How COVId-19 has impacted the African American church
Overview of the study
It is almost one year into the Covid-19 pandemic that has taken over the world and stopped all normalcy forms across life aspects. The world has been on a standstill with the economy slowing down and social life being put to a stop amidst measures to contain the virus’s spread. The religious sector has not been left behind, especially with it being a key area for risk due to the gatherings. Different aspects typify the association between the Covid-19 pandemic and church. For one, the church congregation is a risk area for the spread of the virus, given the gatherings. Secondly, the churches were hesitant to shut down their masses, blaming the virus statistics on politics and failing to hinder the measures such as wearing masks, avoiding contact, and avoiding physical meetings (Wildman, Bulbulia, Sosis & Schjoedt, 2020). Thirdly, churches have paid a more massive price with the virus affecting many people, especially pastors and church leaders, due to infection contracted in church. Fourthly, the church has to shut down its functions and block congregations’ ability to worship together (Carrega & Brown, 2020). Therefore, the inherent risk in church systems, movement of operations, and the element of faith to the extent of hesitation and ignorance on the virus initially have played a significant role in the impacts of the Covid-19 virus on churches, especially for communities considerably religious.
The measures placed to combat the spread of the Covid-19 virus in the globe affect religious gatherings primarily. For one, the actions against mass gatherings have greatly affected spiritual practices as congregations can no longer gather to pray and worship together. Secondly, the pandemic presented a dilemma for religious people between the pandemic’s reality and their faith. The continued hosting of in-person meetings by pastors at the beginning of the pandemic was justified by the belief that failure to worship or gather in prayer is a sign of lack of faith (Wildman et al., 2020). Notably, pastors have bullied congregants into attending services amidst the pandemic ahai9nsg their sound judgments with the accusation of lack of faith (Wildman et al., 2020). More so, church activities involve a lot of contacts, and Coviv-19 measures prompt social distancing. Churches are one of the social institutions that have been primarily impacted by the pandemic from diverse dimensions. The virus’s impact from a religious perspective is more significant to communities and ascribed to the congregational form of worshiping on a broader scope. More so, the impact is substantial for people who believe in their religions and turn to their faith and faith leaders for guidance and hope in times of crisis. Undoubtedly, African Americans constitute one of the most religious communities globally, and their dedication and dependence on church indicate a significant area of risk for impacts by the Covid-19 virus. The proposed research thus seeks to explore the effects of Covid-19 on the African American church.
Background of the problem
African Americans are a significantly religious community that relies considerably on religion, especially in times of crisis. Religions have played a vital role in the Africa American population’s development and sustainability (Bruce, 2020). African Americans manifest their religious beliefs, attitudes,’ and behaviors in profound ways. The approach to worship and faith by African Americans is full-bodied. Black people are significantly religious and guided by their faith, especially in trying and uncertain times, such as the pandemic (Thompson et al., 2019). The close association between African Americans and religions and their value for church and masses raises the concern on the effect of Covid-19 on the African American church. As a minority population, African Americans face a significantly higher risk of contracting the virus, such as low health services and higher incidence of comorbidities that increase the risk of dying from the virus, such as diabetes. Regardless, most African Americans are churchgoers and religions, and church attendances are essential to them. A study by the Pew Research Center revealed that 3 of every four black Americans value religions, and approximately 47% of them attend church every week (Bruce, 2020). More so, the church has been a significant haven for hope and safety, especially in crisis for the African Americans as they rely on their spiritual; leaders and faith for social support and coping resources. For instance, religious institutions have the organizational structure and space to avail necessities such as food and disinfecting supplies in such times, especially when the pandemic resulted in the loss of jobs and limited supplies due to broken manufacturing and supply chain supplies to the consumer (Bruce, 2020). Therefore, the risk associated with churches and the bans and measures promoted for curbing the spread of the Covid-19 virus raises curiosity about its impacts on such a church-dependent yet highly at-risk community. Thus, the Covid-19 pandemic is a significant menace to the African American community and, therefore, the proposition to explore its impact on the churches.
Statement of the problem
The African American church possesses significant risk for the spread of Covid-19 among African Americans due to the exposure associated with church gatherings and the community’s high church attendance rates. So far, the black community has been hit harder by the coronavirus pandemic reporting higher rates of infections and death than other demographic groups (Gjelten, 2020). The provision provides that African Americans are at higher risk o contracting the virus and dying format. At the same time, the African American church offers a significant source of resources and coping strategies during the virus. A survey on African Americans’ position on faith during the pandemic indicates that their faith has increased (Gjelten, 2020). Therefore, the close correlation between the Covid-19 measures, risks, and the African American churches’ systems, Covid-19 hypothesized, have significant adverse effects on the African American church.
Purpose of the study
The purpose of the study is to explore how Covid-19 has impacted the African American church. African Americans are church-going people who value their church and rely on their faith and faith leaders, especially in crisis times. The Covid-19 virus presents specific challenges to African Americans’ ability to rely on the church for support at such a critical time. For one, they cannot hold fellowships and go to church sermons and pray together or support each other because Covid-19 is highly infectious and airborne, thus require people to isolate from crowds and gatherings. The populations need social support from spiritual leaders, especially with the impacts of life’s economic and social aspects. For instance, the pandemic has led to high job loss levels, increasing unemployment and affordability for basic needs, and associated psychological problems that arise from the uncertainty surrounding the virus (Nicola et al., 2020). Also, African Americans are a high-risk population for contracting and dying from the Covid-19 virus because of their disadvantaged position in the health and social disparity spectrum. Therefore, the paper aims to examine how Covid-19 has impacted African American Church is a highly valued resource and depended on by the community. Yet, its role and function are limited by the measure in place to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
Theoretical framework
The impacts of Covid-19the church is founded on various theories and concepts regarding the church and its association or expectation in times of crisis, such as the pandemic. The associations between pandemic and religion are two sides with positive and negative aspects. On the positive side, religion and faith help encourage individuals and reframe events through hopeful perspectives. Secondly, religion fosters a sense of connection through prayer or worship or meditations or listening to spiritual music, which builds a sense of community. People can feel like they are in a crisis together rather than alone, which creates psychological well-being. Lastly, religious events and rituals help uphold people through difficult situations and mark uncertain periods (Goodman, 2020). At the same time, religions may become a loophole in times of crisis due to negative aspects. For one, believers may perceive a situation as punishments from God. Secondly, faith leads believers to put everything in God’s hands and fail to take necessary precautions to ensure their safety. Thirdly, a conviction may cause people to fall into moral struggles in balancing the spiritual values with their moral values (Goodman, 2020). In the coronavirus case, religion is both a pillar of hope and a risk area for the spread of the virus, mostly when grounded deeply in faith and church. They ignore the measure passed on to ensure safety and contain the virus. In Covid-19, the positive aspects of religions in times of crisis, such as a sense of community, are risky as gatherings are banned, requiring believers to discern the most effective approach, including abandoning religious rituals and sense of community avoiding the church. It also helps in situations where their faith is used to undermine regulations or bully them into abandoning safety measures and attending services.
Significance of the study
The study is essential for several reasons. The key stakeholders who benefit from the research who benefit are church leaders. This public makes up the congregation and policymakers to implement effective strategies to curb the virus’s spread. Firstly, it helps conceptualize the church within the African American community and thus understand the role that the church plays in managings or its spread. The pandemic requires a balance between faith and logic for the African American Christians to apply in following prevention measures. For instance, by understanding the psychological resource that church offers in times of crisis, one can understand the possible impacts of closing down churches on African Americans’ mental well-being (Desouza et al., 2020). Secondly, the study also helps identify the risk that the strong associations of African Americans with church pose to the management of the Coviv-19 pandemic. Thirdly, the study is significant. It helps develop a balanced and strategic approach to implementing preventative measures within the community and in churches while avoiding negative consequences of drastic measures for policymakers (DeSouza, 2020). For instance, understanding the church’s roles in the African American community helps realize that the church can manage the pandemic if approached strategically as a critical institution of hope and support resources for the African American community. It also helps church leaders to give the congregation to follow measures to curb the spread by not using faith to cause Christians to deflect from the preventative measures.
Limitations and delimitations of the study
A study’s limitations are weaknesses in the study design that affect the outcomes of the study’s conclusions and their applications by limiting the survey’s reliability and validity (Ross & Zaidi, 2019). One of the study’s primary limitation is the small sample size, which constitutes only ten participants. The sample size is too small of generalizing results to the entire African American population. With such a small sample size, it is challenging to select participants to reflect the African American population’s representations in terms of demographics such as gender or age and thus limiting the interpretation of the results to the whole African American community. The small sample size and the selection challenges pose a risk of bias in selecting and responding from the interviewees. Secondly, the study area is sensitive to the target population, which may risk cultural prejudice and personal conflicts in responding. For instance, due to the reverence, the African Americans Christians have for the church. They may tend to support the church or fail to highlight negative impacts to protect their churches. They can also be manipulated in their responses to promote church agendas. Time constraint is also a significant limitation in conducting a more comprehensive study. The study’s benefit is that it focuses on a current and evolving research area since the pandemics are new and existing, thus contributing to the evolving literature on pandemics and its impacts on society.
Definitions of key terms
Covid-19- A condition caused by the new strain of the coronavirus that emerged in 2019 and has affected the entire world (World Health Organization, 2020)
African American church- religious institution within the African American community with a majority of the community members and typify and cultural aspects of African American worship.
Organization
The research paper is organized systematically in the format of research or dissertation. This paper forms chapter one of the articles, which is the introduction highlighting the overview of the topic of study, the background of the problem to be addressed, the problem statement, the study’s purpose, the theoretical framework for the research, and the significance of the course.
Chapter 2 of the paper will constitute the literature review on the topic. It includes a review of several articles on the topic o establish what has been studied so far about the area of interest in the research and identifies the gaps in the available literature that warrant this current study.
Chapter 3 constitutes the research methodology applied in the current study and the research’s data findings, identifying the type of research, the research design, sampling procedure, the data collection methods, and data analysis, and presentation methods. It also provides for the results of the study.
Chapter 4 is the discussion part of the study, which discusses and provides conclusions from the study results in line with the research questions. It also includes a conclusion on the whole research and identifies areas of further research.
References
Bruce, M.A (2020). COVID-19 and African American Religious Institutions. Ethnicity & disease. 30(3):425-428
Carrega, C. & Brown, L. (2020). ‘Sorrowful’: Black clergy members and churches reeling from Covid-109 losses. ABC News. Retrieved from https://abcnews.go.com/US/sorrowful-black-clergy-members-churches-reeling-covid-19/story?id=70434181
DeSouza, f., Parker, C.B., Spearman-McCarthy, E.V., Duncan, G.N., & Black, M. M., (2020). Coping with racism: a perspective of Covid-19 church closures on the mental health of African Americans. Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health disparities. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-020-00887-4
Gjelten, T. (2020). African Americans Hit Hardest By COVID-19 But Most Likely To Say Faith Has Grown. NPR. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/04/30/848493748/african-americans-hit-hardest-by-covid-19-but-most-likely-to-say-faith-has-grown
Goodman, B (2020). Faith in a time of crisis. American Psychological Association. Retrieved from https://www.apa.org/topics/covid-19/faith-crisis
Nicola, M., Alsafi, Z., Sohrabi, C., Kerwan, A., Al-Jabir, A., Iosifidis, C., … & Agha, R. (2020). The socio-economic implications of the coronavirus and COVID-19 pandemic: a review. International Journal of Surgery.
Ross, P. T., & Zaidi, N. L. B. (2019). Limited by our limitations. Perspectives on medical education, 8(4), 261-264.
Thompson Jr, E. H., Futterman, A. M., & McDonnell, M. O. (2020). The legacy of the Black Church: older African Americans’ religiousness. Journal of Religion, Spirituality & Aging, 32(3), 247-267.
Wildman, W. J., Bulbulia, J., Sosis, R., & Schjoedt, U. (2020). Religion and the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal Religion, Brain & Behavior 10(2):115-117