Week 10 Assgn 1, McClure L
docx
keyboard_arrow_up
School
Walden University *
*We aren’t endorsed by this school
Course
6723
Subject
Arts Humanities
Date
Jan 9, 2024
Type
docx
Pages
8
Uploaded by AdmiralRock2460
1
Come, let’s shout praises to God.
Leatha McClure
Coun 6723: Multicultural Counseling
Dr. Duane Halbur LMHC-IA, LPC-IL, NCC
May 5, 2022
Figures title:
2
Come, let’s shout praises to God.
The following paper is about my experience of attending a predominantly Black church and how this experience will influence my multicultural knowledge and cultural competence as a
student and future counselor. I have become very aware of the damage being socially isolated has
caused me over the years now that I must become culturally competent. Sunday service
On April 23, 2022, I attended the Sunday church service at Macedonia Christian Ministries. I attended with my friend Juantanya who is a member of the congregation. We arrived
early, and I could sit in on the Bible Life class that takes part before the actual church service. I was the only Caucasian present this Sunday. The Bible Life class is what I grew up knowing as Sunday school. What fascinated me the most was the interaction between the congregation and the church’s leaders. In the traditional northern, white congregation churches, the congregation does not interact with the leaders but is preached and talked at. Even in Sunday school, a leader does the speaking, and the congregation can answer questions if asked. I have attended Methodist, Presbyterian, and Protestant churches. In Bible Life, a younger man was speaking on the sermon from the Sunday prior, and members of the congregation spoke up about how that lesson had been instrumental in their lives at some point and how it had helped them to deal with
the trial or tribulation they were living at that time. This class lasted for about 45 minutes before the main congregation started filling up the sanctuary. As the time for service approached, a small band consisting of a guitar, keyboard, and drums started to play gospel music. When it became time for the service to begin, the music minister came forward along with two backup singers and proceeded to lead the congregation in several songs. This music was nothing like the hymns sang in the churches I have gone to in the past. It was fast, rousing,
Figures title:
3
and made you want to move your body. Even though I did not know the words, I tried to sing along, swaying and tapping my foot to the music. Four different people led the congregation in song throughout the service. After the first two singers, the minister’s wife came forward to deliver the sermon. The minister had spent the weekend in Mobile, AL, attending to private matters with his family. He was so excited about the prospect of his wife ministering to the congregation that he left in the wee hours of the morning to be witness to her sermon. The First Lady (what they called his wife) led the congregation in song and then told of her mother leading
her in the way of the Lord and her belief in the child being touched by the hand of God and destined for this spiritual journey. The congregation interacted with her as she spoke, and she interacted back. This type of interaction is not seen in a White congregation up North. After she was done witnessing her journey, the minister then spoke about the year’s theme of finding yourself in 2022 and how even they continued to find themselves after years of being in the ministry. After the tithe and offering were given and another selection of music was sung, the benediction was given, and the service was over. Before the service and after, I was greeted with smiles and hugs from the church family of my friend. I was asked to come again and never felt like an outsider after the initial feeling of being “other” when I first entered the building. The experience
I chose the experience of attending a predominantly Black church because I had gone to a Baptist
church with a high school friend years before and was shocked by the experience. When I attended that church, people spoke in tongues, danced with the spirit, and shouted out, and one woman even died from a heart attack during the service. The experience put me off after going to
churches where you were expected to sit still, not fidget, and keep completely quiet. I had not been to church in years because it was boring and unfulfilling. When I left the building that day, I
was emotionally happy, and I can only assume what is called “filled with the spirit.” It was an emotional experience that I had never had before. I now understand why the Black culture embraces their religions and fellowship so fully. The interaction between the congregation and the church is all-encompassing. According to Nye (1993), there are six main themes that the functions of the Black church have on the life of its members. First, it gives them a way to express their deepest emotions. It allows them to have a status denied to them in a White-
Your preview ends here
Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version
- Access to all documents
- Unlimited textbook solutions
- 24/7 expert homework help
Figures title:
4
dominated world. It gives meaning to their lives and a sense of order and understanding in a life of chaos. It provides refuge and haven when the world and life are too much to bear. It provides a
community where one can release pent-up emotions and express the feelings; they cannot express otherwise. And it provides them with an orientation for what they believe will come in the afterlife. Two other functions that the church provides is a fellowship where members can meet, socialize, and share with others of a similar background and held beliefs; the other is an essential social framework for single parents and young parents to mingle with others in the same situation and elders who have already lived through that experience (Boyd-Franklin, 2010).
Cultural Competencies
Attending a church where I am no longer the dominant race allows me to witness and experience what it is like to be the minority. Attending this service and becoming part of the congregation allows me to understand and experience the depth and breadth that the church is involved in the daily lives of the Black community. The church goes beyond a place of worship on Sunday and Wednesday to a place that provides activities for the youth, health services, moving services, fellowship, and family to its congregation. By understanding this dynamic between the church and Black culture, I will be able to incorporate the church as needed into the professional relationship I have with my Black clients. As a counselor, you must be culturally competent by the ACA (ACA, 1996). Visiting this church has shown me how much work I need to do before graduation in cultural competence. I need to reassess my knowledge of other cultures even more than I have through this course and learn how other cultures view themselves and me in terms of culture. I was completely unaware of the depth that religion plays within the family and community of Black American culture. I only have a very superficial view of how the
Black culture views Whites through the media and academic courses. Being placed in the situation of being a minority made me aware of how a person of color
might feel when placed in a situation where Whites significantly outnumber them. I can now appreciate the need to understand how the loss of familiarity with your surroundings and societal
place places you in a position of oppression. To be aware of my culture and how being White
Figures title:
5
gives me a position of privilege and power to obtain what I want easier than a person of color is becoming more apparent. I need to make sure that when dealing with clients from different cultures, I do not place myself above them inadvertently because of my whiteness. I need to be willing to enter into a dialog that allows them to correct my assumptions, behaviors, and biases to understand them better and better understand how I can help them. Social Justice Advocacy.
At this point, I am unable to fully answer how I can be a valuable social justice advocate in my area due to not living here long enough to know the full extent of injustices in my area. Having only lived here less than a year and most of that in seclusion, I only know the social changes I see through the media. Currently, there is a great upheaval in my area concerning voting. I was warned to try and stay out of any situation concerning this for the time being due to
my future aspirations of becoming a counselor. This warning comes from an established White female counselor. She also warned me of trying to advocate as we were taught when I first started as a counselor because I come from the north. There is a bad taste in people’s mouths in the south, even now, from northern civil rights workers coming down to Georgia to try and change things. I was unaware of Georgia’s tinder box when it comes to being a White, Northern person. So, I will address this prompt in a utopian type of world. As a counselor, I would advocate for and try to have established a mental health court within my county. These special courts help keep those with mental health diagnoses from being imprisoned when inpatient or outpatient therapy would be beneficial versus being incarcerated. My immediate area has many alcohol and drug addicts and mental health sufferers. The number of beds within the penal system would be decreased if this system was implemented. The money spent to care for those
Figures title:
6
inmates could then be directed towards treatment centers better suited for their needs. There is a movement within Georgia to try and establish these courts throughout the state (Council of Accountability Court Judges of Georgia, n.d.)
Your preview ends here
Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version
- Access to all documents
- Unlimited textbook solutions
- 24/7 expert homework help
Figures title:
7
References
American Counseling Association (ACA). (1996) 2014 AMCD Multicultural counseling competencies. Retrieved from http://www.counseling.org/Resources/Competencies/Multicultural_Competencies
.pdf
Boyd-Franklin, N. (2010). Incorporating spirituality and religion into the treatment of African American clients. The Counseling Psychologist, 38(7),
pp. 976-1000. DOI:10.1177/0011000010374881
Council of Accountability Court Judges of Georgia (n.d.)
Apply for adult mental health court certification. Council of Accountability Court Judges of Georgia. https://cacj.georgia.gov/standards-certification/certification-instructions-
applications/apply-adult-mental-health-court
Nye, W. (1993). Amazing Grace: Religion and identity among elderly Black individuals, International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 36,
pp. 103-114. Pedersen, P.B. (2002). The making of a culturally competent counselor. Online Readings in Psychology and Culture, 10(3).
https://doi.org/10.9707/2307-0919.1093
Figures title:
8