# The Black Church

*The oldest Black American institution: origin, denominations, and the record to come.*

> Black's Encyclopedia — the sourced record of Black American life.
> Portal: Faith & Religion · Status: Stub · Revised: June 1, 2026 · Revisions: 1
> Canonical: https://www.blacksencyclopedia.com/record/black-church

## Summary

The Black Church is the collective name for the historically Black Christian denominations and congregations of the United States: the oldest institution built, owned, and governed by Black Americans, and the organizing ground of nearly every freedom movement since.

## The archive's standing

What is already beyond dispute is filed now: the Black Church is the oldest institution built, owned, and governed by Black Americans, of American origin with African roots in its worship. The stub awaits its history, not its standing.

## What the record needs

This stub awaits its keepers: the founding of Mother Bethel and the AME (1816), the invisible institution under slavery, the church as bank, school, and floor of the civil rights movement, the music that trained every voice the  ever booked. If you hold this knowledge and its sources, the page is yours to finish.

## Sources

1. Lincoln, C. Eric, and Lawrence H. Mamiya. The Black Church in the African American Experience. Duke University Press, 1990.

## Related records

- https://www.blacksencyclopedia.com/record/hbcus
- https://www.blacksencyclopedia.com/record/juneteenth

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Cite as: Black's Encyclopedia, "The Black Church," revised June 1, 2026. https://www.blacksencyclopedia.com/record/black-church

Text under the Black's Record License: cite the record, keep attribution attached, cite the revision date.