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Black and Evangelical

Glossary of Terms

Vocabulary Terms from the Video

American Tract Society
A non-denominational publisher that played a major role in the propagation of evangelical literature early in the nineteenth century. Formed by a merger of the New York and Massachusetts tract societies in 1825, the American Tract Society emerged as a pioneer in publishing, printing, and distributing more than five million tracts annually by the late 1820s. Today, ATS has approximately 136 print partners in 70 countries who distribute tracts in over 100 languages.1,2

The Bible News Hour
A mid-20th-century Christian radio program hosted by Bahamian-born evangelist Berlin Martin (B.M.) Nottage (1889–1966) and produced by the Christian Workers Fellowship of Detroit, Michigan. Originating from Nottage’s home base at Bethany Tabernacle, the broadcast focused on the relevance of biblical teachings to contemporary events and gained a national reach through collaboration with Chicago’s Moody Radio. The program also served as a pivotal early platform for William “Bill” Pannell (1929–2024), who joined Nottage as an associate pastor in 1954. Pannell, a gifted vocalist and "music minister," contributed to the show by singing special music and serving as an announcer. Together, they utilized the program to become leading voices in the Plymouth Brethren movement and African American evangelicalism during the 1950s. 3-5

Billy Graham Crusades
Evangelistic campaigns conducted by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association between 1947 and 2005. The first campaign, held September 13–21, 1947, at the Civic Auditorium in Grand Rapids, Michigan, was attended by 6,000 people. Concluding his last crusade in 2005 in New York, Graham had preached during 417 crusades, including 226 in the United States and 195 worldwide in over 50 countries with an estimated millions responding to his invitations to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior.6

Black Revolution
The Black power movement, or Black liberation movement, emerged in the mid-1960s from the mainstream civil rights movement in the United States, reacting against its moderate and incremental tendencies and representing the demand for more immediate action to counter white supremacy. Many of its ideas were influenced by Malcolm X's criticism of Martin Luther King Jr.'s nonviolent protest methods. While thinkers such as Malcolm X influenced the early movement, the views of the Black Panther Party, founded in 1966, are widely seen as the cornerstone. Black power was influenced by philosophies such as pan-Africanism, Black nationalism, and socialism, as well as contemporary events such as the Cuban Revolution and the decolonization of Africa.7

Campus Crusade for Christ (now known as Cru)
An interdenominational Christian parachurch organization. It was founded in 1951 at the University of California, Los Angeles by Bill Bright and Vonette Zachary Bright as a Christian ministry focused on university students. In 2011 the organization rebranded as “Cru" to reflect its expanded outreach to a broad range of audiences. Today, the Orlando-based organization has approximately 19,000 staff members in 190 countries.8

Civil Rights Movement
A social movement in the United States from 1954 to 1968 which aimed to abolish the legalized racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement that most commonly affected African Americans. After years of nonviolent protests and civil disobedience campaigns, the civil rights movement achieved many of its legislative goals in the 1960s, with new protections in federal law for the civil rights of all Americans, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.9

Evangelical
An “evangelical” is a Protestant Christian who believes in the authority of the Bible, the centrality of a conversion or born again experience, the primary importance of Christ’s death on the cross for salvation, and the importance of sharing their faith with others. The term has become more complicated by connections to political and cultural commitments, especially in the late 20th and early 21st century, making the term less clear and for some, less useful.

Evangelicalism
This term refers to a broad and diverse group of Christians worldwide whose beliefs and practices emerge from the influences of the Protestant Reformation, 18th and 19th century revival movements (often associated with figures like George Whitefield and John Wesley), and the 20th century efforts to uphold traditional orthodox beliefs. It includes Christians around the world of various denominations and ethnicities. It is primarily a religious movement, though not without cultural or political impact or influence.

Four Spiritual Laws
An evangelistic tool developed in 1959 by Campus Crusade for Christ (now Cru). It outlines Christianity through four key principles: 1) God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life (John 3:16, 10:10); 2) Humans are sinful and separated from God (Romans 3:23); 3) Jesus Christ is God’s only provision for sin (1 Corinthians 15:3-6, Romans 5:8); and 4) We must receive Christ personally as Savior and Lord through faith (Romans 10:9-10, John 1:12). Since its launch, over 2.5 billion Four Spiritual Laws booklets have been distributed globally in more than 200 languages.10

Great Migration
One of the largest population movements in United States history. Approximately six million Black people moved from the American South to Northern, Midwestern, and Western states roughly from the 1910s until the 1970s. The driving force behind the mass movement was to escape racial violence, pursue economic and educational opportunities, and obtain freedom from the oppression of Jim Crow segregation.11

Harlem
A neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street on the south. Culturally, Harlem is a historic epicenter of African American art, music, literature, and intellectual life, famously flourishing during the Harlem Renaissance (1920s-30s) as a “Black Mecca,” but also known for its rich tapestry of diverse ethnic groups (Dutch, Irish, Italian, Jewish, Latino) and enduring spirit of community, resilience, and activism, particularly in jazz, soul, hip-hop, civil rights, and soul food.12,13

Harlem Crusade
One of many special outdoor meetings that were organized by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association at different locations in New York City as a part of its larger New York Crusade. The New York Crusade was a major campaign conducted in 1957 in New York City by Graham.14

Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU)
Historically Black Colleges and Universities are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of serving African American students. Most are in the Southern United States and were founded during the Reconstruction era (1865–1877) following the American Civil War. Their original purpose was to provide education for African Americans in an era when most colleges and universities in the United States did not allow Black students to enroll.15

InterVarsity
Since 1941, InterVarsity has established and advanced student-led witnessing communities on college campuses across the country. Today, InterVarsity is equipping students and faculty to follow Jesus with their whole lives — for the rest of their lives. InterVarsity’s history stretches back to 1877, when a group of Christian students began to meet together to study the Bible and witness to fellow students. This eventually led to InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA and the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES).16

Christian Fellowship Missions Conference
See Urbana

Jim Crow
The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws introduced in the Southern United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that enforced racial segregation. The origin of the term "Jim Crow" is obscure, but probably refers to slave songs that refer to an African dance called "Jump Jim Crow." The last of the Jim Crow laws were generally overturned in 1965 by the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Formal and informal racial segregation policies were present in other areas of the United States as well, even as several states outside the South had banned discrimination in public accommodations and voting. Southern laws were enacted by white-dominated state legislatures (Redeemers) to disenfranchise and remove political and economic gains made by African Americans during the Reconstruction era. Such continuing racial segregation was also supported by the successful Lily-white movement.17

Moody Bible Institute
Moody Bible Institute (MBI) is a private evangelical Christian Bible college in Chicago, Illinois. It was founded by evangelist and businessman Dwight Lyman Moody in 1886. Moody Bible Institute became a flagship institution of fundamentalism early in the twentieth century. Its primary mission remains the training of pastors and missionaries.18,19

Moody Radio
Moody Radio is one of the largest Christian radio networks in the United States. Located in downtown Chicago, Moody Radio has 58 owned and operated stations and hundreds of affiliates and outlets that carry all or part of its programming. It is owned by the Moody Bible Institute.20

Moral Majority
The Moral Majority was an American political organization and movement associated with the Christian right and the Republican Party in the United States. It was founded in 1979 by Baptist minister Jerry Falwell Sr. and associates, and dissolved in the late 1980s. It played a key role in the mobilization of conservative Christians as a political force and particularly in Republican presidential victories throughout the 1980s.21

National Association of Evangelicals (NAE)
An evangelical alternative to the Federal Council of Churches, which evangelicals regarded as too ecumenical and too liberal, the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) grew out of the New England Fellowship organized by Ellwin Wright in 1929. The NAE is an American association of evangelical Christian denominations, organizations, schools, churches, and individuals, and a member of the World Evangelical Alliance. The association represents more than 45,000 local churches from about 40 different Christian denominations and serves a constituency of millions. The mission of the NAE is to honor God by connecting and representing evangelicals in the United States.22,23

National Black Evangelical Association (NBEA)
Organized in 1963 as the National Negro Evangelical Association, the National Black Evangelical Association (NBEA) took its present name during the period between 1968 and 1970. William H. Bentley, a prominent evangelical theologian in the African American community, served as the first president of the renamed organization. Although conservative in theology, the NBEA promotes both biblical and cultural integrity, as it seeks to encourage evangelicals of all backgrounds to be responsive to both the spiritual and social needs of society. With a heritage of African-descended consciousness and culture, NBEA members are Black believers who recognize themselves as created, loved, and redeemed by God.24

National Negro Evangelical Association (NNEA)
Formed in 1963, the National Negro Evangelical Association was launched to provide Black evangelical Christians with a source of community and empowerment for their gospel-inspired goal of reaching the lost for Christ and making the wounded whole. The co-founders of NNEA (which later became the NBEA) composed an impressive gathering of dedicated servants of Christ, who were committed to the Lord’s Church. The small but powerful group included the likes of Rev. Aaron M. Hamlin, Mother Dessie Webster, Rev. Marvin Prentis, Bishop Holman, Rev. Jeremiah Rowe (host pastor). Others joined this number at the inaugural convention: Rev. William H. Bentley, Missionary Ruth Lewis (Bentley), Rev. Tom Skinner, Rev. Howard Jones, Rev. Charles Williams, and others. The organization is cross-denominational, and respects both women and men and their gifts for ministry.25, 26

Navigators
The Navigators, an organization that promotes evangelical piety as well as knowledge and memorization of the Bible, evolved out of an evangelistic outreach to sailors in San Pedro, California, begun by Dawson and Lilia Trotman in 1933.27

North Lawndale
North Lawndale is one of the 77 community areas of the city of Chicago, Illinois, located on its West Side. The area contains the K-Town Historic District, the Foundation for Homan Square, the Homan Square interrogation facility, and the greatest concentration of greystones in the city. In 1968, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stayed in an apartment in North Lawndale to highlight the dire conditions in the area and used the experience to pave the way to the Fair Housing Act.28

Plymouth Brethren
The Plymouth Brethren or Assemblies of Brethren trace their history to Dublin, Ireland, in the late 1820s, where it originated from Anglicanism. The group, unhappy with formal ritual and clericalism of the established church, sought to replicate the simplicity of New Testament Christianity in their worship and theology. Plymouth Brethren generally see themselves as a network of like-minded free churches, not as a Christian denomination.29, 30

Promise Keepers
Promise Keepers is an evangelical Christian parachurch organization for men. Founded on December 3, 1990 by Bill McCartney, head football coach at the University of Colorado, it held mass events in football stadiums fulfilling McCartney's original vision: fifty thousand men piled into Folsom Stadium for singing, hugging and exhortations to be good and faithful husbands, fathers, and church goers. In 1997 they held their largest rally, Standing in the Gap: A Sacred Assembly of Men on the Mall in Washington D.C. The movement quickly faded and by 1998, Promise Keepers laid off its entire staff and was kept afloat by an infusion of contributions and grant by the Castle Rock Foundation, a politically conservative organization controlled by the Coors brewing empire.31, 32

Scripture Press
Scripture Press equips pastors, ministry leaders, and individuals with Sunday School curriculum, church supplies, and Christian books to support faith and spiritual growth.33

Soul Liberation
With members from New York and the Midwest, Soul Liberation was a musical group that performed at Tom Skinner’s crusades touring full-time with Skinner for 20 years from 1973 to 1993 doing about 260 gigs a year. They played at Urbana ‘70 just before Tom Skinner spoke.34

Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)
In the early 1960s, young Black college students conducted sit-ins around America to protest the segregation of restaurants. Ella Baker, a Civil Rights activist and Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) official, invited some of those young Black activists (including Diane Nash, Marion Barry, John Lewis, and James Bevel) to a meeting at Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina in April of 1960. From that meeting, the group formed the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). It was made up mostly of Black college students, who practiced peaceful, direct action protests. Ella Baker recommended that the group keep its autonomy and to not affiliate itself with the SCLC or other civil rights groups. SNCC participated in several major civil rights events in the 1960s. One of the earliest was the Freedom Rides in 1961. Members of SNCC rode buses through the South to uphold the Supreme Court ruling that interstate travel could not be segregated. They faced violent acts from the Ku Klux Klan and law enforcement, and many members were jailed. In 1962, SNCC embarked on a voter registration campaign in the south as many believed that voting was a way to unlock political power for many African Americans. Many SNCC members again dealt with violence and arrests. The Freedom Summer of 1964 saw SNCC focus its efforts in Mississippi. Voter registration campaigns were the primary focus for SNCC members in Mississippi, and their efforts gave momentum for the Voting Rights Act of 1965.35

Urban Ministries, Inc. (UMI)
UMI is the largest independent, African American-owned and operated Christian media company. Founded in 1970 by Melvin Banks with the expressed mission of filling the void in evangelical media and resources for African Americans and other communities of color, UMI publishes Christian education resources, including Bible studies, Sunday School and Vacation Bible School curriculum, books, movies, and websites designed for Black churches and individuals seeking a Christ-centered perspective on faith and life issues. Since its launch, UMI has served over 40,000 churches across the United States, the Caribbean, and Africa, and more than 100,000 Sunday school teachers have used UMI materials.36, 37

Urbana
Sponsored by InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, Urbana is a triennial missionary conference, one of the largest student missions conferences in the world. Urbana has called over 300,000 students to serve God’s global mission since 1946. Urbana combines gospel proclamation, dynamic worship, and missionary connection to launch students into a life of reaching people with the good news.38<

Westlawn Gospel Chapel
A Chicago-based community church with Plymouth Brethren roots. Located on the west side of Chicago’s North Lawndale neighborhood, Westlawn was planted in 1957 against the backdrop of massive “white flight.” From 1950 to 1960, North Lawndale's racial demographic changed almost entirely from white to Black. And by 1970, nearly all local stores and other businesses closed or fled the area. Throughout this social upheaval, Westlawn Gospel Chapel has stood as a beacon of God's love to North Lawndale residents. Its outreach to youth and families reflect the biblical conviction and holistic concern of its founding elders, a group of young Black evangelicals that included Melvin E. Banks, Sr. and Derrick Rollerson, Sr.39

Wheaton College
Established in 1860 as a co-ed institution, Wheaton College is a private, residential, and interdenominational Christian liberal arts college. Wheaton is an explicitly Christian, academically rigorous, fully residential liberal arts college and graduate school located in Wheaton, Illinois. More than 40 undergraduate degrees in the liberal arts and sciences, and 18 graduate degrees are offered by top-quality professors. Wheaton College is located in suburban Wheaton, a residential community 25 miles west of downtown Chicago.40

White Flight
White flight refers to the sudden or gradual large-scale migration of white people from areas becoming more racially or ethnoculturally diverse to more racially homogenous usually suburban regions. Starting in the 1950s and 1960s, the term became popular in the United States.41

WMBI Radio
WMBI-FM (90.1 MHz) is a radio station broadcasting in Chicago, Illinois. WMBI-FM is owned and operated by the Moody Bible Institute and consists of Christian talk, teaching, and music.42

Young Life
Founded by James C. Rayburn, Jr., Young Life is a Christian ministry that reaches out to middle school, high school, and college students in all 50 of the United States and in more than 100 countries around the world. Rayburn’s evangelistic efforts grew out of his formula: make meetings fun, aim for school leaders, hold meetings in private homes, and establish personal relationships.43, 44

Zion Bible Institute
Zion Bible Institute (now NorthPoint Bible College), was founded by Pentecostal pioneer Christine A. Gibson in 1924. Christine was head of The Zion Bible Institute in East Providence, Rhode Island to train ministers for Spirit-filled ministry. She advocated “faith principles” for its operation, refusing to rely on fees or advance pledges but rather on prayer.45

Notes

  1. Randall Balmer, Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism (Westminster John Knox Press, 2001), 19.
  2. “Wikipedia: American Tract Society,” Wikimedia Foundation, last modified November 27, 2025, at 04:24 (UTC), https://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/American_Tract_Society
  3. Jemar Tisby Footnotes
  4. CT Archives
  5. Wheaton Archives
  6. Randall Balmer, Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism (Westminster John Knox Press, 2001), 68.
  7. “Wikipedia: Black Power Movement,” Wikimedia Foundation, last modified January 7, 2026, at 01:47 (UTC), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_power_movement
  8. “Wikipedia: Cru,” Wikimedia Foundation, last modified December 28, 2025, at 20:01 (UTC), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cru_(Christian_organization)
  9. “Wikipedia: Civil Rights Movement,” Wikimedia Foundation, last modified January 13, 2026, at 01:54 (UTC), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_rights_movement
  10. “Wikipedia: Cru,” Wikimedia Foundation, last modified December 28, 2025, at 20:01 (UTC), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cru_(Christian_organization)
  11. “Archives.gov, The Great Migration,” last modified June 28, 2021, https://www.archives.gov/research/african-americans/migrations/greatmigration.
  12. “Wikipedia: Harlem,” Wikimedia Foundation, last modified January 3, 2026, at 18:32 (UTC), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harlem
  13. “National Museum of African American History & Culture: Harlem,” https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/new-african-american-identityharlem-renaissance
  14. Randall Balmer, Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism (Westminster John Knox Press, 2001).
  15. “Wikipedia: Historically Black colleges and universities,” Wikimedia Foundation, last modified January 1, 2026, at 13:10 (UTC), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historically_black_colleges_and_universities
  16. intervarsity.org
  17. “Wikipedia: Jim Crow,” Wikimedia Foundation, last modified November 9, 2025, at 07:49 (UTC), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Crow_laws
  18. Randall Balmer, Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism (Westminster John Knox Press, 2001) 389. Notes 17
  19. “Wikipedia: Moody Bible Institute,” Wikimedia Foundation, last modified January 6, 2026, at 13:46 (UTC), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moody_Bible_Institute
  20. “Wikipedia: Moody Radio,” Wikimedia Foundation, last modified September 30, 2025, at 20:39 (UTC), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moody_Radio
  21. “Wikipedia: Moral Majority,” Wikimedia Foundation, last modified October 31, 2025, at 00:26 (UTC), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_Majority
  22. “Wikipedia: National Association of Evangelicals,” Wikimedia Foundation, last modified December 27, 2025, at 00:59 (UTC), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Association_of_Evangelicals
  23. Randall Balmer, Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism (Westminster John Knox Press, 2001) 401.
  24. the-nbea.com
  25. Randall Balmer, Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism (Westminster John Knox Press, 2001) 402.
  26. Enclyclopedia.com
  27. Randall Balmer, Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism (Westminster John Knox Press, 2001) 403. Notes 18
  28. “Wikipedia: North Lawndale,” Wikimedia Foundation, last modified January 11, 2026, at 22:39 (UTC), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Lawndale,_Chicago
  29. “Wikipedia: Plymouth Brethern,” Wikimedia Foundation, last modified December 30, 2025, at 15:44 (UTC), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plymouth_Brethren
  30. Randall Balmer, Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism (Westminster John Knox Press, 2001) 458.
  31. “Wikipedia: Promisekeepers,” Wikimedia Foundation, last modified September 3, 2025, at 16:53 (UTC), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Promise_Keepers
  32. Randall Balmer, Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism (Westminster John Know Press, 2001) 470.
  33. “Scripture Press,” December 15, 2025, sundayschooldirect.com
  34. “Soul Liberation” December 15, 2025, https://bbemusic.com/artist/soul-liberation
  35. National Archives and Records Administration “Student Nonviolient Coordinating Committee (SNCC),” last modified June 17, 2022, https://www.archives.gov/research/african-americans/black-power/sncc
  36. “Wikipedia: Urban Ministries,” Wikimedia Foundation, last modified April 24, 2025, at 15:27 (UTC), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_Ministries
  37. December 15, 2025, https://urbanministries.com
  38. December 15, 2025, https://intervarsity.org
  39. January 13, 2026, https://www.westlawnyouthnetwork.org/aboutus
  40. “Wheaton College” December 15, 2025, https://www.wheaton.edu/
  41. “Wikipedia: White Flight,” Wikimedia Foundation, last modified January 12, 2026, at 22:55, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_flight
  42. “Wikipedia: WMBI-FM,” Wikimedia Foundation, last modified September 17, 2025, at 21:06, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WMBI-FM
  43. Randall Balmer, Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism (Westminster John Know Press, 2001) 648.
  44. December 15, 2025, https://www.younglife.org/about/history/
  45. December 15, 2025, https://northpoint.edu/about/

© 2026. All Rights Reserved.

Thank you to Edward Gilbreath and Jill Caballero for your work creating this glossary of terms and short bios. A special thank you to each of you for engaging in conversations to share your experience, learn from the experience of others and consider what it means to be Black + Evangelical.