In the African American community, the church serves as a place of devotion and fellowship. During slavery and the Jim Crow era, when laws severely restricted African American activity, the church provided a means of congregating under the radar of the law. In the countryside, African Americans meet in secret at praise houses- small, one room, barn-like structures. At these meetings, blacks participated in communal discussions and practiced cultural traditions, which was otherwise forbidden. One of these cultural practices is the expression of spirituality through music. The most basic form of musical expression practiced at these meetings consisted of church spirituals and hymns. After the abolition of slavery and the dissolution of Jim Crow laws, church congregations in the Carolina Low Country and Mississippi Delta continued to foster a familial and heavily musical environment.

As there are different denominations within the African-American community, there are different opinions on the role of music and church. Three of these different viewpoints are seen in, Alphonso Brown, Bishop Louis Jefferson, and Allen Chavis. All reside in the Charleston area, but have differing opinions on the importance of musical styles.