Sanctified Space and Sovereign Pews: A Land-Use History of Black Church Autonomy from Mainstream Denomination Architecture, Storefront Churches, and Mega Ministries

This article explores the historical and spatial conditions that necessitated Black ecclesial autonomy in the United States, beginning with Absalom Jones’s appointment as the first Black pastor of a mainstream Christian denomination and culminating in the rise of contemporary Black mega churches. Using the framework of land-use enforcement and religious zoning as outlined in The Evolution of Land-Use Enforcement Related to The Religious Storefront Church Movement (Williams-Peyton, 2019), the article traces how exclusionary zoning, denominational gatekeeping, and intra-racial class tensions shaped the road from Black mainstream denominations to the emergence of storefront churches and their architectural successors. Through historical analysis and visual typology—including Table 2’s storefront church models—this study argues that Black religious space has always been a site of resistance, creativity, and contested legitimacy. Building on this foundation, the article applies Wilson’s Evolution of Information Behavior Modeling (1999) to interpret these spatial and theological adaptations as dynamic responses to information needs. Congregants’ pursuit of sanctified space is framed as information-seeking behavior shaped by environmental, psychological, and social variables. The creation of sovereign pews emerges not only as architectural ingenuity but as informational agency rooted in trauma, resilience, and theological innovation. By situating these ecclesial strategies within a broader information behavior framework, the article bridges urban ministry, LIS theory, and cultural preservation.