by Rev. Dorothy S. Boulware
In recent months, eggs have become shorthand for spiralling-out-of-control grocery prices. That’s why Rev. Charlie E. Dates, senior pastor of Chicago’s Progressive and Salem Baptist churches, helped the joint congregations give away 40,000 of them — for free.
The same weekend, the leadership of New Psalmist Baptist Church in Baltimore handed out fresh vegetables and fruit to anyone who needed it. A few days later, the church hosted a job fair specifically for government workers the Trump administration had just fired.
Walker Mill Baptist Church in Capitol Heights, Maryland holds a free food pantry every Monday. New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Stonecrest, Georgia shares food from their King’s Table ministry. The “Hope and Hygiene” program at Greater Allen Cathedral in Jamaica, New York dispenses food and basic supplies to area homeless shelters.
History of Service
Long a place for spiritual comfort, community and leadership, the Black church has also provided a range of services to those in need. From college fairs to health fairs, congregations large and small have stepped up to help anyone, meeting needs that often could have — or should have — been met by taxpayer-funded government agencies.
Now, with President Donald Trump taking a wrecking ball to the federal government, putting thousands of people out of work nationwide, the need for help is arguably as urgent as ever. And a new survey shows Black churches are far more likely to offer tangible help, direct aid or services to their communities — and are nearly 6 times more likely to see social justice as their mission — than white churches.
More than 71% of predominantly Black congregations name serving their local communities as a top priority, compared to 58% of predominantly white churches.
Service to those in need is a bedrock value of Christianity, spelled out in Matthew 25:35. In it, Jesus instructs his followers to provide care for the hungry and thirsty, the sick, the naked, the incarcerated and the stranger.
While most churches, synagogues and mosques also help others, the Black Church since its founding has been a particularly consistent source of tangible comfort in addition to encouragement and spiritual sustenance — due in no small part to the nation’s long history of racial oppression and segregation. When the government of the people decides it is not for all the people, the Black church has filled in the gaps.
Throughout its history, the church has provided emergency cash assistance, second-hand clothing or free food to anyone who needs it. During the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, Black churches distributed tons of food to neighbors at drive-by sites nationwide. Churches also helped issue vaccines and became places of respite.
Givelify, a donation platform for churches and nonprofits, in partnership with the Lake Institute on Faith and Giving at the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, conducted a 2024 survey of faith leaders and faith-based donors. They found a clear distinction between Black and white churches when it comes to offering services the government usually provides.
Charity Begins at Home
“More than 71% of predominantly Black congregations name serving their local communities as a top priority compared to 58% of predominantly white churches,” according to the survey. “Most predominantly Black churches invest in social-good efforts close to home, while largely white congregations tend to pursue good works abroad.”
The Givelify survey oversampled the Black faith community to conduct such analysis, which is quite unusual.
Walle Mafolasire, Givelify’s Nigerian-born founder and CEO, told The Chronicle of Philanthropy that most Black pastors know intuitively that their churches sometimes augment or supplant government-funded social services. Still, he said, having data is helpful.
“If you talk to Black pastors, they probably have a hunch this is happening,” Mafolasire said. “But having the data to back that is very revealing,” he said.
David King, executive director of the Lake Institute, concurred. “We have a depth of information that’s unusual, because in other faith surveys, Black respondents might make up as little as 8 percent of the total,” he says.
The report also revealed that 46% of Black churches are also much more likely to see social justice as key to their mission, compared with just 8% of white congregations.
And Black churches are more likely to offer services for the elderly, tutoring or GED classes for students, outreach to incarcerated people and citizenship and voter-registration programs.
Source: Seattle Medium
