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Photo of "Worshippers" in a Popular Harlem Church - What do you see?


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I am not certain what point you are making. I know two or three people who have gone on the church tours. They aren't religious. Actually the kids mother told me she wanted to go to a Harlem church. I said they have tours, she said she wanted an authentic experience. I said its their religion and you aren't going for the religious experience your going for the singing. Which is basically entertainment. I don't really have a problem with this type of marketing

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Del I was not making a point I was trying to solicit them.

 

But here is my take, when I was a child Rev. Wyatt Tee Walker, who baptisted me over 40 years ago, was the pastor of this church.  It was during a time when members could barely get a seat -- let alone tourists.  It was also a time when groups of white people really did not venture into Harlem very much.  We had guests on occasion but they they certainly did not fill the balcony.


When I was a kid, and tourist buses began to cruise through the neighborhood, that used to irk me. The buses filled with gawkers, paused just long enough in intersections to take photos of us like we were animals in some primitive jungle habitat (passengers keep you arms inside the vehicles at all times!).

The idea that Church service is now a side show attraction of sorts -- irks me no less. Sure the churches need the money, but you know most of the "guests" are not there to workshop or support the community.

 

Del your friend is not Christian or even religious, the idea that she could somehow obtain an "authentic" experience but just showing up is ignorant.  But given that the Church's seem to be only interested in collecting the guests money rather than saving their souls, I guess the relationship works.

 

Churches like Canaan are rushing to irrelevancy for this reason.  They should simply re-brand, put on daily Church service shows with singing, faux worshipers falling in the aisles "getting happy" with an over the top minster giving a empty but loud sermon.  They could even stage a few healings. They could sell tickets at $100 a pop and call it the "Authentic Harlem Gospel Experience".  Maybe even serve some authentic "soul food" after service in the lower sanctuary.

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For some reason, that photo of White tourists enjoying a Black church service from the balconies reminds me of that old cartoon of a Black man on display in a museum or zoo with a sign the says "Endangered Species".

Troy

But I know why it aggrevates you.

It's a sign of the deterioration of collective Black social organization.

You wonder why does it seem that White people are more interested in traditional Black culture and than Black people themselves.

The Black church has been a reliable institution in the Black community for decades, and now even IT seems to be succumbing to the.....whatever...that seems to be draining so many Black people of thier moral and social duties toward maintaining institutions.

The fact is, we're living in a SHOW ME time where many of the people both young and old no longer believe in that which can't be proven outright.

Violence, drugs that get you high or make you rich, and the legal system that can take your money or lock you up.....those are real and they produce immediate results so the Black community has no choice but to believe THOSE realities.

Religious services, family, duty towards one's fellow man...???

What if I choose NOT to honor these duties....so what.....what are you going to do about it?

That's the mentality of a lot of our people today.

 

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I see your point. However I think attendance is probably down at churches except for Super churches. Churches that market themselves or have a TV show. I guess for me if it is the choice of less financially stable church that doesn't have funds to assist the community versus slick packaging. I'll take slick packaging. A few decades ago I heard Minister Farrakhan talk about economic independence. He said it was key and to Jeff a little if you have to do so.

Perhaps it is a bit mercenary are maybe to market driven.

We are in a agreement i think if an audience member wants an authentic experience. I wouldn't be taken them because they are really after entertainment. The tours provide a way that i believe is less harmful although you could argue that it isn't beneficial.

I think it is just a more savvy method than the cake sale or selling dinners. How many people do you know that church is a part of their life.

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Pioneer I mostly agree with you.

 

Del I used to be a member of the Church.  I live walking distance from it today.  I've attended two events there in the last two decades because my Mom wanted me to go.  I went as a child because my mother made me go.  If the Church relied on the likes of me to survive they would be in a world of trouble, so I don't blame them -- but it still bugs me.

 

Besides, I'm no better, If some white folks wanted to come watch me work and pay for the privilege I would welcome the opportunity -- of course I'd be less entertaining...

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To me, a Catholic mass at a historic cathedral  would be an object of curiosity.  We are all drawn to experiences that are different from what we are familiar with.  Sometimes there is an admission fee to watch  religious "pageants", be they ritualistic or jubilant.   Other times, the financial gratuity amounts to a contribution. 

 

Churches are tax exempt "businesses". If their product is not attracting customers, maybe they should replace their CEOs - or introduce a new advertising campaign.

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Maybe this is a "weeding out" process that will determine those who go to church to truly seek spiritual salvation as opposed to those who just go to "find a good man" or put on a fashion show.
 


I tell people before I left Christianity I actually left the Church first.


One of the reasons I left the Church was because of what I saw as it's ineffectiveness in establishing moral order in the Black community.  Telling people what they WANT to hear instead of what they need to hear according to the moral codes of Christianity.

Plus there tended to be a SweetDaddy-Pimp type of structure in too many Chuches in which the only alpha male allowed was the Pastor and maybe his assistant or Deacon.  They would get most of the money and under them were usually a flock of devoted women (the Pastor's wife usually included) who ran the day to day operations.  If any other men were allowed to participate in Church affairs they usually were either very old or very gay....either way they posed no threat.


I thought this big-pimping style some men in the clergy used to surround themselves with women and keep the competition away was a game unique to the Black Church....until I met a few ex-Mormons and they hipped me to the practices that go on in the Latter Day Church that would make IceBerg Slim sit back with his legs crossed grinning and nodding his head in admiration.
 

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