Beyond the Pulpit: Lay Perspectives on Black Laywomen Performing Religious Authority Restricted; Files Only
Buggs, Courtney (Summer 2019)
Published
Abstract
The purpose of this research is to analyze the ways in which 21stcentury laypersons perceive the performance of religious authority by African American women. In the context of black church culture, religious authority is located within the realm of the cleric, a realm that has historically been rendered inaccessible, or minimally accessible, to black women. This study highlights how laypersons have dislocated religious authority from the pulpit, and thus, recognize a range of activities as performance of religious authority. By decentralizing religious authority, laypersons disrupt institutional understandings of authority that function as gatekeepers.
Few studies show how laywomen understand themselves to exert religious authority without clergy status, particularly black laywomen. This study presents spiritual narratives of lay women and men who resist institutional understandings of religious authority and therefore, experience the richness of black women’s leadership despite cultural, traditional, and scriptural hindrances. It attends to the lived realities of laypersons and how they interpret the actions of black laywomen through the lens’ of local church history; personal history; and cultural history. The affirming perceptions of the study participants reflect an embraced border crossing for black laywomen, a crossing that more accurately portrays their contributions within black religious spaces.
Grounded in womanist theory and methodology, this qualitative study uses semi-structured interviews to examine: what perceptions about black women performing religious authority prevail in the 21stcentury laity; whether or not laywomen subvert traditional structures of authority in the black church; and ifstereotypical images of black women impact how listeners perceive black clergywomen or laywomen. Five dominant themes emerged in this study: 1) laypersons understand religious authority as the authority of all believers; 2) laypersons increasingly affirm black women performing religious authority, both as clergywomen and laywomen; 3) culture, tradition, and scriptural interpretations contribute to hindering black women, particularly in the performance of preaching; 4) laypersons perceive black women performing religious authority as ‘normal’ within the black community and the performance is evident in a myriad of practices, and 5) Media depictions of black women negatively impact how black laywomen are perceived in the performance of authority.
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION
Background
Research Questions
Purpose and Significance of Research
Organization of the Research
CHAPTER ONE. BODIES AND BLACK FEMININE EMBODIMENT
Philosophy and the Body
Theology and the Body
Mythologizing Women’s Bodies: Cult of True Womanhood
Materializing Women’s Bodies: Black Womanhood
CHAPTER TWO. RELIGIOUS AUTHORITY AND BLACK WOMEN’S POSITIONALITY
Black Women and Religious Authority
Black Feminine Positionality
A Subject in Jeopardy
Reimaging Black Womanhood Theologically: Womanist Theology
CHAPTER THREE. SYMPHONIES OF RESISTANCE
Recognition of Difference
Silence & Storytelling
Anger
Dissemblance
Strategic Religious Authority
Knowledge Validation
Erotic as Life Force
Summary – Chapters One, Two, and Three
CHAPTER FOUR. METHODOLOGY
Purpose of the Study
Research Design
Research Questions
Theoretical Perspective
Methodology
Role of the Researcher
Target Population
Procedures
Notification of Study
Participant Selection
Data Collection
Data Management
Data Analysis
Coding Strategy
Emergent Theme Determination
Ethical Considerations
Limits to the Research Design
CHAPTER FIVE. DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS
Introduction
Site Description
Participant Sample
Emergent Themes
Authority of All Believers
Black Laywomen’s Leadership is a ‘10’
Hindrances to Black Laywomen Persist
Black Laywomen’s Religious Authority is Normal
Media Depictions of Black Women are Detrimental
Subtheme
Attractiveness as a Listening Factor
CHAPTER 6. CONCLUSIONS
Purpose of This Research
The Power of Perceptions
Lay Leadership in the United Methodist Church
Chapter Summaries
Research Implications
Implications for Womanist Scholarship
Implications for Homiletical Scholarship
Future Research
BIBLIOGRAPHY
APPENDICES
Appendix A: Approval to Conduct Research at Site
Appendix B: Notification of Intent to Conduct Research
Appendix C: Participant Consent Form
Appendix D: Demographic Survey
Appendix E: Focus Group Questions
Appendix F: Interview Questions
About this Dissertation
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File download under embargo until 20 August 2025 | 2019-07-08 12:16:29 -0400 | File download under embargo until 20 August 2025 |
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