DALLAS (AP) – Prominent black leaders have denounced increasingly popular megachurches, saying many have abandoned Jesus' emphasis on social justice to preach a gospel of wealth and self-help.
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The Rev. Jesse Jackson, front, speaks during a panel discussion as the Rev. Al Sharpton stands behind him at The National Conference and Revival for Social Justice in the Black Church at the Friendship-West Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas, Tuesday, June 27, 2006.
"The message of many churches has been co-opted by American capitalism," said the Rev. Frederick Haynes III of the Friendship-West Baptist Church in South Dallas. "A megachurch should not just be known for the traffic jam it creates on Sunday, but for doing something more in the community."
The criticism came at a summit of about 100 black ministers – including the Revs. Joseph Lowery, Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson and scholar Cornel West – held this week at Haynes' church.
Several popular black megachurch leaders and televangelists, such as Bishop T.D. Jakes in Dallas and the Rev. Creflo Dollar of Georgia, openly back President Bush. They preach to stadium-sized congregations that worshippers receive health and prosperity through their faith – a belief system called Word of Faith, said Lawrence Mamiya, professor of religion and Africana studies at Vassar College. Leaders often speak proudly of their own wealth and success, he said.
Jakes, who claims 30,000 churchgoers, said in a written response Wednesday that his church, The Potter's House, and his ministries give people the tools and mind-set to be successful.
"Economic empowerment and family prosperity are crucial to our survival," he wrote. "The economic gulf that exists between people of color ... and European-Caucasians is a breach that remains too wide, a chasm that should and can be closed."
Jakes, who was criticized in the past for appearing at the president's side in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, said the black community needs unity rather than divisive criticism.
But as elections approach, conflict is sharpening between traditional black churches, the crucible of the civil rights movement, and megachurches that tend to be more conservative, Mamiya said.
Sharpton said Monday the leaders at the summit would combat Christian conservatives – megachurches in particular – for focusing on the "bedroom morality" of gay marriage and abortion while ignoring what he called the immorality of the war, attacks on voting rights and the erosion of affirmative action.
Haynes called the megachurches' conservative teachings "prosperity gospel" and said it turns Christianity on its head. Those teachings blame the poor for their circumstances and praise the pursuit of earthly riches, he said.
Haynes, who ministers to about 8,000 people, said his megachurch differs because it focuses on eliminating poverty, making the justice system fairer to young black men and political activism.
While Jakes and many conservative pastors do charity work as well, they do not speak out politically, Haynes said.
Jakes has said he keeps politics out of his preaching in order to reach out to people of all races and political affiliations. Several churches, including Dollar's, did not return calls seeking comment.
Word of Faith emerged among white Pentecostal and evangelical churches and has more recently gained appeal among blacks, Mamiya said.
Black Word of Faith megachurches attract mostly middle-class blacks, who respond to their self-affirming message rather than more traditional churches' messages of guilt or obligation, Mamiya said.
"It is really a question of whether the black middle class will continue to support the black poor," Mamiya said. "If they don't, I would see in that a big influence from Word of Faith or prosperity gospel."
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The idea that only fabulously wealthy people promote prosperity theologies is absolute nonsense. One of my former churches was a bilingual church made up largely of low-income Colombian immigrants. The pastor (from Cali, Valle del Cauca, Colombia) has also struggled to regain his former standard of living in his new country, but he will happily promulgate prosperity theology.
Also, why is the issue of race being brought into this equation? It has nothing to do with the main subject, which concerns why some evangelical churches take the "It's ok if there are lots of homeless people on the street just as long as I don't see two men holding hands" attitude.
Furthermore, it is time society asked the question of why blacks in the USA are so much poorer than many less recently established ethnic groups. Blacks have been living in the USA in large numbers since the 1700s and are still the poorest members of American society and living very much as a separate entity. Other ethnic groups have arrived, they sometimes had difficulties in the beginning, but eventually integrated themselves into American society. Such groups include the Irish (especially following the potato famine), Indian and Chinese immigrants during the late 1990s technology boom, Vietnamese refugees during the war there, Cubans etc. Perhaps it is time blacks started looking within themselves for fault rather than trying to blame all their ills on slavery, which ended in the USA in 1865. Ok, so slavery caused economic hardship for blacks, but most reasonably flexible people would have adjusted in the 148 years since slavery in the USA ended: - after all, there are many immigrants who came to the USA with absolutely nothing but the clothes they were wearing, but who built up large fortunes within a few years.