Storefront church

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A storefront church is a church housed in a storefront building. Many African American Christians used to hold their worship services in such churches in the early years of the African American Christian experience in post-slavery America. Many African American congregations at that time did not have the financial foundation to build great cathedrals or even small sanctuaries. These building were usually rented out or sold to the small congregations. They were called storefronts because they were buildings that were once small stores that went out of business. The inside of the building was converted by putting in chairs and a make-shift pulpit. The storefront church also served as a hub for many poor African Americans to see leadership in an all black arena. Many storefronts emerged in the urban centers of the north and were filled with poor former slaves leaving the harsh memories of the south behind. Storefront churches were a center of social development and free speech for many poor African Americans to express their feelings about the struggles and hardships they faced everyday in their lives. They also provided a focus point for community unity and engagement. Storefronts are still very much a part of the African American Christian experience today; furthermore, the storefront church has also emerged within other cultures: “Storefront churches today are not just black and urban. Many have recently been established in Latino- and Asian-dominated neighborhoods, as well as poorer rural communities, typically serving similar functions as the storefront churches in historically black communities.”(http://www.pbs.org).

Storefront churches may still be found throughout the United States, among white and Latino neighborhoods as well as African American ones.