African Americans are joining The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes called “the Mormon church”) in greater numbers. A recent article in the North County Times examines the increase of blacks in congregations in New York, Philadelphia, Detroit, and San Antonio.
Excerpts follow:
“I was approached by two younger African-American Mormon missionaries, and it made me think about the church in a different way,” she said. “So many people have asked me why I joined a racist religion, which makes me sad that people would think this faith teaches hate.”
Carson and other blacks who have left churches long associated with their communities, such as the Baptist and the African Methodist Episcopal congregations, say they often find cultural resistance from their families and friends who may be skeptical of how the Mormon church can minister to a black American.
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The growth of Mormonism among blacks is commonly tied to two events.
In 1978, the church abolished a long-standing practice that kept black men from seeking priesthoods and black women from participating in temple ceremonies. In 2006, Mormon president Gordon B. Hinckley publicly declared the faith open to all people.
“I am told that racial slurs and denigrating remarks are sometimes heard among us,” he said. “I remind you that no man who makes disparaging remarks concerning those of another race can consider himself a true disciple of Christ.”
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Ahmad Corbitt, the stake president of Mormon churches in southern New Jersey, is black. The congregations he oversees are predominantly white, and he said there is a lot the church can do to reach out to other blacks. He converted in 1980 and has nine other siblings, all of whom also became members of the Mormon church.
“The church decries racism and teaches equality among all citizens, and the average African-American member in our church wants to be here and feels a bond to what the church stands for,” he said.
Source: A new beginning: Blacks giving the Mormon Church a second look by John Dorman, North County Times