2:00 p.m. - Quentin Scott

Why Don’t Black Men Attend Church?

Time: 2:00-2:50 p.m.

The research aims to identify the barriers that have hindered African American men from engaging and participating in significant numbers in the life of the African American Church. The researcher will focus on African American men aged 35-50 associated or connected with Churches belonging to the Minister's Conference of Baltimore and its vicinity. The research will use interviews to gather information and will consist of four groups of men: Attenders, Drifters, CME-Attenders, and Non-Attendants. The goal is to uncover the profound barriers men have not identified as obstacles to coming to Church, understand the issue, practice, or structure that ultimately nags at a man's inner self, and inform him that the place he is visiting is not the place for him. The research inquiry is: What accounts for the absence of Black men aged between 35 and 50 from churches that belong to the Minister's Conference of Baltimore and Vicinity? The aim is to unveil the underlying factors that prevent Black men from regularly attending these churches. It is assumed that the Black Church suffers from immature leadership that fails to resonate with the desires, needs, and aspirations of Black men and that Black men no longer perceive the Black Church as a catalyst for positive change, restoration, and growth within the Black community. The research suggests that although men do not cite leadership as the reason for their non-attendance, they do indicate that the church falls short in fulfilling its role as an agent of change, restoration, and expansion for Black men.