"We're not just a church, we're an international corporation. We're not just a bumbling bunch of preachers who can't talk and all we're doing is baptizing babies. I deal with the White House. I deal with Tony Blair. I deal with presidents around this world. I pastor a multimillion-dollar congregation. You've got to put me on a different scale than the little Black preacher sitting over there that's supposed to be just getting by because the people are suffering." Bishop Eddie Long, New Birth Missionary Church, August 2005 .

The sad thing is, he's right.

Today's New Black Church is the offspring of the civil rights era but can easily be identified by its debatable and sometimes laughable theology, superficiality, greed, materialism, heavy involvement in politics, tricked-out arena sized church, ten thousand or more member congregation and of course, its superstar pastor.

Plainly put, today's Black church is not your grandma's church.

No longer content with selling baked goods and holding parking lot sales that bring in few dollars, today's New Black Church hosts revivals that cater to thousands and produce blockbuster movies that bring in millions.

From old school nurses boards to new school communications director's, the New Black Church now employs hundreds of full time professionals each year and looks more like a Fortune 500 company, than the little Black church that's only "baptizing babies." Refusing to be courted by politicians during the election season only, the New Black Church has cut out the middleman and has become a force to be reckoned with by dealing directly with the White House.

Having descended from being the visionary voice and leader for millions of Black Christians, the New Black Church has reached out and made new and bold alliances, most notably the newfound love between today's Black pastors and President Bush.

After being cajoled by controversial conservative Lou Sheldon, dozens of superstar Black pastors declared their support for President Bush's Faith-Based Initiative at a special summit of Black religious leaders in Los Angeles last February. At that meeting, they chose Lou Sheldon, a white religious conservative leader to speak on their behalf, even though they were Black pastors who had assembled at a Black church in Los Angeles to talk about messaging to Black people.

Understanding the weakness of today's superstar pastors, that being greed, President Bush's Faith Based Initiative has successfully solicited and co-opted Black pastors. He has single handedly paved the way for the wooing of Blacks over to the GOP camp under the guise of protecting marriage, allowing prayer in schools and eliminating abortions for women, creating a moral panic within Black America.

Today's New Black Church has become a pimp for Bush's agenda for Blacks.

Yet, however blatant Long's comments are, they, like many other superstar pastors comments and actions continue to go unchallenged by the rest of Black America.

"But I do think that the vote is up for grabs in a way that it has not been traditionally. And so, we have often suffered from the Democratic Party, who assumed that they had our vote, and the Republican Party, who assumed that they couldn't get our vote," Bishop T.D. Jakes on CNN's Paula Zahn Now, February 2005.

With an obvious zeal for the Republican Party, Bishop T.D. Jakes' comments perfectly illustrate the severity of the crisis in the New Black Church.

Obviously fearful of losing the support of the New Black Church, Black Democratic officials and civil rights leaders continue to be silent on this issue and have offered no opposition to the New Black Church.

Meanwhile, Bush continues to refuse to meet with Black civil rights leaders, but has met with the superstar pastors on more than one occasion.

Having conquered the media, entertainment arena and now the White House, superstar pastors are poising themselves for their greatest challenge yet, running for political office. With the right support, timing and enough money to back a successful campaign, it's not that far fetched of an idea to see a superstar pastor catapult themselves into public office, on the GOP ticket.

In February, civil rights activist Reverend Jesse Jackson while speaking at Tavis Smiley's State of the Black Union held at Long's church in Atlanta, cautioned Black pastors to not be distracted by " non budget, private morality issues."

Millions of Blacks were duped into voting for a president that used " non budget, private morality issues" to distract an entire community from the issues that affect the lives of all Blacks like access to healthcare, education, employment, eradicating HIV/AIDS and protecting Social and Security.

Black leaders need to return from their vacations and address this issue head on with the New Black Church lest we see a repeat of the 2004 Presidential election in 2008.



Editor's note : Chosen by ESSENCE Magazine as one of 25 Women Shaping the World, Jasmyne Cannick is a national voice on gay civil rights in the Black community. At 27, she is a social and political commentator and a member of the National Association of Black Journalists. Based in Los Angeles, she
can be reached via her website at www.jasmynecannick.com ww.jasmynecannick.com> .