In July 2022, Charles McKnight assumed leadership of Mission to North America’s African American Ministries (AAM). McKnight succeeds Wy Plummer, who held the position for more than two decades. Before joining AAM, McKnight was co-pastor of West Charlotte Church at Freedom (PCA), an intercultural church plant, and a founding member of the Central Carolina Presbytery Intercultural Church Planting Committee. He talked with byFaith about AAM’s priorities as well as the challenges for minority ministry leaders in the PCA.

What are your first ministry priorities?

We want to see African Americans thrive in the PCA, from the pulpit to the pew. Accordingly, our ministry priorities are recruiting, supporting, equipping, and mobilizing African Americans for various levels of leadership. We do this through several initiatives, including our Center for African American Church Planting, virtual group cohorts, our annual national LDR conference, our Between the Pew podcast, and partnerships with local churches, seminaries, and campus ministries across the country. 

What are some of the challenges that African American ministry leaders face in the PCA?

African American ministry leaders can face several challenges in the PCA. Our cultural differences can cause cultural dissonance when our cultural rules clash with those of the PCA majority culture. We can also experience many pressures — pressure to assimilate, stand out, solve diversity issues, or be in demand regardless of gifting. In our ministry contexts, we can experience cultural and social isolation from being one of only a few African Americans, if any. Finally, a lack of access to financial resources can significantly limit African Americans’ ability to receive ministry training and launch new ministry initiatives. We at AAM view it as our business to help lead the denomination in addressing these challenges and helping African Americans overcome them. 

What impact has the PCA Unity Fund had on African American representation and recruiting efforts?

While the PCA Unity Fund is not a direct ministry of AAM nor exclusively for African Americans, it has had a significant impact on African American representation and recruiting efforts. For many African Americans, the gatekeeper for leadership in the PCA is access to advanced training for ministry, and the gatekeeper for this advanced training is often the financial burden it entails. There was a need for a centralized fund to address this challenge directly, and the Unity Fund is doing so with great faithfulness and fruitfulness.