Abstract
Since it is the American society which constitutes the principal setting for the Black Church, it is logical to begin a discussion of their interrelationships with some comment on the nature of that society. This raises an immediate problem, for the “American society” is not one, but many. It is not monolithic, but pluralistic. It is, in fact, a most remarkable example of a societal conglomerate—an extraordinary conglutinate of heterogenous subcultures. It is held together by a common commitment to what is believed to be a peculiarly insightful understanding of the meaning of life, and a concomitant formula for the effective realization of that meaning. Critical to this national understanding is a prevailing religious consciousness vitalized by an ethic which gives dignity and purpose to human existence, and which purposes to order human behavior in comformance with that principle. This Judeo-Christian convention (in which the Black Church finds a distinctive participation), is the organizing matrix of the American social cosmos. Indeed, it was the primary impetus which spurred the founding of this civilization in the first place, and it remains the principal structural factor defining and unitizing the contemporary American society.