( CNN ) -- It can not be denied that African-Americans have made tremendous progress -- and one of the most significant factors that contributed to black success and survival has been our faith in God . The manifestation of that faith is the religious community , which consists mostly of Christian churches that have produced positive spiritual , social , economic and political results for black America . The question is whether black churches can continue to be the instruments of empowerment that they historically have been . Perhaps an understanding of the emergence and prominence of the African- American church will offer some insight to the potential that these churches still possess . Eighty-seven percent of African-Americans report they are affiliated with a particular religious group , and 95 percent of those claim to be Christians , according to the 2007 U.S . Religious Landscape Study conducted by the Pew Research Center . Belief in God , regular prayer , worship attendance and belief in life after death are some of the core beliefs of a large majority of African-Americans . Although the expressions of faith and religious practices might differ , religious faith itself is a constant in black America . The African-American religious experience is a result of a convergence of African culture , biblical hermeneutic and social resistance , woven into institutions . The common threads among the culturally diverse African slaves in North America were communal living , extended families , cultural leadership and a deeply rooted appreciation for spirituality . Enslaved Africans were exposed to the literature of the Christian Bible , and they found comfort and direction in the same book that was used to justify their enslavement . Slaves met the indignities and injustices that denied them their humanity with the same resistance that humans throughout history have shown oppression . Religion in general and Christianity in particular became an answer to the mysteries of the cosmos and a way to cope : Only a belief in an unseen power and a faith in a divine advocate could sustain a people who faced such daunting circumstances . When the highest court in the land relegates one 's race to subhuman status as a matter of law -- which the Supreme Court did in the Dred Scott decision of 1857 -- people need a source of authenticity for their identity . That source for African-Americans was the God of the Bible , who had sent Moses to lead the slaves out of slavery and who had sent his son to preach `` good news to the poor and set the captives free . '' But that cultural background within Christianity translated into an ecclesiology that not only nurtured the development of the black churches , but also conferred upon black clergy a status that has been akin to royalty . Although the role of professional clergy in the Protestant church at large was viewed as a vocation , African-Americans tended to treat their clergy as more than just employees of the church -- they were royal tribal leaders for the community . So the separation between the sacred and the secular , the religious and the political , has not been as distinct among African- Americans . The clergy had to be advocates for justice , arbiters of internal disputes within the community and managers of sacramental affairs , all in one . And the churches themselves had to be more than places to learn about and worship God . In a segregated society , church was the place where people fulfilled their human potential , developed their God-given talents , made corporate decisions , voted for their officers , owned property , created benevolent societies , raised money for schools and scholarships , celebrated their marriages , blessed their babies , mourned their loved ones ' deaths and even learned how to read . When states passed laws making it illegal to teach black people to read , many learned in church . Even people with little faith had great respect and admiration for the church , if for no other reason than it was a `` surrogate world '' for black people , as E. Franklin Frazier noted in his book , `` The Negro Church in America , '' in 1963 . The worship styles , doctrinal distinctions and organizational structures are so diverse that it is really a misnomer to refer to `` the '' black church . Many black churches make up the black religious experience . What is irrefutable is that without a deep and authentic faith and a passion for the institutional development of that faith , African-Americans could have never sustained the fortitude necessary to survive and succeed in the American experience . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the Rev . DeForest Soaries , Jr .
DeForest Soaries : Churches helped blacks ' political , cultural , spiritual progress . They found , in the Bible , a means to cope with dire conditions , he writes . More than place of a worship , Soaries wrote . They fulfilled themselves there . He says black churches instrumental in helping people grow and change .