The Black Christian Experience

This book grew out of a conference held at Ridgecrest and Glorieta Baptists Assemblies in the summer of 1971. Its purpose was twofold: (1) provide information to white Christians about the black church and (2) "help black Baptists understand and appreciate their heritage, hoping that by doing so they could accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative." These eight writers speak plainly about the beliefs and practices as they know them in black Baptist churches, North and South. They tell of the frustrations and hopes, the limitations and dreams, and the problems and devotion of black believers. They know what the black church has meant - and still means - to black people. They see it as a vehicle of creative hope, a center for personal integrity, and a structure of social unity. --- from book's dustjacket