DeForest Soaries : Churches helped blacks ' political , cultural , spiritual progress . Slaves found , in the Bible , a means to cope with dire circumstances , he writes . More than place of a worship , Soaries says . People fulfilled potential there . So the separation between the sacred and the secular , the religious and the political , has not been as distinct among African- Americans . The church was an important part of that process.
DeForest Soaries : Churches helped blacks ' political , cultural , spiritual progress . Slaves found , in the Bible , a means to cope with dire circumstances , he writes . More than place of a worship , Soaries says . People fulfilled potential there . The church was an important part of that process.