I am both a product of the Black Church and Evangelicalism. I am so honored to have been mentored, developed, and empowered by both Redeemer Missionary Baptist Church and Rising Star Missionary Baptist Church of Minneapolis, Minnesota. I am grateful to the late Reverend, Dr. Edward Berry Sr. who prepared me for licensure and ordination within the National Baptist Convention USA. Once Dr. Berry retired and eventually Rising Star Missionary Baptist Church closed, I returned to Redeemer Missionary Baptist Church, the church of my childhood. There I came under the mentoring of the man I call my Father in the Ministry today, Reverend Gerald Joiner, who now serves as the Senior Pastor of Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky. Zion Missionary Baptist Church is affiliated with the Progressive National Baptist Convention, which became the denominational home of the late Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I am indeed a product of the Black Church.
I am also a product of Evangelicalism. I was very influenced in my teen years by an Evangelical United Methodist Church in the community where I grew up called, Park Avenue United Methodist Church. A number of Evangelical preachers came thru as guest speakers during those years. But it was a particular group of evangelical preachers that really impacted me and assisted in my getting clarity around my call to ministry. Tom Skinner, John Perkins, and Tony Evans are preachers that I wanted to be like. I realized over time that I was a traditional evangelical to the degree that I believed in the necessity of new birth in Christ, the authority and centrality of Scripture, fellowship in and deep connection to the local church, and the missional call to participate in the Great Commission. But thru the influence of African American Evangelicals, I had a strong passion for racial reconciliation, Kingdom justice, and urban missions, which empowered the Poor. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I was being shaped by a new Evangelical Movement. A movement shaped by pioneering and prophetic African American voices entering into what had been a White Christian Movement. It’s probably more true to say that I’m a product of the Black Church and Black Evangelicalism. This makes more sense when there is an admitting to the existing of a White Evangelicalism. I am as Dr. Walter McCray, President of the National Black Association of Evangelicals calls, Pro Christ, Pro Cross, and Pro Black. Taking this position will actually assist in leading Evangelicalism into a future that looks more like the Kingdom of God.
The problem with the dominant version of Evangelicalism today is that it is still defined by the theologies, ideologies, and nationalistic bent of certain Whites. The picture painted of the typical Evangelical in America is White, Republican, Reformed, Suburban, Southern, and most of the time Male. Well, I’m Male, African-American, a Missional Pietist, committed to racial reconciliation, justice, and the empowerment of the poor and marginalized, a product of the Black Church, and I’m just as much Evangelical as anybody else. Any definition of Evangelicalism that gives preferential treatment to the views of White Evangelicals is no true biblical Evangelicalism at all. I praise God for the White Brothers and Sisters that have recognized this truth over the years and have made way for the development of a Mosaic and more Kingdom Evangelicalism. This is why I’m honored to be ordained for Word and Sacrament in the Evangelical Covenant denomination, to serve as a board member of the National Association of Evangelicals and the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, to serve as President of World Impact; an evangelical urban missions organization, and write books for Evangelical Publishing Companies.
At the same time, I have not turned my back on the Black Church and never will. I thank God for the mentoring of Dr. Robert Owens, Reverend Debbie Blue, Dr. J. Alfred Smith Sr., Pastor Gerald Joiner, and Dr. Brenda Salter- McNeil to name a few. There are times when I will respectfully disagree with what is still presented as the dominant picture of Evangelicalism, but I also know that I have not compromised the great tradition and sacred roots that really fuels Evangelicalism such the Apostles and Nicene Creeds.
I am grateful that there continues to be a deeply biblical and growing multi-ethnic movement of Evangelicalism. This new movement is actually helping Evangelicalism become truly Evangelical.
Taken from Efrem Smith's blog: http://www.efremsmith.com/category/blog/2015/04/a-new-evangelical-movement/