Date of Award

3-2023

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Ministry (DMin)

Department

Seminary

First Advisor

William Valmyr, DMin

Second Advisor

Jamale Kempt, DMin

Abstract

A mass exodus of Black millennials away from the Black churches of the African diaspora has taken place in recent years. There is a plethora of reasons for this given by the Black millennials, spiritual authors/researchers, and the spiritual leadership of the Black church. The most important of these reasons has been put forward by Black millennials that the Bible and Christianity are irrelevant to the social, economic, and political issues of their lives and they want no part of it. This research is undertaken to investigate the real cause(s) of this exodus and to determine where the responsibility lies to reverse the bleeding of a generation from the pews of our Black churches. The goal of this research is to engage in a project with four professional stakeholders who represent the leadership of the Black church and four non-professional stakeholders who are Black millennials presently attending, and who had been attending, a Black church at some time. This writer will explore the relationship between the Black church and its Black people along with the role the Black church plans to play in the lives of its people by addressing the concerns of Black millennials and examining the legitimacy of their concerns through a biblical lens along with the literature pertaining to these phenomena. Finally, the aim of this work is to prove the Bible and Christianity are both culturally inclusive, by illustrating how the Bible has texts about the Black community and that Black people have always been in the central thoughts of God’s plans and have never been an afterthought. Study shows millennials are still not particularly passionate about the Black church and the Black church has not been preparing herself for the return of the largest generation in U.S. history.

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