Summary Of The Black Church And The Male Youth Crisis

Billingsley expands upon the issue of male youth in relation to the Black church in his chapter, “The Black Church and the Male Youth Crisis”. In the section, Billingsley introduces the issue of youths being uninvolved in the church making it difficult for the church to fulfill the necessary function of addressing youth concerns such as drug abuse, academics, etc. The issue is particularly salient when it comes to young black males because they lack many of the other role model’s others would have to help them. Yet, in response, Billingsley questions the legitimacy of the church non-action by discussing four churches who have already addressed the issue.
His main example is seen with Rev Tillman who illustrates the impact a church can have

This concern comes forth most strikingly in Tillman’s comment, “it is the mission of the church to help [people]…take the matter of our youth…many of them have gotten into drugs and other trouble...We should reach out to those young people and try very hard to meet their needs, whatever they are; whether they are members or not” (Billingsley, pp.103). This quote fully summarizes Billingsley’s attitude throughout the chapter. There is never a question of whether the church should be involved or to what extent as seen by his focus on churches succeeding in helping these youths, discussions with youth ministers, and the emphasis on the crucial impact the church has on the community. Instead, Billingsley pulls example after example of exactly how these churches are going beyond their congregation and religious function in order to help alienated young black men reconnect with their identity and help them succeed even though they are not part of the church. It is through this that one sees a direct challenging of comments seen elsewhere, where the church is continuously giving reasons why they are unable to help youths including youth disinterest, church alienation as a natural part of youth experience, and so on (Lincoln). The youth in the community, particularly

True, when it comes to young black males the church can provide after-school services, education, anti-violence, and more. Yet, even in this chapter, Billingsley says that one of the reasons the St. Paul Academy was established was to move black males into a less “feminine” environment even though middle school normally have a 50/50 gender divide for teachers (Billingsley, pp. 107). With this mindset, the church will have a hard time addressing many young male’s concerns about masculinity and their ability to be emotional. Furthermore, every initiative besides the first example specifically sought to include religious study or teaching in its program. Yet, there are youths who are trying to bring together their racial identity and their homosexuality, something that conflicts with religious doctrine. In these cases, issues the church does not recognize on religious and cultural grounds are still problems for youth. Should we accept that the church is unable to address these issues, or do we push the church to take a step back from their religious or cultural base to address the