03/10/11

This is the first St. Philips Church at Old Salem. It was the church for the African Americans. This is their wooden structure building and the brick building that was built later is behind this.

Originally, the Moravians worshiped with the African Americans and did not use division among them. However, once things began to change with how society wanted division, the Moravians were afraid that if they didn't separate there would be trouble. Even though the African Americans now had their own church, the white Moravians still helped them in ways that was not shown in other parts of the nation. They still helped them prepare for their Moravian Love Feasts and things such as that. I thought that was pretty special.

The brick building was built in 1861... which is amazing since that was the beginning of the Civil War. This is how the church would have looked in the 1920's. The pews are the original pews from the beginning of the church.

Sunday School for the African Americans was different from the Sunday Schools we think of today. Since they did not have the ability to go to a regular school to learn to read and write they had school on Sundays. This is an example of how their school rooms would have looked.

The children were taught to read, write and do math until the Jim Crow laws came into affect in the early 1800's. After the Jim Crow laws the children could not learn to read and write simply because the white people were afraid they would become too smart and have a revolt as the one that happened in Haiti. They used this to control them further. However, the children here were still taught their math skills.

St. Philips church was the first building in the area of Old Salem to get electricity!! Here is an example of what it looked like... not very safe, but worked. There is no grounding wire. Steve said that caused many buildings to burn.

Light switch

Another view of the church

On May 21, 1865 the African Americans that were in that area of Old Salem were told to come to St. Philips church. There was not even standing room in this church. It was packed with many hundreds of people. A Union Officer stood before them and told them that the Emancipation Proclamation had been in effect since 1863 but some of them really didn't know what that meant. He stood before those people that day and told them they were FREE. The woman who was giving us the tour had us sit in those pews and when she said we were sitting where somebody sat when he/she found out for the first time that he/she was free, it was surreal. Steve said it gave him chill bumps.

How do you think those people reacted? I am sure some were extremely happy while others had lived this life for so long they didn't know any other way to live. They were usually close to their "Massa's" family... it was the overseer they didn't like. They didn't have any "learnin'" so how were they to go out and live? It would have been a happy but uncertain time for those people. They had to learn to accept that they were indeed free.

I cannot comprehend how they must have felt with having been living the life of a slave. I don't know what that is like.

However, I do know how it feels to be free from the slave of sin. I am thankful for my Savior who gave me the "Emancipation Proclamation" on Calvary when He took my sins and set me free. All I had to do was accept it.

Have you been freed from your burden of sin? There is freedom in Christ.