My Experience At Bethel African Methodist Church

Black Churches were extremely importan to African Americans from the years of slavery to this very day. Although attending them was difficult for blacks, they became the core of African American communities. “The biracial churches the Awakening spawned had never embraced African Americans on an equal basis with white people, and as time passed, white people denied black people significant influence in church governance” (pg. 101). Richard Allen and Absalom Jones would lead a movement and gain permission to use a church at evening times to preach to blacks. They would be forced out and need to establish a church of their own. White leaders would try to take over control of Mother Bethel congregation until 1816. This resulted “Mother Bethel becoming the birthplace of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME)” (pg.

“Roll, Jordan, Roll”, “Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Had”, “Go Down, Moses”, and “Wade in the Water” are the titles of only a handful of what were called “Negro Spirituals”, which originated during the reign of slavery in the United States (Frey). Such spirituals used call-and-response, a method of communication that was popular with slaves who brought African traditions to America, and gave way to the gospel music and unique form of preaching characteristic to the Black Church. The history of the Black Church, which began during the slave era, demonstrates the way that African Americans found refuge in Christianity, where the church became the center for African American communities (Baer). Born out of struggle and oppression, the Black Church not only became the focus for the religious practices of African American communities, but also worked to “re-member” the community through rituals such as that of call-and-response, a core element of the Black Church which served as a powerful tool for the African American community in the fight for the exercise of true freedom in America.

The First African American Baptist Church was originated in 1773 under the leadership of Reverend George Leile. In 1775 of May he was ordained as the pastor and December of 1777 the church was officially consulted as the body of believers. During the decades of slavery in America, slave association were a constant source of concern to slave owners. Religious exercises of slaves were closely watched to detect plans for escape or insurrection. African-American churches showed an air of militancy in the eyes of white Americans. Insurrections such as Nat Turner's in Virginia, born out of the religious inspiration of slaves, horrified white Americans. Understanding the potential end which could result

For this assignment, we had to attend a meeting of a spiritual tradition that is not our own. As this assignment's due date approached, I became very anxious! I didn’t quite know where I wanted to go. In my sewing class one day my friend, Kelly Jorgensen, had asked if I had finished the assignment. I had not. “Me and Karlie Mortensen are going to the Baptist church over by Riverton Hospital this Sunday at 6:00 PM if you want to join us” she offered. I found this rather funny. The day before, as I was driving home from work, the Harvest Valley Baptist Church sign had caught my eye. I thought to myself that I should

I am the minority of the usual church; typically I am one of four white people who attend the 8am service. I first went with a friend’s family after she had pass away. I was never nervous about going to a predominantly African American church. Everyone welcomed me. The family I went with had me stand up when they called for new people to the church. It then took me 30 extra minutes to get out of the church because everyone gave me a hug. Going into part two of this project I was actually very nervous about going to the Korean church. I think being by myself had a lot to do with it along with not know the language. I was very nervous about not understanding anything that was going on. Additionally I was worried they would not want me there.

Historians investigating African American religious history have labeled the secretive slave worship services the “Invisible Institution” because much of it was invisible to the eyes of their masters. They had secret places in which they met. Some of the places were: “In their cabins, woods, thickets, hollows, and brush arbors (shelter of cut branches also called ‘hush harbors’) throughout the South, slaves held their own religious meetings where they interpreted Christianity according to their experience, applying the stories and symbols of the Bible to make sense out of their lives.”

Religion is a social construct embedded in the African American experience through the ages. Whether it be Christianity, Muslim, Judaism and many other religions that found itself in the Americas the religions derived from the African diaspora was very mixed, they had traditional belief about magic which are derived from some Yoruba and Muslim belief system, Christianity was something new to them. As their, ancestors were brought to the Americans they brought their own traditional belief system. African American religious institutions served as contexts in which African Americans create a meaning to their experience during their enslavement, thus they interpret their relationship to Africa and charted a vision for a collective future that will

Before Africans were brought to America during the slave trade, they had their own culture and society. They had their own language and dance.  They also had their own religion.  History tells us that the Europeans justified their abuse toward the Africans as helping them become more civilized because the Africans lifestyle appeared primal to them and not as developed and industrialized as theirs. What is often overlooked is that even though Africans were taken from Africa and Americanized and have been stripped of their religion, culture, language and even their name, the very essence of the African as a people did not go away.

Sitting on that front row one Sunday morning several years ago, I heard one of those sermons. The topic was relationships, and how God places people in our lives for specific reasons. Though simple in context, it was a message overflowing with applicable truth that gave me new perspective from that point forward. As I have examined my life since then, I often think about that sermon. Not only has that message been extremely relative to me, but I’ve also come learn that most often times we don’t realize or understand the reasons why our lives intertwine with certain people until well after they’ve come and gone. Now, as I walk down memory lane and reminisce over various time periods throughout my short 35 years, I recall many people who have drifted in and out. Most often, the reasons have been in related to age, relationships, new interests and hobbies, or just life in general, and for the most part, have been so subtle that there nearly impossible to pinpoint. However, there are a few that remain vividly burned into my memory. One in particular, which I hold with the highest degree of fondness, was so dynamic and had such a drastic impact on me that it shook my very character, resulting in a permanent,

Lincoln, C. Eric, and Lawrence H. Mamiya. The Black Church in the African-American Experience. Durham: Duke UP, 1990. Print.

God loves his Church and Jesus is the one who builds the Church. Then, it goes without saying that God loves the local church and Jesus builds the local church. Unfortunately, there are many factors that come into play, causing churches to become complacent or stagnate before entering into a season of decline. Yet this can be avoided through the process of revitalization.

preached the gospel of the kingdom of God, (3) He met the needs of people, (4) He made disciples through the power of the Spirit, and (5) He gave His life as a sacrifice. These are the keys to true biblical ministry.

Richard Allen started the African Methodist-Episcopal church in a response to the treatment of black congregants in white churches (Gates, 2014). For instance, Richard Allen was invited to preach at a white church, but he noticed that the Black congregants were unable to sit in the same pews with the White congregants (Gates, 2014). As a result of this Allen with some friends staged Americas first sit in by going into a White church and sitting in the “white” congregants pews to pray (Gates, 2014). The white preachers approached Allen and his friends and told them that they could not sit and that area and that they needed to leave the church (Gates, 2014). On account of this Allen started the African American Episcopal Church in Philadelphia,

In the African American community, a major component of our history is the institution of religion. It has been with us since our time in Africa, and it still affects us today. The sad realization is many African Americans today never learned the history to understand how much religion affected us, so people of the current generation did not appreciate its importance. Now, there is a social conflict between generations of Blacks in regards to how they see religion. In this paper, I plan to show how religion has molded the African American community into what it is today, and how African Americans’ perspective of religion is changing in the community.

In my second field experience, I’d decided to go to a Baptist church. However, I did not come from a religious background. Although I am not completely in the dark when it comes to religion I have learn about different religion through friends and books. Therefore, I thought this would be a great opportunity to finally experience a service and put my ignorance aside. Meaning the assumption and expectation I had of church service. Furthermore, it provided me the opportunity to challenge myself and my own biases I have towards going to church. Once I went to church I was surprise to see so many black people, for the first time since I moved too Greensburg, I was actual able to see a room overflowing with individual who looked just like me, my first emotion was excitement and enjoy. Some of my expectation, was something I have learned from my mother. My mother always told me that “black people churches last longer”, with this in mind I was prepare to be there for a long time. However, to my surprise it did not last as long as I’d expected it to. My overall experience, was warming, peaceful and positive.