What the Black Church Can Teach the Church About Liberation
What can the Black Church teach Western Christianity about liberation, and is the wider Church truly willing to learn?
AWAB Board Member Rev. Dr. Clifford Matthews Jr. brought that challenge to the October 24 Fall Meeting of The Gathering of Baptists in Hamilton, Ontario.
Held at MacNeill Baptist Church, the gathering explored the theme “To Faithfully Evolve,” inviting historically excluded communities to share perspectives that could help shape the Church’s future.
For Rev. Dr. Matthews, Senior Pastor of St. Luke Missionary Baptist Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, the invitation raised an uncomfortable but necessary question.
Why, in 2026, are churches still struggling to understand communities that have been part of Christian life for generations?
Learning Requires More Than Listening
Speaking from his experience as both a Black man and a queer Christian, Rev. Dr. Matthews challenged attendees to examine their own responsibility for building genuine relationships across differences.
“I’m tired of teaching people about me,” he told the gathering.
His remarks reflected the exhaustion that can come from repeatedly being asked to explain one’s humanity to people who profess a faith centered on love.
Rev. Dr. Matthews encouraged attendees to examine their personal relationships and consider how often they interact meaningfully with people whose experiences differ from their own.
He shared a story from a 2022 AWAB Board gathering at his home, where a fellow attendee acknowledged that it was the first time she had ever entered a Black person’s home.
For Rev. Dr. Matthews, moments like that demonstrate why proximity and genuine relationships matter.
The work of inclusion cannot begin and end with a church program or an invitation to attend worship. It also requires individuals to recognize their own assumptions.
Reading Scripture Through the Experience of Liberation
Rev. Dr. Matthews explored the historical development of the Black Church, particularly its emergence as a response to the exclusion and oppression Black Christians experienced within predominantly white religious institutions.
He challenged attendees to recognize the role that Christian institutions played in defending slavery and reinforcing racial inequality.
Yet Black Christians also found in scripture a powerful message of freedom.
Rather than accepting biblical interpretations that diminished their humanity, they developed ways of reading scripture that affirmed their dignity as children of God.
Drawing from his own doctoral research, Rev. Dr. Matthews described how Black Christians interpreted biblical texts through their experiences and aspirations for liberation.
He connected that tradition to the work of civil rights leaders and its continuing relevance for LGBTQ+ Christians who have encountered harmful interpretations of scripture.
“Black church can teach the church how to read the book in ways that liberate,” he explained.
His challenge was not to abandon scripture, but to confront interpretations that have been used to justify oppression.
Worship Should Change People’s Lives
Rev. Dr. Matthews also spoke passionately about the experience of worship within the Black Church.
He challenged familiar stereotypes that reduce Black worship to loud music or lengthy services.
Instead, he emphasized its spiritual and therapeutic significance.
Drawing from Gospel accounts of Jesus healing people in the synagogue, Rev. Dr. Matthews asked churches to consider whether worship offers people genuine opportunities for transformation.
He argued that churches should be places where people who arrive carrying pain or discouragement can encounter the possibility of healing.
For Rev. Dr. Matthews, this understanding of worship is particularly important for those who have experienced rejection within religious communities.
He also acknowledged that the Black Church has its own work to do, especially concerning the treatment of LGBTQ+ people.
Liberation, he reminded listeners, must be practiced within our own communities as well.
The Work Begins With Us
During a question-and-answer session following his presentation, an attendee asked how a church might reach people from historically excluded communities and help them feel welcome.
Rev. Dr. Matthews encouraged the congregation to begin by examining its own relationships and biases.
Rather than approaching people primarily as potential recipients of church outreach, he challenged participants to build relationships based on mutual respect.
His response offered a practical lesson for any congregation seeking to become more welcoming and affirming.
Meaningful inclusion does not begin with a new program. It begins when people are willing to change how they understand and relate to one another.
For AWAB congregations, Rev. Dr. Matthews’ presentation offers an invitation to examine how our commitments to affirmation are expressed in everyday life.
The question is not simply whether our churches are willing to welcome people who are different from us.
It is whether we are willing to do the personal work necessary to know them.
Watch Rev. Dr. Matthews’ Full Presentation
Hear Rev. Dr. Clifford Matthews Jr. address what the Black Church can teach Western Christianity at The Gathering of Baptists.
Watch Rev. Dr. Matthews’ presentation
Rev. Dr. Matthews’ presentation begins at 2:15:20 in the event recording.