The Spiritual Factor Of African American Males Attending A White Christian Institutions

Adolescence can be the most crucial part of a person’s development. It is the time of transition into adulthood. The experiences gathered this time of a person’s life have lasting effects that linger long into adulthood. Proper guidance and support during this time is a person’s life is essential to ensuring that the person is able to become a successful adult in society. However, many African-American youth are lacking this type of support and guidance during this critical stage in life. Disproportionately some African American male adolescents aren’t provided proper mechanisms for their transition to manhood. Some sociologists believe that the lack of a rites of

Psychology, Theology and Spirituality in Christian Counseling by Mark R. McMinn (McMinn, 1996) covers a Christian counselor's life in and out of counseling sessions. McMinn's book is dedicated to recognizing and developing the relationship between counseling and Christian faith rather than a dry Theology. This resource work divides the discussion into 8 chapters, each addressing a vital aspect of Christian psychological counseling and each having a section outlining challenges, methods and anticipated outcomes. The first chapter is co-written with James C. Wilhoit and stresses the importance of the counseling/faith relationship while presenting various challenges confronting the counselor and possible approaches to facing those challenges. The second chapter enumerates the Christian faith's major

Parham’s video presented to me a counseling method that I do not believe I would be comfortable doing as a White, agnostic man. Multicultural class has shown that psychology research has been Euro-centric and minority populations have been pathologized. I appreciate Parham’s approach and how it engaged the client in finding support through spirituality and interconnectedness, but I do not believe an African American client would respond to me as they did to him. Parham stated African-centered psychology defines the African psychological experience from an African perspective, a perspective that reflects an African orientation.

During the early 1600s, the English colonist began using African slaves in the colonies. The slaves typically believed in Christianity, for that was the primary religion that English colonist followed. Furthermore, many of these slaves couldn’t talk to each other or organize themselves in many plantations where they resided; therefore, they sang Negro spirituals and hymns to each other. This was one of the forms of communication that slaves established. These spiritual songs of hope, faith, and courage that allowed these early “African-Americans” slaves to survive. As a result, it is understood that Christianity is what drives the African-American community to conquer their challenges.

In a great percentage of history books the information given is only given from one perspective. One when is reading or listening to an historical account, one must take into consideration who the historian in order to gain more insight into why they may have a particular account about a particular event. The same is true when looking at churches. Because white experiences in this country differ so greatly from those of African-Americans, The Black Church has the burden of being a spiritual backbone of a community while also being able to relate to the specific experiences of African-Americans. Calhoun argues that if blacks are able to get away from the image of God given to them by whites and form their own, they would be more likely to relate to this image and as result would become more empowered and connected to their race. The idea of racial empowerment and black theology can be considered as counterparts. If one is given a religion that is based on experiences that are not their own, and cannot relate those experiences to themselves, they are more likely to be apathetic towards them. Religion has long served as a means of moral and emotional support. Calhoun argues Blacks

“Roll, Jordan, Roll”, “Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Had”, “Go Down, Moses”, and “Wade in the Water” are the titles of only a handful of what were called “Negro Spirituals”, which originated during the reign of slavery in the United States (Frey). Such spirituals used call-and-response, a method of communication that was popular with slaves who brought African traditions to America, and gave way to the gospel music and unique form of preaching characteristic to the Black Church. The history of the Black Church, which began during the slave era, demonstrates the way that African Americans found refuge in Christianity, where the church became the center for African American communities (Baer). Born out of struggle and oppression, the Black Church not only became the focus for the religious practices of African American communities, but also worked to “re-member” the community through rituals such as that of call-and-response, a core element of the Black Church which served as a powerful tool for the African American community in the fight for the exercise of true freedom in America.

These are the issue that the modern African American pastor must address currently. His/Her preaching must speak true, authentic words for the oppressed, the down-trodden, the deprived, the captives, the poor, the rich, the illiterate, as well as to the intellect. Presently, the hostile moment of worldliness is a belief that life is to be realized at any cost to self. Thus, here lies the Christian paradox: through the Gospel we have to see Jesus as a truth relevant to humanity’s need to rise higher. The Gospel is to be preached to all. It is a Gospel to save the humanity of African American people but the gospel is beneficial for all. Therefore, the African American preacher’s message must have within its content something more than that which causes the people to enter in a foot-patting, hand-clapping, highly emotional, ecstatic worldly experience, but also a content which serves to balance the life of God’s people on earth.

However, there should be something constant about religion, especially when it touches a community and is so intrinsic in a community such as the African-American community as a standard for righteousness and purity in a world that doesn’t make sense.

God calls us to serve and to do everything with love (1 Peter 4:10, 1 Corinthians 16:14). As a Student Affairs (SA) professional, my main goal is to help students discover their calling and equip them to better serve the world while integrating their faith. Smith (2004), states why it is important to serve as a mentor during a critical adult faith development stage. In The Council for the Advancement of Standards and Higher Education (CAS), CAS has incorporated faith, spirituality and religion into the standards and competencies that they advocate for individuals working as educators in the student affairs field ( Smith, 2004). In the CAS masters-level graduate program for student affairs standards (2004) the authors spoke to the essential need to incorporate spirituality.

Hawkins and Clinton (2015), stated that using the knowledge of counseling and incorporating it in the theology and spirituality, delivers a deeper counseling session with clients seeking a closer connection to God and a sense of hope (p. 8). Psychological issues apart from spiritual issues are presented in the text. Hawkins and Clinton (2015) argue the “overcoming the faith gap” as an issue, and state that the most challenging part for clients seeking services is doubting the fact that, incorporating theology/spirituality counseling may not fulfill their needs (p.

Before Africans were brought to America during the slave trade, they had their own culture and society. They had their own language and dance.  They also had their own religion.  History tells us that the Europeans justified their abuse toward the Africans as helping them become more civilized because the Africans lifestyle appeared primal to them and not as developed and industrialized as theirs. What is often overlooked is that even though Africans were taken from Africa and Americanized and have been stripped of their religion, culture, language and even their name, the very essence of the African as a people did not go away.

Religion is a social construct embedded in the African American experience through the ages. Whether it be Christianity, Muslim, Judaism and many other religions that found itself in the Americas the religions derived from the African diaspora was very mixed, they had traditional belief about magic which are derived from some Yoruba and Muslim belief system, Christianity was something new to them. As their, ancestors were brought to the Americans they brought their own traditional belief system. African American religious institutions served as contexts in which African Americans create a meaning to their experience during their enslavement, thus they interpret their relationship to Africa and charted a vision for a collective future that will

Hughes' description of the church and the presence of Christ were meant to illustrate the religious dependence many African Americans embraced during that time. Many African-Americans enjoyed their religious freedoms and depended on religion to see them through the hard times. African-Americans traditionally considered religion important in their everyday lives ("Black American"). In an article entitled "Henry McNeal Turner," the author states

Although this information on Liberation Theology is essential to understanding of this concept, the focus of our presentation, in relation to our class, was Black Liberation Theology. It is easy to see how African Americans relate to the idea of Liberation Theology, as a historically socially oppressed group of peoples. The encompassed theme of Black Liberation theologians is the concept of God emancipating African Americans from white racism. Jesus in Liberation Theology is commonly represented as a ‘Poor Black Man’, therefore allowing the representation of a relatable figure for the African American people. One way in which we felt the concept of Liberation Theology come together with class discussion, was in relation to the Black Liberation Theologian, James Cone, whom we had previously discussed in class time, leading up to this presentation.

Relationships are the most powerful tools to make differences in the lives of individuals. They can direct people down a certain path, build different personality traits, and crush or raise the overall spirit of a person. The power of interpersonal relationships is put into use by youth pastors in Christian churches world wide. They strive to develop connections with adolescents in order to help them grow stronger in their morals and their faith in God. The adolescent years are often full of rebellion, confusion, anger and doubt, but youth pastors take the challenge of reaching these uncertain teens and steering them down the proper path. The big question is: just how do they go about conquering this challenge?