Experiences of Black Evangelicals in Predominantly White Evangelical Churches in Calgary
Date
2021-08
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Abstract
In Canada, there is a dearth of research on Black experiences in the Christian evangelical church. Using a narrative qualitative methodology and undergirded by a critical race theory (CRT) theoretical framework, I explored the experiences of 5 Black evangelicals in predominantly White evangelical churches (PWECs). I focused on the challenging experiences they go through in PWECs, how they have responded to these challenging experiences and the factors that contributed to the choice of attending PWECs. Participants had to identify as Black and had to have been members of a PWEC in Calgary for at least a year. Through semi-structured interviews, I explored their experiences with them and the themes that emerged suggest that Black evangelicals go through a host of challenging experiences such as racism and racial microaggressions, and the lack of meaningful relationships in PWECs. As a result of these experiences, Black evangelicals have devised a host of strategies in response to these challenging experiences. Further, in spite of these experiences, it emerged that all the participants preferred attending PWECs for various reasons, one of the most important being the problems they perceived within the Black churches. These generally align with what is found in the broader literature, and the experiences of these Black evangelicals provide one instance of how Black people in Canada navigate life in a racialized society.
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Keywords
Black Evangelicals, Predominantly White Evangelical Churches
Citation
Ofori-Atta, E. (2021). Experiences of black evangelicals in predominantly white evangelical churches in Calgary (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.