Church is 'the heartbeat' of the black community in Johnson City

Aaron Murphy sees church as a unifying force for a black community he sees as "fragmented.""The black community is fragmented, and we're in need of healing and unity — we're in need of togetherness — and I believe the church can make that happen," Murphy, a pastor at Thankful Baptist Church said. "But I believe the best is yet to come, and I think once we become united, more together and on the same page that we'll see change in our youth."Churches, particularly Christian churches, have played an enormous role in the lives of black people since they were first brought to the Americas as slaves 400 years ago, something that was highlighted in a Pew Research Center study in 2018 on the religious lives of black Americans. And while the number of black people who identify as "religiously unaffiliated" has increased in recent years, 83% of black people say they believe in God with absolute certainty and are 75% view religion as "very important.""I think the black church has been the heartbeat of the black community," Murphy said. "The black church was the major artery that led in civil rights — church is in our DNA."Philmont Bostic, a pastor at St. Paul AME Zion church, feels similarly."For African Americans, especially during slavery, Sundays were the one free time that you had, and when you're in those harsh conditions you're thinking to yourself: 'There has to be a God somewhere,' " Bostic said. "And if you look through the history of the civil rights movement, a lot of those things started at the church — church was the central gathering place, it was where people got organized and it was where people found out what was going on."Church has always played a central role in the lives of African Americans," Bostic added.But as church and religion become less important in the lives of Americans, black churches find themselves in a difficult position going forward, especially as the number of older African Americans — who are more likely to be associated with church — dwindle."We've seen a transition, and I would say I've seen the passing of the baton between leaders within the black church," Murphy said. "Where we once had these great pioneers and matriarchs, civil rights leaders and black entrepreneurs in our region, they're now at an age where they accomplished what they wanted to accomplish in their particular role."Now we're just in this transition where this baton is being passed from one generation to the next, and we're just in the midst of that transition," Murphy said.Bostic said he feels the community hasn't done as much to pass on their faith to younger generations as was the case in decades past."We've done a good job, I'd say up until recently, in making sure we passed on our faith to the next generation," he said. "I think we have to have more intentionality in passing down the religion and history (of black churches)."A 2014 study from Pew found that just 41% of black millennials said they identify with historically black churches."You do have some coming up in generations who don't have as strong ties to the church as we do, but their parents do — and their grandparents definitely do, so the values and the culture of the black church are ingrained in them and are shared in the household," Murphy said. "It's like the black church doesn't have the major voice it once had in the black community, but it still has a major role."And though each church in the black community faces its own issues, there's one common thread between them: They unify the black community."Where the African American church comes in handy is, even though it may be small, it still gives us a unified voice to some issues," Bostic said.Murphy said he sees some "positive change" as younger leaders in the church step up, but that he feels "getting on the same page" is the "first step.""Let's come together, let's be unified and have a common cause — let's make a difference," Murphy said.