This collection, described below, consists of the documents which record the planning and proceedings of the 1984 and 1986 National Summits on Black Church Development. Matthew Parker was a key figure in coordinating both Summits. The records of both meetings reveal a network of Black Christian leaders and reveal their thinking and planning together to address the needs of their own churches and communities, the role of the Black church in evangelism and missions, and the place of the Black church within the American church. A great value of the collection is that it not only documents the planning for these significant meetings but also preserves the record of Black church and ministry leaders conferring and learning together as they analyze their history and current situation and plan for the future. The arrangement of the collection has remained as it was received. Duplicates were returned to the donor.

Audio and videotapes comprise a major part of the collection. Audio recordings (see Location Record: Audio Tapes) provide a comprehensive record of the smaller working sessions of both Summits, while the video footage covers the 1986 Summit plenary sessions and a sampling of the small group sessions (see Location Record: Videotape).

Series: Paper Records

Arrangement: Chronological

Date range: 1983-1986

Volume: .2 cubic feet (4 folders)

Box: 1

Type of documents: Correspondence, memos, reports, conference participant list and schedule, minutes, financial records, clippings about the summits, evaluations, audio tapes, videotapes, etc. documenting the 1984 and 1986 meetings.

Correspondents: Matthew Parker and Haman Cross (1984 summit co-directors, Parker was the 1986 Summit coordinator), various Black Evangelical leaders

Notes: The first Summit is documented in folders 1-1, 2 and 4. In addition to correspondence and other documents which record the planning phase for the meeting, the folders also include letters from participants evaluating the meeting and expressing their appreciation. Folder 1-3 documents the follow-up summit held in 1986; several items related to the second Summit also appear in folders 1-1 and 2. The preponderance of documents record the preparation for the conference rather than the content of the conference itself; however, they reveal the existing network from which the summits was developed in an attempt to expand and strengthen it. The audio and videotapes of the two summits are the primary resource for the presentations and deliberations of the meetings.

Exceptional items: The two directories compiled for the two summits are a valuable resource. Both list the names and addresses of the participants and observers at the meetings; the 1986 directory (folder 1-3) provides details on the ministry of the participant and his/her organization. The 1984 directory (folder 1-4) contains a variety of addenda (Black Colleges Directory; Black Firsts in Politics, Entertainment, Sports and Other Fields; Guide to Negro Newspapers and Periodicals in the US; Scholarships for Black Students; Bright Job Prospects for the 1980s; Direct Mail Guidelines).

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Series: Audio tapes

Arrangement:Chronological

Volume: 76 audio tapes

The audio cassettes described in Location Record: Audio Tapes below are uninterrupted recordings of the working sessions, although they are not necessarily the working sessions in their entirety, since there were references to technical difficulties which prevented all the sessions from being recorded. The recordings are of group discussions rather than an individual speaker; although the tape recorders were positioned in an attempt to be equally distant from the speakers (which may have numbered between four and ten) and ensure that all speakers were audible, in many cases, the volume of some of the speakers is quite low. Tapes are subdivided by regional areas; within each area, tapes may be available for each of the Summit's three working sessions. Many but not all tapes were labeled by area and session number; in some cases the tape was labeled improperly, whereas in others with no label, the identification was an approximation made by the archivist.

National Summit on Black Church Development, 1984. Lists of the members of the six working committees and their published deliberations and conclusions are found in Black Church Development, described on the Location Record: Books. The arrangement of the tapes follows the general sections as they are laid out in that book. Unless otherwise noted, the recordings are on ninety-minute cassette tapes.

T1 - Devotions and ministry presentations (recorded on both sides, begins halfway through side 2, then continues on side 1) Willie Richardson (Psalm 51 on need for confession); unidentified speaker (Romans 12); Herman Heade, Jr., and Alan Chambers (Prison Fellowship). June 7, 1984.

T2 - J. Perkins. June 8, 1984. Discussion among observers and participants. June 8, 1984.

Evangelism Committee

T3 - June 6, 1984. Purpose of evangelism, biblical and historical

June 7, 1984. Methods and models, biblical perspective

T4 - June 7, 1984. Methods, history, models

T5 - June 7, 1984. Implementation, Black history

T6 - National Summit large group session on evangelism

T7 - Management.

Discipleship Committee

T8 - June 6 1984. Purpose

T9 - June 7, 1984.

T10 - June 8, 1984.

T11 - June 8, 1984.

June 6, 1984. Lecture.

Church Planting Committee (it is uncertain what the page numbers refer to)

T12 - June 6, 1984. Pages 1-9 (Tape 1). 60-minute tape.

T13 - June 6, 1984. Pages 9-17 (Tape 2)

T14 - June 6, 1984. Pages 18-27 (Tape 3). 60-minute tape.

T15 - June 6, 1984. Pages 27-29 (Tape 4)

June 7, 1984. Pages 29-32 (Tape 5)

T16 - June 7, 1984. Pages 1-7 (Tape 1)

T17 - June 7, 1984. Pages 8-13 (Tape 2). 60-minute tape.

T18 - June 7, 1984. (Tape 3). 60-minute tape.

T19 - June 8, 1984. Pages 1- . 60-minute tape.

Leadership Development Committee

T20 - June 6, 1984. (1)

T21 - June 7, 1984. (2)

T22 - June 7, 1984.

T23 - June 7, 1984.

June 7-8, 1984.

T24 - June 8, 1984.

Educational Development Committee

T25 - June 6, 1984. 60-minute tape.

T26 - June 6, 1984.

T27 - June 6, 1984.

T28 - June 6, 1984. 60-minute tape.

June 7, 1984

T29 - June 7, 1984.

T30 - June 7, 1984. 60-minute tape.

T31 - June 7, 1984.

T32 - June 7, 1984.

June 8, 1984.

T33 - June 8, 1984. Implementation and evangelism resources

Christian Community Development Committee

T34 - June 6, 1984.

T35 - June 6, 1984.

June 7, 1984.

T36 - June 7, 1984.

T37 - June 7, 1984.

Discussion

T38 - June 8, 1984. Discussion among participants and observers. Audio is soft.

T39 - June 8, 1984. Discussion among participants and observers. Audio is soft.

National Summit on Black Church Development, 1986. Recording may be on one or both sides of the cassette, in some cases on the back only. The seven areas into which the 1986 Summit was divided represent distinct geographical regions of the country. The number which appears in parentheses at the end of each tape description is the number assigned by those recording the sessions. A video version of the 1986 Summit, encompassing the plenary sessions and a sampling of the working sessions, is available on V1 through V4.

Area I (Northeast: Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Washington DC):

T40 - Working Session I (4)

T41 - Working Session I (10)

T42 - Working Session II (5)

T43 - Working Session II (6)

T44 - Working Session II (7)

T45 - Working Session III (8)

T46 - Working Session III (9)

Area II (Southeast: Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia):

T47 - Working Session I (34)

T48 - Working Session I or II (35)

T49 - Working Session II? (36)

T50 - Working Session II (11)

T51 - Working Session II (12)

T52 - Working Session III (1)

Area III (Midwest: Idaho, Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin):

T53 - Working Session I (13)

T54 - Working Session I (14)

T55 - Working Session II (15)

T56 - Working Session II (16)

T57 - Working Session III (2)

T58 - Working Session III (3)

Area IV (Illinois):

T59 - Working Session I (19)

T60 - Working Session I (20)

T61 - Working Session II (17)

T62 - Working Session II (18)

T63 - Working Session II or III (38)

Area V (Michigan):

T64 - Working Session I (21)

T65 - Working Session I (22)

T66 - Working Session II (23)

T67 - Working Session II or III (24)

Area VI (South: Alabama, Mississippi, Missouri, Texas):

T68 - Working Session I (25)

T69 - Working Session II (26)

T70 - Working Session II (27)

T71 - Working Session II or III (28)

Area VII (West: California, Colorado, Oregon):

T72 - Working Session I (29)

T73 - Working Session I (30)

T74 - Working Session I (31)

T75 - Working Session I or II (32)

T76 - Working Session II (33)

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Series: Video Tapes

Arrangement: Chronological

Volume: 4 video tapes

Videotapes: The video version of the 1986 Summit, encompassing the plenary sessions and a sampling of the working sessions, is available on V1 through V4. They were not an attempt to record the meeting in its entirety, nor to capture each speaker as he or she was speaking. Speakers at the podium during general sessions are usually identified, whereas speakers during working sessions are not. The audio portion is recorded through the video camera microphone and therefore sometimes very soft. For a full schedule of the 1986 Summit and list of its participants see folder 1-3. Not all those listed on the participant list by area were present during the working sessions.

V1 - National Summit on Black Church Development, 1986. 4 hours. General assembly on June 10, 1986, moderated by Haman Cross, Jr., including participants' introduction of themselves, musical presentation, comments by Honorable Gershwin Drain and Matthew Parker, testimonies about developments since the 1984 Summit (approximately 2 hours). Devotions on June 11, 1986, led by Willie Richardson based on Acts 11 followed by group singing (approximately ½ hour). Working session I on June 11, 1986. Video recording sampled the seven regional working groups in order, discussing issues and proposing strategies and solutions in areas such as Christian education, economics, the relation of the gospel to social issues, leadership development, family, and urban development. Identified among those speaking in each regional group are: Region I (Joseph Jeter and Tom Skinner), Region III (Elward Ellis, Alfonso Tyler and Hank Allen), Region IV (Henry Soles, Russell Knight, Oliver Triview), Region V (Haman Cross and Eugene Seals, Region VI (Lem Tucker, Donovan Case, Reuben Conner), Region VII (Bob Harrison, John Perkins, Bill Pannell, Verly Sangster) (approximately 1½ hours).

V2 - National Summit on Black Church Development, 1986. VHS, 4 hours. General assembly on Wednesday evening, June 11, 1986. Beginning with a musical presentation, prayer, and comments by Crawford Loritts and Elward Ellis about Destiny '87 which they were coordinating (approximately 1 hour), the remainder of the session consisted of discussion on the topic "Development of a Black Christian Film." Film producer Ken Anderson made some preliminary comments followed by lengthy discussion of the economics, strategy, goals, and schedule of such a project, as well as analysis of white Evangelicalism and use of media, and the sociology of the Black church and community. Not all speakers appear on camera, but among the identified speakers are: Elward Ellis, Tom Skinner, Bill Pannell, Joseph Jeter, Crawford Loritts, Henry Soles, Glandion Carney, Matthew Parker, John Perkins, Dwight McKee, Dolphus Weary (approximately 1½ hours). Devotions on June 12 1986, led by Dophus Weary with an emphases on working together, followed by announcements and a short presentation by Dwight McKee describing the need for financial stewardship and the dynamics of working within white Christian organizations (approximately ½ hour). Working session II on June 12, 1986. Video recording sampling the first four regional working groups in order, discussing economic issues and the Black clergy. Identified among those speaking in each regional group are: Region I (Joseph Jeter, Tom Skinner, Carl Ellis, Willie Richardson), Region II (Crawford Loritts, Tom Fritz, Tom Fortson), Region III (Elward Ellis, Alfonso Tyler), Region IV (Russell Knight, Oliver Triview, Darlene Hannah, Brenda Tankson) (approximately 1 hour).

V3 - National Summit on Black Church Development, 1986. VHS, 3¾ hours. Continuation of working session II, discussing the future of the Black church and its contribution to the American church. Identified among those speaking in the respective regional groups are: Region V (Haman Cross, Jr., Lee June, Prentice Tipton, Pellam Love), Region VI (Jacqueline Tilles, Tony Evans, Dolphus Weary), Region VII (John Perkins, Bill Pannell, Bob Harrison, Glandion Carney) (approximately 1½ hours). Announcements and music (approximately ½ hour). General assembly on Thursday evening, June 12, 1986. Beginning with announcements and musical presentation (½ hour), the remainder of the session consisted of discussion on the topic "Can Black and White Christians Network Together?" Not all speakers appear on camera, but among the identified speakers are: Tom Skinner, Joseph Jeter, Glandion Carney, Matthew Parker, John Perkins, Dwight McKee, Dolphus Weary, Michael Haynes, Haman Cross, Tony Evans, Pellam Love, Carl Ellis, Bob Harrison, Dolphus Weary, Stan Gundry (approximately 1¾ hours).

V4 - National Summit on Black Church Development, 1986. VHS, approximately 2¼ hours. Singing and announcements, presentation honoring Matthew Parker, introduction by Tom Skinner to devotions by Tony Evans (approximately 1 hour). Samplings of various area groups in working session III. Identified among those speaking in each regional group are: Region I (Joseph Jeter, Reginald Ragland, Tom Skinner, David Garnett discussing economic needs, passivity among Evangelicals, role of education), Region II (Vernon Watford and Tom Fritz), Region III (Henry Allen and others discussing networking and obstacles which prevent it), Region V (Haman Cross, Pellam Love, Prentice Tipton and others discussing the need for pastors as servants and the value of substance over image and style), and Region VII (John Perkins, Stan Gundry, Bill Pannell, Donovan Case, Darlene Hannah discussing the exclusion of women church leaders, housing, taking responsibility, developing financial responsibility) (approximately 1¼ hours). Concluded by several minutes of the end of the lunch hour with panning and closeup shots of participants conversing in small groups.