The Negro's church,.

CHAPTER VII

The Program of the Church
Although the programs of the Negro churches are occasionally marked by distinctive features, they have from the
beginning followed in general the pattern set up by the white
churches. This fact is not surprising when it is recalled that
the public services, preaching, prayer services, Sunday schools,
and auxiliary organizations that characterized the early white
church were the heritage of the Negro church.
The Influence of the Past
From this early time, the program of the Negro church has
included those things common to most churches of the working classes and people of ordinary means. However, in more
recent years, especially since the cityward movement of Negroes, there have been definite demands upon the churches
for a richer program. The increase in the number of churches
and in their memberships, particularly in the North, together
with the growth of Negro urban populations both North and
South, have made such activities as the Sunday church school,
the young people's work, the worship services, and the fellowship and community activities vitally more important. The
nature of these activities, including their strong and weak
features, will be discussed.
Representative Programs
The reactions of the church to the new stimuli toward
modified programs presented by the migration have been
various. Many churches, both North and South, have retained
unchanged the traditional program inherited from the parent
church, except for the addition of one or two general social
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