Bishop Samuel Thomas of the New Testament church of God explains the history
Black preaching, according to Cleophus J. LaRue, has a theological and a sociological influence that runs deeper than mere preaching technique.
For LaRue, black preaching is rooted in the extraordinary experiences of black people, in particular slavery. He refers to this as the soul of black Christian experience which has brought about a black hermeneutic, which then reflects how the character of God is understood and the ways God works through Scripture and sermons in people’s lives today.1 Every ethnic group and nationality of people has experienced some great misfortune, but it is not simply a matter of what happens to a person. As Miles Jones states: ‘It is how blacks interpret those happenings in light of what has been revealed in and through the word of God’.2 In my view this is what Cleophus J. LaRue is attempting to discuss. He further adds: ‘It is in the vital interpretative encounter between Scripture and the struggle of the marginalised that the search for distinctiveness in black preaching should begin’.3
Rich and varied
Black preaching refers specifically to African-American preaching. Cleophus J. LaRue refers to black preaching as ‘[a] rich and varied tradition, covering a broad configuration of motivations, theological points of view, art forms, structures, and styles of delivery’.4
Achim Hartner, Professor of Practical Theology, and Dr. Holger Eschmann both state that preaching involves the entire body – speaking pace, breathing, body language, use of hands and facial expression. These, they argue, reinforce the message and lend credibility to what is being said.5 Hartner and Eschmann’s views are reflective of areas of black preaching. Black preaching is known to be ‘biblical, expressive, oral, creative, rhythmic, inspirational, and dialogical; a journey towards celebration’.
Contagiously joyful
In his book The Jazz of Preaching: How to Preach with Great Freedom and Joy, Kirk Byron Jones imagines the influence of preaching if preachers were as contagiously joyful in their preaching as Louis Armstrong was in his playing and singing. Jones also discusses the potential influence of sermons if they were as rich as Sarah Vaughan was in her musical vocals and as alluringly clear as what he calls the angelic voice of Ella Fitzgerald. So, for Jones, preaching can be enhanced through the metaphor of jazz. If preachers can understand the inner dynamics of jazz – its particular forms, rules and styles – it will enhance their preaching. Jazz, according to Jones, has a simultaneous structure and spontaneity which, if understood well, can help preachers better understand their own art.6 Kirk Byron Jones’s view of preaching gives support and strength particularly to black preaching, but it is not certain that it could make the same contribution where black preaching is not so commonly practised. If congregants are not fond of jazz, then its being woven into preaching could cause listeners to respond negatively. However, it is in my view a positive attempt to enrich preaching.
Significance of proclamation
The most obvious place to begin an exploration of the historical origins of African American preaching is the African continent.7 Understanding the importance of oral history to African and Caribbean people is paramount, ‘in that it provides an insight into the significance placed on proclamation and the manner in which the gospel is communicated’.8 Dr Henry H. Mitchell traces black preaching back to what he refers to as ‘natural African influences’. These, he points out, have affected the vocal expression and delivery of all black preachers, as they are part of African linguistics and culture. Dr. Mitchell argues that slave storytelling was a factor that played a large role in black hermeneutics and black theology. Black preaching stemmed from this, and developed a more oral tradition of learning and cultural expression which is inherently dependent on call and response. Likewise, African music and oral communication are characterised by audience participation. This supports the views of Ruthlyn Bradshaw and Cleophus LaRue on the characteristics of black preaching. In Mitchell’s opinion, the African rhetorical tradition did not permit emphasis on abstractness, but the Yoruba of Nigeria insisted that ideas be expressed in images that were easy for people to visualise. He refers to the Old Testament using this same method and to the use of parables in the teaching ministry of Jesus as fine examples. Mitchell points to the fact that images and actions, stories and pictures with meaning are not primitive imaginings; rather, they are sophisticated principles of communication.9
George Whitefield
However, according to the author William H. Pipes, black preaching dates back to 1732, to the preaching style of the English revivalist George Whitefield.10 It was Whitefield, according to Pipes, who built a bridge between black religious sentiments and the faith of the colonial whites. His preaching challenged the prevalent formal, unattractive style of preaching. It was fervent and dramatic with extreme physical manifestations, and, according to Pipes, had an instant attraction for African people. Benjamin Franklin, an established polymath and leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman and diplomat, described George Whitefield’s preaching delivery as: ‘Frequent repetition, that every accent, every emphasis, every modulation of voice, was so perfectly well tuned that without being interested in the subject one could not help being pleased with the discourse; a pleasure of much the same kind with that received from an excellent piece of music’.11
The sweating preacher
George Whitefield’s preaching style had an enormous appeal for black people. Professor Vernon Loggins refers to the emotional preaching of Whitefield as preaching that brought ‘to the negro a religion he could understand and which could stir him to self expression. He responded to it with enthusiasm, allowed his imagination to run riot with it, and loved it with passion’.12 This preaching method of Whitefield, which was uniquely different, mirrors the practices that have come to be associated with black preaching.
The interpretation of African responses to Whitefield has been documented in the autobiography of an ex-slave named Gustavus Vassa, who attended one of Whitefield’s services. He states how he viewed Whitefield as a pious man, but that Whitefield preached with ‘earnestness, and sweating as much as I ever did while in slavery. I was very much struck and impressed with this; I thought it strange I had never seen divines exert themselves in this manner’.13 Slaves were not free even to preach, and certainly not to study.
Black preaching has its own identity; it is a style that has its roots in African tradition and culture. I do not support the claim that black preaching, which is so African in nature, can have had its genesis in George Whitefield. A view that I could support is to credit George Whitefield with what Dr. Henry H. Mitchell calls ‘transmission’14 of this style of emotional preaching. Dr. Mitchell supports his claim by referring to Andrew C. Marshall and Shubal Stearns, who were converted under Whitefield’s preaching ministry. They continued the same preaching style as George Whitefield. The historian Sydney Ahlstrom says that Andrew C. Marshall and Shubal Stearns were ‘passionate evangelists, incredibly energetic, not a little eccentric, and rather extreme in their employment of emotional appeals. They inspired many converts to be likewise’.15
Mind and heart
George Whitefield developed a style of preaching that elicited emotional responses from his audience. He was an intellectual. He had charisma; he spoke to large crowds and was able to project his voice well and clearly. Benjamin Franklin was impressed by Whitefield’s ability to preach and speak with clarity and enthusiasm to crowds.
George Whitefield in my view can be seen as the promoter and in some respects the developer of, and a person who had a great influence on, black preaching, as opposed to being its inventor.
FOOTNOTES
1. Cleophus LaRue, The Heart of Black Preaching (Westminster John Knox Press), pp.1-2. 2. Miles Jerome Jones, Preaching Papers: The Hampton and Virginia Union Lectures (Martin Luther King Fellows Press), pp.39-40. 3. LaRue, pp.1–2. 4. LaRue, p.8. 5. Achim Hartner/Holger Eschmann, Learning to Preach Today: A Guide for Communicators and Listeners (Cliff College Publishing), pp.131-34. 6. Kirk Byron Jones, The Jazz of Preaching: How to Preach with Great Freedom and Joy (Abingdon Press). 7. Kenyatta R. Gilbert, The Journey and Promise of African American Preaching (Fortress Press), p.33. 8. David Shosanya, Mission in a Black Majority Church Context, cited in Roger Standing, As a Fire by Burning: Mission as the Life of the Local Congregation (SCM), p.67. 9. Henry H. Mitchell, Black Preaching: The Recovery of a Powerful Art (Abingdon), pp.31-4. 10. William H. Pipes, Say Amen, Brother (Negro University Press, 1970), p.60. 11. Benjamin Franklin, Autobiography (Henry Holt and Co.), pp.196-98. Cited in Mitchell, p.32. 12. Vernon Loggins, The Negro Author (Kennikat Press, 1931), p.4. Cited in Mitchell, p.32. 13. ‘The Life of Gustavus Vassa, The African’, in Arna Bontemps, ed., Great Slaves Narratives (Beacon Press), p.99. 14. Mitchell, p.33. 15. Sidney E. Ahlstrom, The Religious History of the American People (Doubleday & Co) Vol.1, p.393. Cited in Mitchell, p.33.
