At the very center of meaningful progress on civil rights and reform in America, the Black Church remains an institution with unmatched historical and cultural significance. In his book, The Black Church, Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr. writes, “No pillar of the African American community has been more central to its history, identity, and social justice vision than the ‘Black Church.’”

To honor and protect this legacy, the National Trust’s African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund (AACHAF) has invested $4 million in grants to 35 historic Black churches that represent the institution’s impact on American society. This Action Fund gift—its largest to date—helps ensure that historic Black churches across the country continue to drive change in our society.

The Positive Community, with our mission to disseminate “Good News from the Church and the Community” through our various platforms, keeps the local community aware of the important role the Black Church continues to play.

“Despite the central role these historic houses of worship play in the fabric of Black communities,” Brent Leggs, executive director of AACHAF, explained, “they face a myriad of challenges. Their preservation—like that of all Black heritage sites—has often been overlooked and vastly underfunded.” Leggs recently announced the receipt of a $20 million grant from the Lilly Endowment to launch the Preserving Black Churches Project, “So they can continue to serve as the epicenters of Black communities and American heritage.”

The first round of the grant program enables recipients to not only address real and urgent preservation threats such as deferred maintenance and demolition, but also strengthens their ability to steward, interpret, and fund these invaluable places and the people they serve.