Theology, Sociology And Genealogy Key For Many Black Churches

By Solomon Crenshaw Jr.
For the Birmingham Times

Many of metro Birmingham’s oldest black congregations stay together partly because of theology, sociology, and genealogy, said retired Auburn University History Department Chairman Wayne Flynt. To last for decades, and sometimes longer than a century, however, the ability to “negotiate change” is more important than doctrine, community, and family.

“Negotiating change—whether it’s in style, as in music; or emotion, as in preaching; or in doctrine, as in ordination of women—is probably the most perilous thing a pastor has to do and a congregation has to get through,” he said.

In Birmingham, there are at least 11 churches that were established in the 1800s—including St. Paul United Methodist Church (1869) and Sixteenth Street Baptist Church (1873). At least another 12 are 100 years old or older, and two more will celebrate centennials by 2019.

Congregations with longevity began with some sort of corporate personality, said Flynt, citing Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in downtown Birmingham as an example.

“It didn’t begin as a working-class church,” he said. “It was a downtown church that represented a lot of the, I’d say, middle class—barbers, union members who were fairly well-to-do.”

On the other hand, Sixth Avenue Baptist Church, established in 1881, became a magnet for upper-middle-class blacks.

“As industry developed in Birmingham, Sixteenth Street became more of a working-class church, even though [the two churches] are not that far apart,” Flynt said. “They were far apart in class, I’ll put it that way, and education and the level of emotion you might find in a service.”

Part of Sixth Avenue’s longevity has to do with a strong sense of community and the result of taking care of one another during hard times.

“Children who grew up there and have gone to the University of Alabama or the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and gotten PhDs still commute from Shelby County,” he said. “In most of those cases, it has nothing to do with snootiness. [It has] a great deal to do with a sense of ‘My grandfather was a member of Sixth Avenue. My father was a member of Sixth Avenue. I was born and grew up in Sixth Avenue. And I’m not going anywhere but Sixth Avenue.’ That’s the sense of community, even after community expands well beyond the neighborhood in which Sixth Avenue is located.”

The willingness of members to travel great distances to attend a church is perhaps the greatest tribute that can be paid to a congregation, Flynt said: “The typical sociological pattern for churches these days is twofold. One is that you identify with people like yourself. Another, probably one of the most important aspects, is a generational connection to the congregation. If that congregation still means something to you, you’re willing to drive 20, 30, 40 miles.”

Having members traveling in from distances could create a problem for some churches, though.

“It’s particularly difficult if you’ve got a lot of members commuting,” he said. “They remember the old ways, and then a lot of young people join the church and want, say, livelier music. The older people may not like it.”

At that point, some long-distance commuters may want to go in a new direction. The thinking could be, “‘I’m not going to drive 50 miles to listen to that terrible music,’” Flynt said. “[Or they may not want to travel far] if there’s a new pastor [who] is not the pastor they grew up with and loved.”

The ability to find a way to creatively manage changes that occur over time and between generations is more difficult, in many ways, than worship styles, distances, or anything else, according to Flynt.

Some of Birmingham’s Oldest Churches

Source: Birmingham Historical Society. The Birmingham Times.