The Negro's church,.

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The Negro's Church

In What Way is the Negro Overchurched?
It is not because the average member pays too much money
for the current support of the church that the Negro is overchurched. Sixteen cents a week for each enrolled member is
not too much for a church to spend. The facts show that it
is hardly enough. Even thirty-seven cents a week, the
amount required per active member, is not excessive for thousands of people, many of whom spend more than thirty-seven
cents a week for theaters, chewing gum, soft drinks, and the
like, which cannot be classed as necessities.
Furthermore, when it is said that the average church spends
sixteen cents a week for each reported member, or thirty-seven
cents a week for each active member, one must take into account
the amount of money raised through selling projects and that
given by non-church people. In reality, the average contribution per member is less than sixteen or thirty-seven cents a week.
The Negro is overchurched primarily because the available
church money is so thinly spread over so wide an area that
the effectiveness of the church program is limited, except in
rare instances. The problem of overchurching is further complicated because less than half of the members can be relied
upon to support the church regularly, and this places a heavy
burden on the faithful few. The problem is still further complicated in individual cases where the churches are heavily in
debt, in which instances the burden of the faithful few is increased. In discussing overchurching, these factors must be
constantly kept in mind.
Finally, the man who builds a church in an already sufficiently churched or overchurched area does not always recruit
his members from among the unchurched people. He often
recruits them from the churches in the community.
REFLECTING HIS ENVIRONMENT
The social, economic and psychological factors that gave
birth and nurture to the Negro church, the restrictions in the