ABSTRACT
A phenomenon shared with every other urban black community is the strong perception that services to black individuals and families provided in traditional social service and mental-health agencies are ineffective, inadequate, and insensitive to the realities of lives of black families. B. A. Meshack describes the involvement of black Baptist churches in the decades of the War on Poverty and Great Society programs: "Some churches took the lead in sponsoring business enterprises, opening job placement centres and conducting day nurseries for inner-city children. The coordinator, the administrative secretary, and a clinical social worker were located at the Baptist church site. In addition, each church site provided staff with access to the resources of the church. A Pentecostal church was selected that was located in a low income neighbourhood on a major business artery, although its surrounding area is largely residential. The church is by its very nature an identified community structure, close to individual and family life-cycle events.
