PHILADELPHIA -- A United Methodist Church bishop says America's struggling black churches need more of what they give best -- strength.

Bishop Peter Weaver of Philadelphia said black churches will need to rely on the Lord rather than clever programs, events or money for growth. Weaver addressed a coordinating committee for the denomination's "Strengthening the Black Church for the 21st Century" initiative Sept. 8-10, according to the United Methodist News Service.

The initiative, approved by the 1996 General Conference, seeks to strengthen black churches in the United States by linking growing congregations with partner congregations. The effort is meant to revitalize the denomination's more than 2,500 black congregations.

The coordinating committee was planning a September 2003 gathering of congregational resource centers and partner congregations in Atlanta. "The Great Event" will include a symposium with the denomination's bishops to share concerns of the black church.

Weaver compared the black church's struggles to those experienced by the writers of the Book of Isaiah, who were in exile.

"Maybe the church in America is in exile, too," Weaver said. "Those of us who are in the predominantly Euro-American congregations have capitulated to those who are holding us in exile. We have capitulated to the standards of success and to the idols of strength that the American culture is so full of. The church of today is in exile."