Trenton Churches and Causes of Congregational Hemorrhaging

Overall there are hundreds of churches housed in the City of Trenton; around three hundred and fifty or so… but don’t hold me to that bit of data. The range and sizes of these congregations and their impact, span a continuum of denominations. This day I was moved to attend the Service of Consecration and Installation for the 2017 Officers of the Concerned Pastors and Ministers of Trenton & Vicinity.

At the beginning, upon my taking my seat, a league of women, matriarchs representative of black congregations from across the city, made small talk about their pastors; their churches, "mm hmmm; yes - he preaches so well." "What?! Our choir only singing one time tonight?!" Then the associate minister showed up; sorting the pews. "You're a deaconess? You might want to join these ladies in white." ‘No... No, I’ve come to hear my reverend." Behind me, another group of ladies talking about their sanctified schedules, their deacon husbands and how many services and prayer meetings they attend on a weekly basis were enjoying the banter.

The choir decked out in black enters as dinner downstairs is over; the pastors and special guests make it into the sanctuary. Interesting to watch this crop of Concerned Pastor's leadership and their followers posture and primp. They were predominantly men indicative of the patriarchal fabric of Black Baptist ministry. Now in all fairness, the patriarchal bent is par for the course in the world of religious leadership. and these types of installations often generate some of the best preaching and singing in the old Negro tradition. The kind that many of "my folks" are so deeply mired in... I was eager to hear that part! Pastors and choirs are very competitive in this regard. The city’s Chief of Staff, Mayor and two councilmembers also graced the sanctuary with their attendance.

I want to beg the question why are churches in Trenton failing? As one impassioned sister lamented on FB this morning, the last service of her long standing church was being held. The church was folding. The choir was now singing "Praise him! Jesus, blessed savior - He's worthy to be praised." The minister made it clear; we came to praise. I wanted to hear the vision for this important advocacy organization... whom we're still waiting to hear and see significant impact and community outreach from; my understanding was they were instrumental in new housing at the gateway to South Trenton; after an option for a Dunkin Donuts resolutely failed. I am curious, what else is there?

The choir was jammin' with "We've Come This Far By Faith,” as the installed made their way into the sanctuary... "Don't they look good?!" exclaims the associate minister. Yes, the singing was good as the choirs competed and proudly represented their churches and pastors. "Sing choir!!" shouted the parishioners; the Hammond B3 was humming and the sanctuary was rocking. My roots, genealogically, are in this soulful gospel music, but my theological world view is far removed. And with that introduction, I am going to attempt to answer the question posed by the sister on FB. They were shouting now; preacher chords and all.

Black churches are losing membership, primarily because the black Baptist church won't move off the dime of political reciprocity, to do real thought leadership and analysis toward addressing the psychological trauma of the black experience in a way that makes sense to the daily reality of their charges. Following that, they are either not interested or unwilling to put boots on the ground in the communities that need them the most. In contrast, it seems our most esteemed clerics find a way to stay laced. "Don't they look good!" And the choir said, "all hail King Jesus." Well I'm still waiting on Jesus to do something about the state of Trenton and surely he expects the pastors to be part of that solution?

On behalf of the Latino Pastors of Trenton, their Vice President conducted the invocation and pledged his organization to walk in step with the Concerned Pastors. We praised the Lord again "who has given us a brand new Concerned Pastors President." As the next speaker took the mic, he stated, "The Concerned Pastors is one of the oldest black ministerial alliances in this area. Many organizations have sprung from this institution. All the past presidents have done a wonderful job. What are they concerned about? 'About you, your families, your children, they don't need a gun; they have a higher power! They've prevented suicide or someone's life has been turned around because of their work. The churches are blessed because of the caliber of this work; and the men and women who are doing it." And then he closed with a poem, "Go on... Go on, go on, go on, go on, go on, go on and go on. The praise dance began....

The crux of the matter to which I'm alluding is... we can "set the atmosphere" until we are blue in the damn face but change in our communities will require doing something different - and it should be in tandem with the churches - but are they ready? For example, where are our clerical thought leaders on ensuring the needs of the poor and disaffected are represented? At one time Trenton believed in Woodson. He was the real deal 'Holyfield' I understand; but through the disaffection and greed of those who came after, the holding up of his legacy, unfortunately, has been tainted. We thought it was a young and pliable pastor at the church on the hill; but those days are gone and it seems the moving of furniture is more important than ensuring congruence with the people on Spring and Passaic. We revered the new pastor in Ewing some years ago and now - even with the ATM machines - like NeNe gonna’ withdraw $1000.00 at the pastor's request in a cathartic moment of spiritual euphoria; I guess twenties are just as good in the aggregate? There are many other snarky examples I could use but my purpose is not to browbeat the soiled tapestry, lukewarm commitment and lack of COURAGE on the part of our local clerics. It is to challenge them to do more! There’s plenty of feeding and clothing drives; revival meetings and the like, but where is their advocacy with our municipal and school leadership to ensure congruence in community wide responses to Trenton's neediest individuals; the churches have a role here, don't they? Or should they only pass out bread and fish?

El Bethel closed because of internal family feuding, Imani Community Church closed because of an unwillingness to position themselves during a certain window of time to make gains in the city's neighborhood planning and unprepared clerical leadership; the Presbytery invested heavily there; and with great exuberance, the congregation did not believe the warnings - that if the community board couldn't save the edifice, it would be shuttered. Cadwalader Asbury Methodist, appears to have lost its ability to attract membership; this is speculation. St. Hedwig’s experienced this threat of closing as their congregation dwindled and the membership quibbled about the influx of Spanish speaking peoples. They finally figured out, these peoples were the key to saving the institution; this is not speculation. It is a different community, but the challenges in the changing demographic and needs of the congregants are not different. Many churches are losing congregational support because their visionaries are dying, retiring, or many would be ministers, waiting in the wings, are unsure of the relevance of their religious indoctrination in the community outreach effort, and want to try it their way – somewhere else.

Often people are leaving their home churches in search of something more substantive; congruent; and synchronized with their daily experience and life challenges. Something that doesn't necessarily require a tithe for real reciprocity and sowing of spiritual seed. I should honor my past church affiliation for instances of benevolence they have shared with me over the years... that however, does not negate these opinions about the ineffectual role and responsibility of Trenton’s churches in changing the ethical and community fabric of our city.

So how does a group of clerics influence the direction of a city? First, they must define a radical theology. One that challenges the assumptions of what real spiritual work looks like... As mentioned during the installment, a cleric works after hours, visiting the sick, facilitating transitions for the bereaved, praying for the detained, etc. This is, for all intent and purposes, real work - but when does the pastoral community define a paradigm that serves the collective needs of our city’s most needy, in the now, by holding the city’s leadership accountable? Where is the ethical and action oriented thought rubric that identifies the significance of "I Am," that which maintains our breath and activates solution oriented thinking; something that doesn't require looking in the sky for salvation and waiting (the slave master taught us that)? Where is the teaching that our community’s power lies in the unfolding of the collective subconscious of the people? Optimizing God in the individual is the key to unlocking the emotional intelligence - and the demonstrations of humility that move people; and old time religion, in the 21st century, may not be the way to do that... Within - you see - not without; or as I like to say – stop looking in the sky for salvation.

I think, this is often what members of humanity's body are seeking when they decide to join the church and also what burgeoning cadres of people leaving the church are disgruntled about when they realize the reverend is just as human as we are. Now of course, many folks are church hopping, just like the food connoisseur, who is interested in the soup of the day; or the barfly, who seeks the right environment to imbibe. And therein, lies the rub; many churches are unable to reframe their missions toward relevance in the 21st century because they are tied to archaic practices and rituals that don’t do anything more than make people feel good for a while. But back on the block, forward thinking theologians, exuberant congregants and the disaffected, disillusioned parishioner, part ways.

Further, the standing between Trenton’s political structure and the clergy, particularly, the Black clergy, is a convoluted one… and as replete with indiscrepancies, unchecked egoistic drives, hubris and greed as any other corporate sector in the City or the nation for that matter. There are a cadre of Trenton pastors who are part of the political incapacitation that strangles the Capital City. These are recipients of properties, contracts and grants that are parlayed for support from voting congregational members within the Trenton electorate. In the last election, select pastors complained of being cajoled into a published picture with a broad swath of the clerical community, that was misrepresented in the newspapers as an endorsement for the Mayor. As part of the opposition, I actually received an apology for this occurrence from at least two individual pastors leading congregations in the city. The churches have allowed themselves to barter away their foundations as pillars of the African American community here in the city. They have become tools for the dispensation of democratic party control in the municipality. This is not a gainful formula for eradicating the social ills Trenton is facing.

There is a nexus of local political power and control in a number of Trenton churches that is juxtaposed by long and unflattering impacts in their local neighborhoods. This does not mean, the churches are not trying – through their CDCs, or forceful positioning and bullying in neighborhood development projects - but they have yet to take their political and congregational prowess, in a direction that is truly impacting, longitudinally – neighborhood community development and placemaking, resident collective and personal skill capacities, and are deficit in fostering an empowerment agenda for whatever hub of the city they represent – which might lead to a collective agenda in the interest of residents overall. Many churches in the city have been influenced, positively and negatively by the culture of the electorate, and a church on the hill - where the seat of the African American political machine’s regressive tendencies, and “black city” ethos, is housed and nurtured in deference to the city’s changing complexion. This is a major error.

There are many reasons churches are closing and unable to optimize their missions; I’ve shared my own deduction and understanding of local elements, to name a few. I have chosen not to throw many of these reverent leaders under the bus - that serves no purpose - but the writer must unequivocally state, at the base of this dysfunction is a lack of courage to facilitate the necessary tension needed for change in our city. It’s inconvenient, or threatens the municipal relationship, or they’re fearful of the streets where their edifices are housed; or even more accurately, fearful of other resources that might be circumscribed if they choose to lead in the interest of the citizenry; you know… tax free property, grants, easements, etc. So, our clerical leaders posture, pose for pictures, primp, sing the negro spirituals that indoctrinate the people with a psychological operations strategy that says wait… “your reward will come when you leave this earth," and of course, always pass the collection plate – while asking you, “what would Jesus do?" Jesus, in my estimation, would challenge the emperor and accept the consequences, in the interest of the common man. Isn’t that how the story goes?