A Georgia-based Black Lives Matter activist and pastor, Jomo Kenyatta Johnson plans a new church that will try to appeal specifically to Black men. In fact, the church will be called just that – Church For Black Men. Johnson goal is to bring more Black men into church to alleviate the fact that many Black churches have become predominantly female. Johnson hopes a new approach will bring more Black men in.
From the Philadelphia Tribune:
Planned to be made up of house churches, the denomination aims to reach Black men at the point where traditional churches have left off, said organizers.
Johnson formerly pastored the Open Air Church in Philadelphia from 2010 to 2014, the same year he graduated from the Westminster Seminary. Now, he is living in Savannah, Ga., where he has been working with the city’s Black Lives Matter branch to advocate for social justice issues, including the investigation of five deaths in the county jail.
But Johnson stressed that the denomination is not a Black Lives Matter effort, so much so that he said he will step down from the activist organization “to focus on the [Church For Black Men] full-time.”
Aside from hosting the services in homes, the main differences between the Black men’s church and others are that it will not be tax exempt and it will not take up a collection.
“We want to detach the greed that is often associated with American Christianity,” said Johnson. “[And] we will not be tax exempt. We will speak directly on political issues that affect lives.”
The first service will be held in February in Montgomery, Ala. The logistics for the Philadelphia service are still being worked out.
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