Religious Authority in African American Churches A Study of Six Churches 英文参考文献.docVIP

Religions 2011, 2, 628-648; doi:10.3390/rel2040628 OPEN ACCESS religions ISSN 2077-1444 /journal/religions Article Religious Authority in African American Churches: A Study of Six Churches Karen Hye-cheon Kim Yeary Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, UAMS College of Public Health, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, 4301 West Markham #820, Little Rock, AR 72205, USA; E-Mail: khk@; Tel.: 501-526-6720; Fax: 501-526-6709 Received: 8 October 2011 / Accepted: 17 November 2011 / Published: 22 November 2011 Abstract: A sociological study of religious authority and gender in the context of a rural, impoverished community was conducted in African American churches in one county of the Arkansas Lower Mississippi Delta region to understand relationships between religious leadership, gender, race, and social justice. Three female and three male African American pastors were interviewed as key-informants of their churches to investigate views of female religious authority, and to compare and contrast the congregational culture of female-headed vs. male-headed churches. Among male-headed congregations, views of gender and leadership were complex, with beliefs ranging from no support to full support for female-headed congregations. Two congregational cultures emerged from the data: Congregations with a Social Activist orientation focused on meeting the social needs of the community through Christ, whereas congregations with a Teach the Word orientation stressed the importance of meeting the spiritual needs of the community through knowing the Word of God. Although aspects of both congregational cultures were present to some extentin all six congregations studied, the Social Activist culture played a more dominant narrative in female-headed congregations, whereas the Teach the Word culture was more evident in male-headed congregations. This study reports preliminary informat