Black Millennials and Christian Faith
How do Black millennials feel about Christianity? If you listen to most conversations about this topic, you’d think they don’t care about faith at all. However, millennials aren’t even involved in the conversation.
This is unfortunate, especially since Black Millennials are more invested in religion than other groups. While the millennial generation is less affiliated with religion overall, Black millennial membership has remained stable in recent years. Black millennials who are involved with the church have thoughtful views about their beliefs, their place in the world, and how the church plays a function in their lives. The responses of a few Black Christian Millennials offers a view into how they handle their relationship to the church.
“Church is where I get to feel useful,” said Candace Simpson, who goes to church in Brooklyn, NY. “It’s where I can connect with elders, young people, and peers.”
For Jason Evans, his church in Philadelphia is a place where he can pursue his calling in community with other believers. He believes that community is vital for a Christian. “I get to live out my call as a leader and teacher of the faith.”
However, church community can be complicated. Evette Mabrey from Bowie, MD, looks elsewhere for connection. “I used to believe the church was the one place I could find true friends and like-minded people. My friends have expanded and I pick them based on how they treat me versus what they believe.”
Candace wants churches to address broader community issues. “Our Black trans sisters are being killed and under-supported in life. Our Black children are being treated like test-taking machines. Our Black neighborhoods are being gentrified. The planet is warming at alarming rates.” Like many millennials, she believes the Black church has an obligation to work for justice in these areas.
Black Christian Millennials often challenge traditional stances on God and morality. Jason notes that his peers are willing to believe that God speaks to them in a variety of ways. This can put them at odds with older generations who hold more conservative notions of church devotion and practice. “Ironically,” Jason says, “this generation is basically living out what their ancestors have done for generations as Black Christians in America.”
Candace suggested that many of her peers have moved beyond the standard binaries of secular and sacred. She used her favorite sweatshirt, embroidered with “Coretta and Cardi B.,” as an example of how many in her generation view the world. “I am equally inspired by both of these women. I think folks have a hard time seeing millennials be worldly and churchy.”
Cory Scott, a pastor in Chicago, IL, believes that many millennials are tolerant of difference. He and others like him want to do right by others while still enjoying their lives. “I don’t want to live my life as a horrible individual and do all the worst things in the world,” he said. “But life is to be enjoyed and not weighed down because you think everything will send you to hell.” However, he cautions that this tolerance is not the same as actively wrestling with long held beliefs. “I’m not sure that most millennials have wrestled with what they believe as much as we are just more open.”
Jason echoes Cory’s thoughts. He doesn’t think that Black Millennials’ faith questioning has led to true change. Jason believes the perception of theological education as the domain of white men is a deterrent from deeper theological thought. “Despite the problems with Western Christian theology, there is much wisdom and insight to glean for a more holistic, sex-positive, and body-affirming Christian theology.” He wants Black millennial Christians to engage with Black, Womanist, and Queer theologies.
When it comes to gender expression and sexuality, the openness of Black Millennials’ is called into question. “My peers are less likely to be outright misogynists and homophobes,” Candace says. However, she says that she has often felt unsafe as a queer woman, even among other Black progressive Christians. She suggests that growing up with social media has instructed Black Millennials to handle their homophobia and sexism in less obvious ways, especially since there are opportunities afforded to those who portray themselves as socially progressive. “If anything, I think my peers have similar politics around queer folks and women as anyone else. We just know how to appear progressive. There are social rewards in doing so.”
In spite of its flaws, these and other Black Millennials have deep hopes for the Black Church because of the positive memories they have there. “The people in church saved my life,” Cory says. Evette acknowledges that she still holds on to the “strength, hope, love, and creativity” that being a part of the church formed in her. As Candace puts it, they want “the church to be the church.” If the church has any hope to be viable in the next generation, its leaders should listen.
