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Synoptic
History of the Black Baptists in America
It
can be argued that the black Baptist denomination arose out
of a compelling need to address the inequities of racism experienced
by blacks in the late eighteenth century. Concerned with their
second-class status within white Baptist churches and armed
with a newly-acquired and heightened racial consciousness,
black Baptist pastors throughout the country, particularly
in the South, began to form their own churches. These and
later actions of black pastors reflected the commitment of
black Baptist churches to extend their reach beyond the sanctity
of their sanctuaries by working for and in African-American
communities. What follows is a brief historical discussion
of the origin of the Baptist denomination, in general, and
in Georgia, in particular.
Unlike
other black denominations founded primarily as spin-offs of
Northern, largely white, Christian denominations, the black
Baptist Church originated in the early 1700s when white missionaries
migrated South in an effort to disseminate the Christian doctrine
among slaves. Historically, white Baptists were the first
denomination to reach out to and welcome fully enslaved blacks
into their churches; however, their admission was contingent
upon the enslaved members attending church services with their
masters and understanding that baptism did not free them.
Nevertheless, blacks joined Baptist churches in record numbers.
It has been noted that the reason why most blacks joined the
Baptist denomination—beyond the fact that they could
be baptized—was because of similarities between West
African practices and Baptist rituals. Moreover, the denomination
also gave strong encouragement to black clergy. By the nineteenth
century, primarily in the South, black Baptists outnumbered
their white brethren three to one, resulting in constant tension
between the two groups. To minimize these conflicts, blacks
were seated in special "galleries," in basements,
outside the church doors, or allowed to hold their own church
services in the evening under the watchful eye of an overseer.
This trend became even more apparent after the insurrections
of antislavery revolutionaries Denmark Vessey and Nat Turner.
Segregation, and a desire by blacks to be free, motivated
them to begin clandestine church meetings at various secret
locations.
It
is widely recognized that George Liele, who traveled and exported
slaves along the Georgia-South Carolina boarder, was the first
black preacher in the Baptist denomination. Essentially, Liele’s
work was in response to many plantation owners who did not
attend church regularly, but who believed that the use of
the principles of Christian doctrine was a viable means to
keep their slaves obedient. Nevertheless, in 1773, Liele organized
the first black Baptist church, Silver Bluff Baptist Church,
in the barn of his slave master, William Byrd. Byrd’s
cooperation, no doubt, resulted from his convicitons that
Christian principles kept slaves submissive. Though the church
was successful in teaching the southern enslaved about the
Bible and "clean living," it ran into challenges
that caused it to be disbanded just a few years after it was
initially established.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"As more blacks in the South joined the Baptist denomination,
concerns arose as to whether or not to affiliate with white
churches and associations."
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Liele moved on, continuing his preaching and baptizing of
slaves into the Baptist denomination. By 1777, he had organized
yet another Baptist congregation—this time in Savannah,
Georgia. In the mist of the Revolutionary War, a group of
Silver Bluff church members moved to Savannah to assist Liele
in his work with the slave population. After constant harassment
by white property owners, Liele left Savannah to establish
a church in the less hostile environment of Jamaica. Because
of Liele’s work in Jamaica, the Baptist doctrine spread
throughout the Caribbean. Nevertheless, one of the members
from Silver Bluff, a baptized slave named Andrew Bryan, along
with another member, Jesse Peters, organized the First African
Church of Savannah in 1788. However, due to Bryan’s support
of the British during the Revolutionary War, a group of white
Georgians descended upon the church, thwarting efforts to
expand the church, threatening many of its members, and imprisoning
Bryan for inciting revolts among the enslaved. Because his
owner supported his work among the enslaved, he purchased
Bryan’s freedom, enabling him to continue to build upon
his denominational efforts by founding Springfield Baptist
Church of Augusta, Georgia. It was from the work of these
two preachers that the number of black Baptists grew from
a few dozen in the mid to late 1700s, to more than 25,000
by the turn of the century.
As
more blacks in the South joined the Baptist denomination,
concerns arose as to whether or not to affiliate with white
churches and associations. It had not gone unoticed that it
was primarily black pastors who had been active in evangelizing
among the slave population, in establishing schools, and in
"uplifting the race."26 It was, therefore, agreed
upon, that blacks would work in cooperation with whites in
the America Baptist Union, via their African Baptist Missionary
Society, yet remain independent from white Baptists.
Unlike
the African Missionary Society, some black and white churches
had a difficult time in cooperating with each other. Once
again, these conflicts drove black pastors toward racially
separated churches, creating unique opportunities for blacks,
especially black pastors, to develop as indigenous community
leaders. It was in these historically black churches that
blacks, banned from participation in the politics and decision
making affecting their communities, became educated not only
in reading and writing, but also in community and civic affairs.
Their collective engagement in political matters (i.e., slavery),
albeit on the fringes, and their constant insurrections prompted
the eradication of slavery as a legal practice.
Forty
years of concentration on core issues centering on the education
of former slaves and the black Baptist foreign mission led
to the formation of the National Baptist Convention in 1895.
The new freedoms bestowed upon blacks required a massive venture
in education at all levels. Thus, new schools, particularly
institutions of higher learning, called "normal and industrial
schools," were created across the South to assist in
the integration of newly freed blacks into American culture
and society.28 Interestingly, Meir and Rudwick write that
"[i]n the South, during the three quarters of a century
following Reconstruction, most of the leading professional
men and many prominent businessmen were products of the church-related
colleges. . . ."
The
large number of blacks who joined the Baptist Church during
this period, though somewhat related to the Church’s
historical ties to the South, was a testament to the levels
of activism and enthusiasm black preachers demonstrated by
educating and assisting the newly freed slaves. It was the
pastor’s job to teach lawfulness, habits of chaste living,
manners, and other social skills. Albert Raboteau wrote of
the successful efforts of one pastor during this era:
[They]‘have
less superstition, less reliance on dreams and vision, they
talk less of the palpable guiding of the Spirit as independent
of or opposed to the word of God.’ They were also learning
to ‘avoid habits of whining, snuffling, grunting, drawling,
repeating, hic[c]oughing, and other vulgarities in prayer.
. . .
As
America evolved, so did the role of black churches. The passive
gospel that was common in the early Black Church was now being
replaced by a more community-responsive gospel. These southern
blacks understood that if they were going to survive, they
would have to develop programs that met their every need.
Out of this conviction arose mutual aid/benevolent societies
and private enterprises. For example, black churches in Richmond,
Virginia, during the 1850s assisted needy blacks, both slaves
and free persons in distress, with the creation of a "Poor
Saints" fund, to which both black and white churches
contributed each month.31 Thus, it can be concluded that the
ability of black Baptist churches to advocate for the needs
of blacks contributed greatly to the overall success of the
Church as a formultable institution. It was during this period
the denomination grew in stature to become one of the most
important and influential institutions in the black community.
During
Reconstruction, with the deployment of federal troops into
southern states, many black churches became involved in politics,
resulting in a significant change in their role—from
one of intercessor to one of policy initiator. Most early
black elected officials were products of leadership roles
in black churches—pastors, elders, and deacons—such
as Reverend Richard Cain who was elected to the United States
House of Representatives in 1873 from Charleston, South Carolina.
Although
black churches played an important role in advocating for
the needs of blacks in the early-to-mid-nineteenth century,
their false sense of security, resulting from blacks being
elected to public office in record numbers, fostered a level
of complacency by the late nineteenth century with regard
to community advocacy. Not only had southern black churches
assumed a diminished role as protectors and providers for
the black community, their focus began to markedly shift to
the spiritual "after-life." As such, most of the
gains of the Reconstruction period that blacks had acquired,
from political to economic, were lost during the nearly seventy-year
reign of legal segregation—historically referred to as
the Jim Crow Era.
The
challenges of the twentieth century, however, ushered in a
return of the socially active black church. southern blacks
Baptist churches, once again, organized advocacy groups to
respond to the mass lynchings and civil and voting rights
violations that plagued black communities. These activist
Baptist churches, along with black churches representing other
Christian denominations, provided the foundational support
for the formation of secular associations like the Southern
Christian Leadership Conference and Student Nonviolent Coordinating
Committee.
Consequently,
with the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1964, the Civil
Rights Act of 1965, and the election of southern blacks to
federal, state, and local offices, the black community, once
again, began to look less to the Church and more to black
elected representatives to meet their needs. Black churches,
by virtue of political circumstances, again shifted the focus
of their ministries. Spiritual needs began to emerge as the
primary focus, as opposed to the more practical, secular needs
of blacks.
David
Hurst, author of The Shepherding of Black Christians, writes
of this period:
the
contemporary Black Church had no outside contact with the
general needs of the community. In essence, the churches became
private social clubs. Black preachers primarily benefited
from this arrangement, whose pastoral energies were largely
centered in the Sunday morning worship impact. The members
reinforced this arrangement. The Black Church was mainly self-serving
and irrelevant to the real needs of its members and the wider
Black community.
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