Reframing Obesity as Collective Vulnerability in Black Churches in The USA: Implications for Clergy Leadership, Health Equity, and Pastoral Identity

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed and intensified longstanding racial health inequities in the USA, disproportionately affecting African American communities with high burdens of chronic disease. This study examines how African American clergy in Houston, Texas, interpreted and responded to the convergence of COVID-19 and obesity-related vulnerability within their congregations, and how these conditions reshaped theological meaning, pastoral identity, and health-related leadership within Black church contexts. Using a hermeneutic interpretive phenomenological approach, in-depth interviews were conducted with ten Protestant clergy engaged in health-related ministry during the pandemic. Findings indicated that clergy experienced COVID-19 not only as a public health crisis but as a theological disruption that reshaped pastoral priorities. Four interrelated patterns emerged: Obesity was reframed from a lifestyle issue to a matter of survival and collective vulnerability; clergy became more aware of embodied vulnerability; health engagement accelerated in response to congregational loss; and clergy expanded their role as trusted interpreters of public health information amid medical mistrust. Chronic disease prevention shifted from a secondary activity to a core dimension of pastoral identity. Although behavioral concepts such as decision-making and confidence were evident, they were shaped by theological meaning, moral responsibility, and commitment to the congregation. These findings suggest that crisis conditions can transform how health is understood and addressed within Black churches. Efforts to reduce chronic disease disparities and advance health equity should engage faith institutions not only as partners in outreach but as central contributors to how health meaning is formed within communities shaped by structural inequity.