The Wind Beneath Our Wings:
Influencers of the Black Church from Colonial Times to the Present
Sunday, February 5, 2023
As you know, America was founded as a result of the pursuit of religious freedom. Assisted by indigenous Native Americans the Pilgrims that sailed from England survived and persevered. The fledgling colonies grew but groaned under British economic oppression. The battle-cry ‘No taxation without representation’ spurred the colonists onto war. Against all odds the American citizen-soldiers defeated Britain’s Redcoats.
However, as the country emerged from the Revolutionary War it was poised for the spiritual revival commonly known as The Great Second Awakening. Our beloved Black Church sprang forth from these tumultuous times. Struggling to define its nationhood, along with the political, economic, and social pursuits religious activities spread and gained structure. Through evangelism and camp meetings the GOSPEL was shared with the masses.
Empowered by GOD and emboldened by the notion of spiritual self-determination, leaders like Richard Allen created the AME Church. Many others played a role in spreading the GOSPEL; by sowing seeds in small congregations along the Eastern seaboard, that by GOD’S GRACE grew to become the Black Church.
This month I will introduce to you some of the lesser-known men and women that influenced the Black Church. From even before emancipation to the present, the Black Church has had an enormous impact on the religious, cultural, social, and political aspects of life in America. Using a timeline of Black Christianity, we will highlight leaders from the Second Awakening, The Depression, The Civil Rights and Post War America.
The Second Great Awakening: 1790 – 1840
Mrs. Jarena Lee
Mrs. Jarena Lee was born free in Cape May, NJ in 1783. Called of GOD she convinced Rev. Richard Allen of the AME Church to let her preach. Originally prohibited from preaching, she argued that CHRIST died not just for men, but for women, too. She literally walked thousands of miles spreading the GOSPEL and preaching to small congregations. She was the first Black woman in America to publish her autobiography, ‘The Religious Experience and Journal of Mrs. Jarena Lee.
David George was born into slavery in Virginia in 1742. He learned to read and write by using the BIBLE. He was baptized by Baptist Founding Father George
One of David George’s Churches
Liele and began preaching in Georgia, supporting small and local congregations there. He eventually moved to Nova Scotia where he founded and supported Baptist Churches there. Because he dared to preach to white congregations he was persecuted and was forced to flee Nova Scotia. But left to become one of Founding Fathers of Sierra Leone and founded the first Baptist Church in West Africa.
Sources:
Religious Transformation and the Second Great Awakening www.ushistory.org/us/22c.asp
Accessed January 31, 2023
Africans in America – Religion and Slavery
www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part 2/2narr2.html
Accessed January 30, 2023
The Second Great Awakening (1800-1835)
www.courses.lumenlearning.com/wm-ushistory1/Chapter/the-second-great-awakening
Accessed January 30, 2023
The Wind Beneath Our Wings:
Influencers of the Black Church from Colonial Times to the Present
We are traveling along the timeline of Black Christianity and will discover how leaders influenced the Black Church during the era of the Great Depression.
The Black Church has always been our source of spiritual strength and uplift. However, the economic turmoil of the Great Depression forced the Church to expand its role and scope to address the basic needs of its congregations and communities. Dynamic Pastors and congregations reached beyond church walls to provide food, housing, employment, and education. The US Government’s social safety net had not been developed. In addition, racism and segregation further marginalized Black communities. In response, the Black Church created and/or expanded ministries and outreach programs to meet these needs.
Reverend Charles Tindley was the pastor of the Tindley Temple United Methodist Church of South Philadelphia. At the time, the largest Black congregation in the United States. But it is important to note this was an also a diverse congregation serving Germans and Italians, as well. He frequently preached multiple sermons on Sundays. In addition, also considered the Grandfather of Gospel Music, compiling his numerous hymns in his two books: ‘Beams of Heaven and Soul Echoes.’ It was his hymn, I’ll Overcome Some Day (1901) which served as the inspiration of the anthem of the Civil Rights ‘We Shall Overcome.’
However, as the hardships of the Great Depression raged, he led efforts to assist the community by offering evening classes to train church members and new migrants from the South. He worked with local businessmen and encouraged entrepreneurship. The Church established a Building and Loan Association to supports these efforts. This is just one example of how the Black Church not only cares for spiritual needs but addresses the physical and socio-economic needs of people.
Sources:
https://findingaids.loc.gov- Nannie Helen Burroughs Papers – Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, DC 2001
www.aardoc.sites.amherst.edu/
www.blackpast.org/african-
The Wind Beneath Our Wings:
Influencers of the Black Church from Colonial Times to the Present
We are traveling along the timeline of Black Christianity and will discover how leaders influenced the Black Church during the era of the Civil Rights Movement.
The Civil Rights movement signifies a point in history when Blacks engaged in a variety of strategies to dismantle racist practices and policies, while demanding the United States to live up to its creed of justice and equality. As you know, the Black Church and Clergy served as foundation and spokespersons for the struggle. Yet there was not always a consensus on how to move forward; some agreed with passive civil disobedience, while others were far more confrontational in their approach. There are some names we know very well, but rest assured there were many lesser known and unsung heroes that influenced and impacted the Civil Rights movement, as well.
Reverend Douglas E. Moore pastored several churches in North Carolina from 1953 to 1960. He served as the Executive Secretary of the Board of Education of the North Carolina Conference of the Methodist Church from 1956-1960. An NAACP activist, Moore drew attention as the 28-year-old clergyman in Durham, N.C., where he brought a confrontational approach to the nascent civil rights struggle. He drank from “whites-only” public water fountains, then would exclaim, “Good white water!”
On Sunday, June 23, 1957, he led a group of activists into the racially segregated Royal Ice Cream parlor — a white-owned business in the heart of Durham’s black community. They entered through the “whites-only” door and sat down in “whites-only” seats. After refusing to leave, “Royal Seven,” as they became known, were escorted to jail.
He was a founding member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). He also served as a United Methodist Missionary in the Belgian Congo. In 1974 he was elected overwhelmingly to the Council of the District of Columbia as an At-Large member. Among his many accomplishments, Douglas launched legislative action opposing discriminatory redlining in the District of Columbia and apartheid in South Africa.
Alberta Williams King, mother of Martin Luther King, Jr., was born in Atlanta in 1903. She attended high school at Spelman Seminary and went on to enroll in Hampton Normal and Industrial Institute, where she obtained her teaching certificate in 1931. Deeply religious, she grew up as a pastor’s daughter with an interest in activism. She married Martin Luther King, Sr. on Thanksgiving Day in 1926. While raising her three children, she worked with the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA), the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom.
Alberta’s father was the pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church and when her husband Martin Luther King, Sr. succeeded his father-in-law as Ebenezer’s pastor she followed in her mother’s footsteps as a powerful presence in Church affairs. She founded the Ebenezer Choir and was an organist there from 1932 to 1972. She continued her studies at Morris Brown College, receiving a BA in 1938. She was also organist for the Women’s Auxiliary of the National Baptist Convention from 1950 to 1962.
Martin Luther King, Jr. often spoke of the positive influence his mother had on his moral development, deeming her “the best mother in the world”. She led a similar life to her son. They maintained a close relationship throughout his life. She remained a constant source of strength to the King family, especially after Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination.
Sources:
Council of DC/dc1968 project – May 8, 2018
From Douglas E. Moore | The Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute (stanford.edu)
Royal Ice Cream Sit-In, Durham, North Carolina | NCpedia