| Chapter 1: | Pre-Twentieth-Century Roots of Pentecostalism |
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Fearing to take such a stand, the New York bishops silenced Williams by ordering him to “preach merely the Gospel without interfering with the political affairs of the time.”37 It was not until 1845 that St. Philip’s finally prevailed over the strong segregationist attitude of many of its sister white congregations and was granted full admission into the Diocese of New York.
In 1827, an African American Episcopal congregation was formed in Baltimore, Maryland, the largest city in the slaveholding state. Ordained in 1824 at St. Thomas, William Leavington became the first pastor of the St. James First African Episcopal Church of Baltimore. His desire to create a congregation for both free and enslaved African Americans encountered unexpected opposition.Some of the free African Americans who helped organize the church objected to the inclusion of slaves in the congregation because of the stigma associated with slavery. Eventually, Leavington succeeded in merging the two groups and created a strong church.
All of the independently controlled African American parishes of the Episcopal Church prior to the Civil War were in the North, with the exception of St. James in Baltimore. To be sure, they were few in number, but they were important symbols of hope for their members.
African American Episcopalians in the South were required to sit in the slave galleries of the white churches where they received separate teaching. In places where large numbers of slaves were present, usually on plantations, segregated congregations were formed. In every case, whites maintained control over both groups. Sometimes, white ministers appointed African American helpers to assist them in conducting church services and preaching. As a result, the Episcopal Church experienced substantial growth among African Americans in the South probably because the slave owners, many of them Episcopalian, did not allow competing communions on the plantations.