Autonomous: 21st Century Look at the African-American Baptist Church

In all of Christianity, there is no denomination whose faith identity is as diverse as that of the African American Baptist Church. Although the notion of the African American Church as one unified body is misleading and unreal, the African American Baptist Church as an institution is a very true and formidable reality. The African American Baptist Church, formally identified as the Black Baptist Church, is not a single faith or tradition, but it is different traditions and expressions of worship with central, core beliefs that give it an identity as an institution.