congregations. The Negro church is part of the circular process that is moving the American Negroes onward in their struggle against caste. The C. Eric Lincoln and Lawrence H. Mamiya study supports the conclusion that black ministers strongly support civil rights activism, but that the "otherworldly" influence of sect-like denominations continues to inhibit civil rights activism.
