The Ecumenical Vision of the Black Church in the Theologies of Thomas Hoyt, Jr., Frederick Ware, and Kortright Davis
Within the United States, ecumenical dialogue has become increasingly complicated because of denominational divisions due to race. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, many black people left predominantly white Protestant denominations to form separate black denominations because of racism, discrimination, and segregation. These new economically, politically, and ecclesiastically autonomous denominations usually retained the same doctrine and polity as their parent denomination; the main difference was race. Given this historical background, whenever black Christians enter into ecumenical dialogue, issues of race, ethics, and morality become a part of the discussion in addition to questions of doctrine, theology, and ecclesiology.Additionally, insofar as the rhetoric of the church transcends race and ethnicity but the social dynamic does not, this project explores the Black Church’s ecumenical vision as focused on social justice—a focus that insists that visible unity cannot take place unless social justice issues are resolved. In contrast, the ecumenical vision of white churches seems different, insofar as there is a dichotomy between theology and ethics that does not exist in the Black Church. The larger ecumenical community cannot ignore the reasons that necessitated the need for the Black Church, and the Black Church cannot disregard or leave unacknowledged its history.In light of this, the project seeks to provide a description of an ecumenical vision of the Black Church through an inductive synthesis of oral interviews and the theological writings of three black theologians and ecumenists: Thomas Hoyt, Jr., Frederick Ware, and Kortright Davis. It examines the viewpoints of these ecumenists in their appraisal of the contemporary ecumenical movement and the Black Church’s future involvement.
Stats
Viewed 33 timesDownloaded 2 times