The prosperity model turned black churches from prophetic spaces into profit centers

Evidence

But the fall of Bishop Long should not be seen as an isolated instance of a corrupt and hypocritical preacher. The theology and business model of New Birth wasn’t unique to him. It has spread like a virus throughout black Christendom, transforming the role and function of black churches from the prophetic spaces we associate with the civil rights movement, which provided resources for the most vulnerable in our communities and helped challenge white supremacy, to profit centers in the name of God. — Eddie S. Glaude Jr., Democracy in Black, 383

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to broader literature on the decline of black civic institutions and the prosperity gospel’s spread through black Christianity; also relevant to analysis of megachurches as consumption sites. — connects to: Spiritual salvation and political racial advancement were fused in black church tradition — Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Righteous Discontent: The Women’s…, 565; Black churches historically functioned as multipurpose civic institutions — Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Righteous Discontent: The Women’s…, 798; Black ministers deliberately fused churches with Auburn Avenue financial institutions to build community power — Kevin M. Kruse, White Flight: Atlanta and the Making of…, 76