What Was The Role Of The Church In African American Society
Church was extremely important to the black community in the 1930s. In this picture of the John Wesley Church congregation, you can observe how nicely everyone is dressed, due to how respected worship was.
Most early black churches were formed by freed slaves due to how important religion was to slaves. For example, Richard Allen, a former slave, founded the African Methodist Episcopal Church (A.M.E. for short) in 1787, where he was elected bishop. Allen lead a group of black methodists to leave the St. George Methodist Episcopal Church, located in Philadelphia, as a protest against segregation. In 1786, Richard Allen along with Absalom Jones, who was also a former slave, helped to form the Free African Society. The Free African Society split …show more content…
The church was the center of the black Community, and they were commonly used as schools, before schools could be built. Furthermore, preachers would have the congregation repeat them, especially in hymns, which helped black churchgoers memorize songs and bible verses (a preaching technique dubbed ‘call and response’). Several historic black colleges were founded by churches and church denominations. An example is Morehouse college in Atlanta, which was founded in 1867 by a baptist organization The church’s investment into education eventually paid off in the civil rights movement. The lawyers and activists who fought and overcame segregation were educated in church sponsored black …show more content…
Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird presents this in her portrayal of the black church and community. Calpurnia’s church in the novel, First Purchase, is a prime example. When the kids attend a mass there, Reverend Sykes says in his sermon “You all know of Brother Tom Robinson’s trouble. He has been a faithful member of First Purchase since he was a boy. The collection taken up today and for the next three sundays will go to Helen, his wife, to help her at home.” In the 30s, African Americans faced many hardships, and these challenges brought them together, and strengthened the bonds within the black community. As I’ve said before, the Church was the center of the black community, and Zeebo’s words exhibit this. Like a family, the black church community watches out for each other, and helps their members who are facing challenges (Tom Robinson and his family in this case). Additionally, generosity is a core value of christianity, thus it became one of the black community as well, which contributed to the close bonds between all of its members, both in the novel and in
Most early black churches were formed by freed slaves due to how important religion was to slaves. For example, Richard Allen, a former slave, founded the African Methodist Episcopal Church (A.M.E. for short) in 1787, where he was elected bishop. Allen lead a group of black methodists to leave the St. George Methodist Episcopal Church, located in Philadelphia, as a protest against segregation. In 1786, Richard Allen along with Absalom Jones, who was also a former slave, helped to form the Free African Society. The Free African Society split …show more content…
The church was the center of the black Community, and they were commonly used as schools, before schools could be built. Furthermore, preachers would have the congregation repeat them, especially in hymns, which helped black churchgoers memorize songs and bible verses (a preaching technique dubbed ‘call and response’). Several historic black colleges were founded by churches and church denominations. An example is Morehouse college in Atlanta, which was founded in 1867 by a baptist organization The church’s investment into education eventually paid off in the civil rights movement. The lawyers and activists who fought and overcame segregation were educated in church sponsored black …show more content…
Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird presents this in her portrayal of the black church and community. Calpurnia’s church in the novel, First Purchase, is a prime example. When the kids attend a mass there, Reverend Sykes says in his sermon “You all know of Brother Tom Robinson’s trouble. He has been a faithful member of First Purchase since he was a boy. The collection taken up today and for the next three sundays will go to Helen, his wife, to help her at home.” In the 30s, African Americans faced many hardships, and these challenges brought them together, and strengthened the bonds within the black community. As I’ve said before, the Church was the center of the black community, and Zeebo’s words exhibit this. Like a family, the black church community watches out for each other, and helps their members who are facing challenges (Tom Robinson and his family in this case). Additionally, generosity is a core value of christianity, thus it became one of the black community as well, which contributed to the close bonds between all of its members, both in the novel and in