Black Church Studies

Black Church Studies Certificate Program logo

The Black Church Studies Certificate Program (BCSCP) at Yale Divinity School (YDS) offers a Certificate in Black Church Studies for students who wish to respond to the evolving work of the Black Church and to the critical needs of marginalized communities. The program is open to students interested in serving in historically Black congregations, and /or who are inspired by the rich and ecumenically diverse traditions of the Black Church. 

The BCSCP at YDS supports the inquiry of, and engagement with, practices of African American churches and other Christian communities throughout the African Diaspora. To cultivate such inquiry the BCS Certificate Program offers opportunities for dialogue with emerging and existing leaders in the Black church and in the broader community. 

Through course work, colloquia, special lectures and other culturally relevant events, the BCSCP creates the opportunity for innovative and interdisciplinary thinking, and space for dialogue that supports the development of a student’s unique voice and perspective on Black religious life. 

Director: Rev. Joanne Browne Jennings

BCSCP Requirements

  • Course work of at least twelve (12) credit hours of African American religious inquiry. One course must examine some aspect of African American history. 
  • Participation in one (1) colloquium per semester 
  • Participation in either the annual YDS/ New Haven Pilgrimage or the Biennial BCSCP Retreat. 
  • Complete one (1) supervised ministry in a BCSCP approved site.
  • Participate in a regular meeting designed specifically for BCSCP participants. 
  • MDiv students are required to confirm with the BCSCP director their intention to receive the BCS certificate at the beginning of their second year of study, no later than the last day to change a course grade for that semester. 
  • MAR students are required to confirm with the BCSCP director their intention to receive the BCS certificate at the beginning of the spring semester of their first year of study, no later than the last day to change a course grade for that semester. 
  • STM students are required to confirm with the BCSCP director their intention to receive the BCS certificate at the beginning of their course of study, no later than the last day to change a course grade for that semester. STM students are also required to offer a presentation tied to their research project in relation to Black Church Studies, at the end of their course of study. 

Black Church Studies group website

A group website supporting the Black Church Studies Certificate Program participants. This site provides more information about speakers, events, and academics.

BCSCP website

Contact

Rev. Joanne Jennings
Director of Black Church Studies

joanne.jennings@yale.edu

BCSCP Fall 2025 Courses

  • REL 3614 Creating Financially Sustainable Churches and Nonprofits
  • REL 3640 Emmaus Encounter: Puerto Rico
  • REL 527  The Hebrew Bible, Race and Racism
  • REL 624   Experiences in Ethics 
  • REL 663   TheAnglican Way ll: Continuing Depolarization*
  • REL 669   Black Feminist Theory, Black Womanist Ethics
  • REL 689   Theology, Race and the Built Environment
  • REL 719   Christianity and Coloniality in Contemporary Africa
  • REL 780   African American Religion in the Modern Civil  Rights Period*
  • REL 800   Introduction to Public Theology, Public Policy and Moral Fusion Movements in America* 
  • REL 824   Ministry and the Disinherited
  • REL 924   Foundations of Islam: Understanding Muslim Tradition, Practice and Encounter
  • REL 931   Ethics, Imagination and the Art of Living 

*Courses refer to courses that fulfil the BCSCP history requirement. 

All students who intend to participate in Supervised Ministry are required to take REL 3990 NegotiatingBoundaries.