Resonance and Its Influence on African American Participation/Membership in the Christian Church Disciples of Christ as Observed in Preston Taylor

December 3, 2025

Resonance and Its Influence on African American Participation/Membership in the Christian Church Disciples of Christ as Observed in Preston Taylor’s Discourse

George William Pinkard | 2024

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative study was to answer the question: How did the early African American Disciples of Christ (DOC) leaders and members interpret reality (i.e., what unique cognitive structures existed among African American DOC members) that shaped their decision to join/remain in a historically racist denomination? To answer this question, after exploring the DOC document archives, this study selected to limit its scope to an original historical document from Preston Taylor—a prototypical African American leader within the DOC, who presented this corpus only 50 years after the Emancipation Proclamation. Using a phenomenological lens and a conceptual framework that included resonance (Giorgi, 2017), Neale’s (1987) connection between cultural and social identity and group behavioral issues, and sensemaking (Weick, Sutcliffe, & Obstfeld, 2005), the seminal, thematically rich 5-page work entitled Preston Taylor, The Status and Outlook of the Colored Brotherhood by the Honorable Reverend Preston Taylor (1917) was coded and sorted into three metathemes: (a) color-related themes, (b) people-related themes, and (c) church-related themes. Seven principles emerged from these themes: (a) colored people must be organized for work; (b) the DOC needs to develop true New Testament Christian behavior/character toward and among colored people, (c) the DOC has been ignorant and neglectful and shown disdain toward colored brothers, (d) stereotypes and suspicions of DOC against developing or trusting colored leadership must be challenged, (e) White DOC brothers are still our brothers, (f) colored people who discover their value/worth rise above the adverse circumstances/conditions, and (g) stereotypes and suspicions of DOC against developing or trusting colored leadership must be challenged.

Keywords: social identity, ecclesial group behavior, Disciples of Christ, ecclesial sensemaking, overcoming ecclesial racial disparity, ecclesial racial reconciliation

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