Imani Temple
Jennifer Puma
In contrast to black Protestants who severed their ties with their white-controlled
denominations, black Catholics have not been prone to schismatic tendencies.
An exception, however, is George Augustus
Stallings, Jr., the founder of the African-American Congregation.
He made a request to Cardinal James Hickey of Washington, D.C. that he
be permitted to establish an African-American rite that would have an independent
liturgy and socio-religious structure comparable to Eastern Rite Catholics.
Upon denial of this request, Stallings went to establish a new congregation
called the Imani Temple. He was consecrated a bishop on May 12, 1990,
by the prelate of the American Independent Orthodox Church. Bruce
Greening, one of Stalling's colleagues, went on to form the Independent
African-American Catholic Rite.
Links
http://northstar.vassar.edu
This is an online journal and an excellent resource for current African-American
issues and hard to find information.
http://www.tcnj.edu/~afamstd/finalweb/part1/pwrpnt/Imani
This website provides a brief overview of the Black Baptist and Imani
Temple religions in the form of a PowerPoint presentation with photos.
http://detnews.com/menu/stories/12894.htm
This newspaper has archives of stories concerning the founding of the
Imani Temple and the controversial
issues surrounding its inception.
http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/purpletlm/myhomepage/
This is the homepage for the AACC.
http://www.blackandchristian.com/articles/trussell1.html
More articles concerning the Black Baptist religion.
Works Consulted
The Encyclopedia of Africa and African American Religions, ed.
Stephen D. Glazier. New York: Routledge, 2001.
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