*Gayle Elizabeth Harris was born on this date in 1951. She is a Black priest and bishop. Harris was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and studied at the Lewis & Clark College and the Church Divinity School of the Pacific. Harris became a deacon in February 1981 and a priest in June 1982. She was assistant […]
learn more*Alfred Cookman was born on this date in 1828. He was a white-American Methodist minister and abolitionist. He was born in Columbia, Pennsylvania, the son of the Methodist Episcopal minister George G. Cookman. He was early consecrated to the ministry by his pious mother; experienced religion while attending the grammar school of Dickinson College. In 1851, […]
learn more*Wheat Street Baptist Church is celebrated on this date in 1869. This is a historic black Baptist church in the Sweet Auburn neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia. The church was founded by members of First Baptist Church in Atlanta (now known as Friendship Baptist Church) who wanted a place of worship closer to where they lived. […]
learn more*The birth of Edward Jones is celebrated on this date in 1807. He was a Black missionary. Edward Jones was born in Charleston, South Carolina, and became part of the mulatto elite of that city. He was the brother of Jehu Jones, a black preacher. Many free mulattoes were freed enslaved people who had fought in the American […]
learn more*Edward Mitchell was born on this date in 1794. He was a Black minister. Edward A. Mitchell was born in Martinique, West Indies. Mitchell became affiliated with Dartmouth College by President Francis Brown (1815-1820). President Brown was ill and made a trip to the South, accompanied on the return trip by Edward Mitchell, who remained with […]
learn more*On this date in 1942, Lola Falana was born. She was an American singer, dancer, model, actress, and minister. Loleta Elayne Falana was Born in Camden, New Jersey; she was the third of six children born to Bennett, a welder, and Cleo Falana, a seamstress. Her father, an Afro Cuban, left his homeland of Cuba to […]
learn more*Black history and the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) are examined on this date in 1845. That summer in Nashville, TN, at the Southern Baptist Convention’s founding, approximately 1 in 3 Southern Baptist church members were black. By 1900, there were virtually no black Southern Baptists. About 1 in 5 Southern Baptist churches are predominantly non-white, […]
learn more*On this date in 1796, we celebrate the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church (AMEZ). The AME Zion Church is a historically black Christian denomination in the United States. It was officially formed in 1821 in New York City but operated for several years before then. The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church adheres to Wesleyan-Arminian theology. […]
learn more*On this date in 1805, The African Meeting House was founded. Also known as First African Baptist Church, First Independent Baptist Church, and the Belknap Street Church, it is now the oldest black church edifice still standing in the United States. Before 1805, although black Bostonians could attend white churches, they generally faced discrimination. They […]
learn more*Thomas Paul was born on this date in 1773. He was a Black Baptist minister. Paul was born in the town of Exeter in Rockingham County, New Hampshire. He attended the Free Will Society Academy with two of his brothers. He then pursued the ministry in Hollis, New Hampshire, at the Free Will Baptist Church. […]
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