Theologian, pastor and civic leader, the Rev. Dr. Otis Moss, Jr. is one of America’s most influential leaders. In 2008, Reverend Moss retired from Olivet Institutional Baptist Church located in Cleveland, Ohio, following thirty-three years of distinguished service.

What is the Relationship of the Black Church to Black History?

The Black Church is Black History, and when I think about the Black Church or the African American church, it is absolutely essential for the future of African Americans. Now, that’s a bold statement. Let me give you an example, historically the Black Church is the mother of Black higher education and the Black academy. Without the Black Church, we would not have the family of HBCU’s that we have including Morehouse, Virginia Union and Spelman, and not only did our private institutions come out of the Black Church, but also our state institutions as well, like Alabama State, Georgia State and Georgia Southern. In the 1890’s the Black Church lobbied for and won the demand for these institutions and we can show that they came directly out of the heart and soul of the Black Church. The founders and early leaders of these institutions were black pastors and black preachers and one of the great dangers now is, not so much a divorce, but a kind of independent separation of the black church and these Black institutions of higher learning.

What Are the Challenges Facing the Black Church?

One of the great challenges, is the danger of becoming like the oppressor. Some Black Churches are so carried away with success theology and the glamor of the White evangelical church, the White fundamentalists, that there is the temptation to either consciously or unconsciously become like the oppressor, that’s a great danger. In doing this we stand the risk of moving away from a liberation theology to an accommodation theology and that spells death in terms of following the ministry of Jesus Christ. I heard a message by Mortdecai Wyatt Johnson some 60 plus years ago. He talked about what happened in the history of Christianity when the church leadership took off the garments of Christ and put on the robes of Caesar. And I have added to that, they began to dress like Caesar, organize like Caesar and behave like Caesar, and this occurred after, some three plus centuries of Caesar trying to destroy the church. But he failed, and so he joined the church, and now the presence of Caesar has been with us since the 4th Century, but every so often, we disclaim it. Martin Luther did, Calvin did, the Anabaptists did, and so did the African American Church. We were born protesting against Caesar. Just like the early church we had to hide, we had to create a language and codes that the slave master, Caesar could not understand. Consequently, sometimes Caesar was clapping his hands thinking he was being entertained when we were predicating his demise… “Everybody talking about heaven ain’t going there.” This is something that we have to communicate intentionally to future generations, but our black institutions are now downplaying the role of black religious studies.

What Are Your Thoughts About the Future of the Black Church?

One force that is going to push us back to the Black Church is the realization of the necessity of the Black Church to combat forces that were made manifest during the four years of Trump. During those years, although he didn’t create it, he simply, you know, packaged it in a way for himself that came hopefully as a wake-up call. Again, I think there’s going to be a necessary reaffirmation of the necessity of the Black Church. Now it may not come in the same language or form that we are accustomed to, but I was talking to someone the other day and they asked me about Black Lives Matter and I said you know, that’s a church movement. The person said, “what are you talking about?” And I said, well one of the earliest experiences was Richard Allen, when he was snatched up from the altar, and was humiliated, he announced to the world that Black Lives Matter, and he called it the African American Episcopal Church. And alongside that, maybe a few years later, through the establishment of independent African Baptist Churches it was an affirmation that Black Lives Matter -- that Black integrity matters. And in the early 20th Century, the NAACP, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People -- another affirmation that Black Lives Matter. I could go on, but I’m not even sure that all the folk in Black Lives Matter even realize all their rich history. I wish that I could have a conversation as we are having now, but they are carrying on a great African American historical tradition.