The Social Gospel:
Institutional Churches and Early Activism
As early as 1901, black clergy began to gravitate toward a “social gospel” which focused on the collective, societal sins of disenfranchisement and poverty in the African-American community that resulted from slavery and reconstruction backlash. Black ministers believed Christian repentance of these sins translated into concrete actions of social justice, and liberation. (Estelle, 1994.) Advocates of the “social gospel” agenda in urban regions led in the development of “Institutional churches,” whose ministries provided a wide variety of social services to their membership along with regular worship services. The Institutional Church in Chicago, an African Methodist Episcopal affiliate led by Reverend Ransom from 1901-1904 was one such congregation practicing the “social gospel.” Harlem, New
York’s historic Abyssinian Baptist Church also demonstrated a “social gospel”
ethos with the arrival of Reverend Dr. Adam Clayton Powell, Sr. In 1908, this flagship church expanded its
efforts to “feed, clothe, and shelter the needy,”(Gore, 2001p.31.) African-American
church leaders also assisted in nurturing African-American institutions of
higher learning to serve its own people who were systematically excluded from
attending white schools. (Estell, 1994.)
The notion of a church’s societal responsibility
compelled African-American ministers to
coordinate a manifold response to segregation that included challenging the
written laws of the Jim Crow south by engaging in acts of civil disobedience
and collective boycotts. For example, in
1906, Baptist clergyman Dr. R. H. Boyd
led a successful boycott of Nashville, Tennessee’s segregated streetcars.
(Estelle, 1994.)
It should be noted that the social gospel message was not received uniformly by every black congregation, or by every black clergyman. Paul Harvey, professor of history at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs noted:
“Whether because of indifference, fear, theological conservatism, or white coercion, congregations and denominational institutions avoided involvement,” (Harvey, 2011, 109.)
It should be noted that the social gospel message was not received uniformly by every black congregation, or by every black clergyman. Paul Harvey, professor of history at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs noted:
“Whether because of indifference, fear, theological conservatism, or white coercion, congregations and denominational institutions avoided involvement,” (Harvey, 2011, 109.)
Slow Responses: Dr. Vernon Johns and Dexter Avenue Baptist Church
Dr. Vernon Johns, predecessor of Dr. Martin Luther King in the pastorate of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery in the late 1940s, preached against segregation from the pulpit, protested racial discrimination by walking off a bus in Montgomery, and summoned the support of the church and community in his efforts. Both the Dexter congregation and Montgomery community offered little to no response to Johns’ radical challenge to the status quo. Johns eventually resigned the pastorate, in 1952, frustrated with both the power struggles between himself and Dexter Avenues elite laity, and what he perceived to be cowardice and apathy in Montgomery’s African-American community. (Branch, 1988.)
Reverend J. H. Jackson and the National Baptist Convention
In contrast, some black clergymen were slower to embrace social activism than the people they led, believing it to be too revolutionary. (Estell, 1994.) Conservative theologian, and president of the National Baptist Convention of the U.S.A. Inc, Joseph H. Jackson was one of the strongest critics of social activism and the emerging personalities of that trend, the most famous being Martin Luther King Jr.
Jackson was pastor of the Olivet Baptist Church in Chicago which had become the largest African-American church in the United States, (Branch, 1988.) Jackson and the Olivet congregation played an important role in the Great Migration of southern blacks from the early to mid 1900s, providing housing and jobs for those who had relocated to Chicago. Jackson supported social action in the African-American community. However, having more reactionary tendencies in his approach to social action, Jackson saw King’s call to social action and the aggressive pursuit of civil rights as radical. He believed the ideas and methods of King would prove counterproductive.
The National Baptist Convention became the site of the Jackson-King battle. In 1960, the convention was split during the Chicago meeting. Supporters of social activism led by Martin Luther King Jr. attempted to unseat Jackson as president. The idea was to move the convention forward in the pursuit of civil rights. As noted by historic writer Taylor Branch in his 15- year investigative narrative of the civil rights era:
“Their dream was to make of this the largest voluntary body of African-Americans in the world, some ten thousand preachers and five million members, a ready-made civil rights phalanx that upon command could descend upon segregated targets for protest or Christian revival.” (Branch, 1998,p.25.)
King and his supporters were unable to secure the vote to replace Jackson. The schism led to the formation of a new, smaller Baptist denomination, the Progressive National Baptist Convention. Led by King, together with other prominent ministers such as Gardner Taylor, and Benjamin Mays, the Progressive convention pushed farther its platform of religious sponsored social activism. Historians are left to wonder how the historical narrative of civil rights would have been different if King and the social activists had realized a successful coup of the National Baptist Convention in 1961.
Jackson was pastor of the Olivet Baptist Church in Chicago which had become the largest African-American church in the United States, (Branch, 1988.) Jackson and the Olivet congregation played an important role in the Great Migration of southern blacks from the early to mid 1900s, providing housing and jobs for those who had relocated to Chicago. Jackson supported social action in the African-American community. However, having more reactionary tendencies in his approach to social action, Jackson saw King’s call to social action and the aggressive pursuit of civil rights as radical. He believed the ideas and methods of King would prove counterproductive.
The National Baptist Convention became the site of the Jackson-King battle. In 1960, the convention was split during the Chicago meeting. Supporters of social activism led by Martin Luther King Jr. attempted to unseat Jackson as president. The idea was to move the convention forward in the pursuit of civil rights. As noted by historic writer Taylor Branch in his 15- year investigative narrative of the civil rights era:
“Their dream was to make of this the largest voluntary body of African-Americans in the world, some ten thousand preachers and five million members, a ready-made civil rights phalanx that upon command could descend upon segregated targets for protest or Christian revival.” (Branch, 1998,p.25.)
King and his supporters were unable to secure the vote to replace Jackson. The schism led to the formation of a new, smaller Baptist denomination, the Progressive National Baptist Convention. Led by King, together with other prominent ministers such as Gardner Taylor, and Benjamin Mays, the Progressive convention pushed farther its platform of religious sponsored social activism. Historians are left to wonder how the historical narrative of civil rights would have been different if King and the social activists had realized a successful coup of the National Baptist Convention in 1961.