When contextualizing Scripture was controversial, he said âthe bottom line is Jesus.â
Daniel Silliman| Image: Urban Ministries, Inc.
Melvin E. Banks, founder of the largest black Christian publishing house in the United States, died on February 13 at age 86.
Banks started Urban Ministries Inc. in the basement of his home in Chicago in 1970, focusing on Sunday school curriculum and Bible study materials for African American Christians. The ministry grew to serve more than 50,000 black churches.
Banks contextualized Scripture to show its relevance to contemporary African American life and shocked many Christians, black and white, with depictions of Bible characters as people of color. Banks insisted the images were accurate, since the world of the biblical narrative included Middle Easterners as well as many North Africans, and also argued it was important. Black people needed to know they were part of Bible history.