Leisure in the Life of the 21st Century Black Church: Re-Thinking the Gift

Scholarship devoted to examining the role that leisure plays in the life of the Black Church is lacking. Leisure is an important facet of congregational life in African American churches and permeates congregational dynamics on multiple levels. The purpose of this essay is to examine leisure in the life of the Black Church and posit how a healthy, theologically accurate understanding of the value of leisure can help with health and wellness promotion, community-economic development and church growth. The Black Church is defined as the eight historically Black denominations: African Methodist Episcopal, African Methodist Episcopal Zion, Christian Methodist Episcopal, Church of God in Christ, National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc., National Baptist Convention of America, National Missionary Baptist Convention, and Progressive National Baptist Convention. How the Black Church defines leisure philosophically and theologically continues to evolve. The focal points of discussion in this paper include: (1) the tension between religious tradition, leisure and the Black Church; (2) the value of leisure to the 21st century Black Church; (3) leisure as a catalyst for promoting physical activity in Black churches; and (4) social leisure as an important facet of congregational life and church growth. among African American churches. This essay also provides examples of how progressive Black churches across the United States have utilized leisure to develop health promotion programs, and to spur church growth. Finally, this paper calls for additional research specific to leisure and the Black Church along with the espousal of a meaningful theology of leisure by Black churches

Leisure in the Life of the 21st Century Black Church: Re-Thinking the Gift

Scholarship devoted to examining the role that leisure plays in the life of the Black Church is lacking. Leisure is an important facet of congregational life in African American churches and permeates congregational dynamics on multiple levels. The purpose of this essay is to examine leisure in the life of the Black Church and posit how a healthy, theologically accurate understanding of the value of leisure can help with health and wellness promotion, community-economic development and church growth. The Black Church is defined as the eight historically Black denominations: African Methodist Episcopal, African Methodist Episcopal Zion, Christian Methodist Episcopal, Church of God in Christ, National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc., National Baptist Convention of America, National Missionary Baptist Convention, and Progressive National Baptist Convention. How the Black Church defines leisure philosophically and theologically continues to evolve. The focal points of discussion in this paper include: (1) the tension between religious tradition, leisure and the Black Church; (2) the value of leisure to the 21st century Black Church; (3) leisure as a catalyst for promoting physical activity in Black churches; and (4) social leisure as an important facet of congregational life and church growth. among African American churches. This essay also provides examples of how progressive Black churches across the United States have utilized leisure to develop health promotion programs, and to spur church growth. Finally, this paper calls for additional research specific to leisure and the Black Church along with the espousal of a meaningful theology of leisure by Black churches

What African Americans Can Do to Bridge the Swimming Gap: A Call to Action

Over the last ten years, the gap in swimming participation between Whites and other minority groups has been well documented. Moreover, the intrapersonal, interpersonal, and structural constraints to swimming participation by African Americans have been clearly delineated. With the challenges surrounding the minority swimming gap acknowledged, the impetus should now be on creating strategies to rectify the problem. This paper argues for a collective effort on the part of the African American community to ameliorate the swimming gap, thus lessening the senseless deaths associated with it. In this paper strategic actions are outlined including advocacy and the creation of viable partnerships to bridge the swimming gap. Most notably, the authors applaud the efforts of African American swimming luminaries such a Cullen Jones and many others who continue to articulate the importance and urgency of African Americans learning to swim but surmise that they cannot do the “heavy lifting” by themselves to encourage and inspire African Americans to learn to swim. Organizations such as the National Urban League (NUL), the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Congressional Black Caucus and media moguls such as Oprah Winfrey, Tyler Perry, and Mo’Nique are encouraged to join forces with the NUL and NAACP in developing a broad-based initiative to promote learning to swim. In summary, the authors argue that the African American community must play a significant role in developing solutions to curb drownings and close the swimming gap

The Complexities of De-Constructing the Constraints to African American Female Participation in Swimming: A Rejoinder to Irwin et al.

This rejoinder to Irwin et al. is written to address several concerns regarding “Myth #4: Personal Appearance Limitations” in their recent article. Constraints to leisure are complex and become more complicated when race, culture, family socialization, and hair are combined. Despite the data-driven evidence which they argue refutes “Myth 4” there are several practical concerns that are raised toward better understanding the responses of African American females in the study. We posit that a heightened understanding of the interaction between culture, race, and gender in the case of African American females is vital to the interpretation of the data associated with “Myth 4.

Collegiate Sport Chaplaincy: Problems and Promise

Sport chaplaincy has been evolving since the latter half of the twentieth century, and many professional teams and professional organizations utilize the services of chaplains. Several licensing and credentialing organizations do train chaplains, counselors and mentors, but they are not necessarily aimed at sport chaplains. Chaplains have become more prominent in collegiate athletics as well and as such several training programs have developed for collegiate sport chaplains. Collegiate institutions, parachurch organizations and nonprofit faith-based organizations offer the programs that do exist. However, in collegiate athletics there is no governing body that oversees the training requirements or qualifications of chaplains. This has led to some chaplains providing counseling, therapy, and suicide intervention, which may go beyond their qualifications and thus require additional extensive training and/or licensure. The work of chaplains with student-athletes at public institutions also raises the issue of the separation of church and state. The promise of sport chaplains is that they provide holistic care, support, and education beyond wins and losses. Problems arise because there are no established qualifications or training criteria. The issue at hand is trying to balance the benefits of having chaplains while addressing the concerns that have arisen as a result in the growth of sport chaplains

Surveying the Landscape of Theories and Frameworks Used in the Study of Sport and Religion: An Interdisciplinary Approach

Religion and sport is a bourgeoning and maturing interdisciplinary area of study. As the volume of research conducted about topics related to the interface of religion and sport, attention to sound research methods, including the use of relevant theories and theoretical/conceptual frameworks becomes essential. Scholars such as Stausberg and Engler (2014) have posited that the methods used in religious studies (including theory and frameworks) are not as rigorous as those utilized in social science related fields. The imperative then becomes to use theories and frameworks from social science related disciplines such as leisure studies, sports studies and sport psychology to strengthen scholarship in this emerging area. The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of pertinent theories and theoretical/conceptual frameworks that are commonly used in the study of sport and religion. An interdisciplinary approach is taken to highlighting and expounding on a select group of theories and theoretical/conceptual frameworks

Navigating Rough Waters: Public Swimming Pools, Discrimination, and the Law

Historically, swimming pools have been a focal point of racial tension. Discrimination and segregation are inextricably tied to the history of public swimming usage in the United States. Pools are public spaces that are physically and visually intimate. History has revealed that both de jure (enacted through the law by the government) and de facto (occurs through social interaction) discrimination have contributed to segregatory practices in the United States. The purpose of this article is twofold: 1) to examine the social pattern of discrimination that has stymied the growth of swimming in communities of color in the United States; and 2) to examine key legal cases that helped to mitigate discriminatory practices in the use of public swimming pools in the United States. Landmark cases such as Plessy v. Ferguson, Brown v. Topeka, and Dawson v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore each helped to cast a bright light on the practice of segregation and public swimming pools. In spite of the history of discrimination and segregation relative to public swimming pools in the United States, citizens, stakeholder groups and professional associations must be advocates to ensure that public pools are protected and that the patterns of discrimination and “neuvo-segregation” do not persist

Equal Access: A National Comparison of Federal Grants-in-Aid Awarded at Public and Private Four-Year Degree Granting Institutions

More than twelve million undergraduate students in the United States benefit from some form of financial aid. Statistics from the U.S. Department of Education (as cited in The American Council of Education 2008) indicate that 76% of undergraduates at public four-year degree-granting institutions during the 2003-2004 academic year received financial aid, while 89% of undergraduate students at private four-year not-for-profit degree-granting institutions were aid recipients

Does Race Matter? Understanding the role of social connectedness in student retention in hospitality programs

The recruitment and retention of ethnic minority students lies at the core of diversity efforts instituted by colleges and universities across the U.S. Withstanding the changing racial demographics in the U.S. and the need to have qualified ethnic minority professionals serving diverse communities, retention and matriculation heighten in importance. With the recruitment and retention challenge that many predominately White institutions (PWI’s) face in mind, this study aimed to understand how “social connectedness” related to retaining African-American students in a hospitality management program. Focus groups were utilized to chronicle the lived experience of African-American students. The findings suggest that the following factors play an important role in the retention of African American students: (1) being connected to the program, university community, and other ethnic minority students; (2) the depth and quality of relationships with faculty