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Saturday, September 20, 2008 3:00 AM Celebrating 140 years St. John AME Zion Church members reflect By Janet Conner-Knox | Times Staff Writer St. John AME (African Methodist Episcopal) Zion Church, the oldest African-American church in Wilson County, is celebrating its 140th birthday. To mark the event, members are reflecting on their church's rich history, rejoicing about its longevity and will have special church services starting this weekend and running through the end of the year. Members of St. John will tell you that their church has always served the community by teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. But they will also tell you that the church has reached out to the community to teach other things, too. "St. John, when it was first established, was a school building for newly emancipated slaves as well as a place to worship," said the Rev. Michael Bell, pastor of St. John. "Laws prevented black people from going to school with whites, so with no schools to go to, the church had to also be a school house for those black people." Church archivist and lifelong member 83-year-old Inez Bell, said the school building included all grades and one teacher, Charles Smith. Another member of that time, Joseph Charles Price, served as principal and later became the chancellor of Livingstone College in Salisbury. The church also became a stopping off point for emancipated slaves who were migrating to Northern cities. Establishing St. John AME Zion churches did not have an easy beginning. During the Civil War, the New England Conference of the AME Zion church, sent James Walker Hood to North and South Carolina to establish churches in 1863. Coming South during the war was not easy. Hood was captured and escaped to Philadelphia, but that did not discourage him from coming back to establish churches. Northern white Methodists were against the AME Zion churches being established. They preferred the members be a part of the Methodist church already established, although the mainline Methodist churches practiced segregation in both the North and the South. Walker, who was born a free man, established churches in New Bern and then Beaufort before coming to Wilson in 1868, and setting up the St. John congregation on Suggs Street. The Rev. Theodore Blackman became the first pastor of the church and the Rev. Lawrence Nevore was assistant pastor. But the church served many purposes besides its worship services. Ministers and church members continued working in the community to assist ex-slaves in learning new skills, establishing businesses and teaching the importance of education. In 1886, the church moved to its present location 119 N. Pender St., where the congregation built a bigger church than they had on Suggs Street. During that time, the school continued in the church. Fire shapes sanctuary In 1909, the church building was totally destroyed by fire. Neighboring congregations of Jackson Chapel Church and Calvary Presbyterian Church opened their doors, allowing St. John members to hold church services there. "There was no separating because of the which church you went to back then," said Inez Bell. "The members were all serving the same God, and they supported each other." In 1915, the building where members now worship was erected. No one knows the architect of the church, but members believe it would have been parishioners who helped to design the church, since that was common in those days. The church, has a huge corner tower, raised brickwork, stone trim and was built by brick mason John M. Barnes, also a member of the church. Today, with its original stained glass windows and Gothic Revival architecture, the building is one of the historical landmarks of Wilson. Years later, Norma E. Darden, wife of Charles Darden -- one of the first African-American undertakers in Wilson -- drew the plans for the parsonage. Later a pipe organ and an annex was attached to the church. Members look back The whole time the church grew, its members continued to reach out to the community in which they lived and worshipped. Today, some of the oldest members of the church, who are now in their 80s, remember growing up in a church where excellence and education was taught and enforced. "Most of our members were professionals," said Inez Bell. "We had doctors, lawyers, teachers, and business people here as members." Sam Latham was 12 years old in 1941 when he became a member of the church. "I was an usher when I was a boy," said Latham. "And back then they trained you how to be a good usher. You escorted people to their seat and went back to your post. There was not all of that unnecessary walking around the church back then." Latham remembers those days as a happy time, even though there was lots of structure for them as youngsters. Delores Thomas, at 62, is the youngest of the church's archive group. She said that going to church was really important at her house. "I couldn't have company or play later in the day if I gave an excuse for not going to church," she said. "You went to church and nearly stayed all day." Inez Bell said that both children and adults played a part in the church service. She said that anyone in the church could be called on to pray -- adult and child alike. She said that you had to know how to lead the church in prayer, so children paid close attention to what the adults said so they would know how to pray when it was their turn. After the morning church service was over, Bell, Latham, and others in the archive group that were teens at that time, said they used to go to Dr. Isaac Shade's drug store to buy a soda and socialize. Dr. Shade, whose drug store was in the 500 block of Nash Street, was a pharmacist who later opened the first library that blacks could go to above his store. St. John members said Shade was special to all of the church members. Grace Artis, 87, another lifelong member, said that some of the socializing was kept secret from their parents. "We would go around to Dr. Shade's to play the piccolo (juke box), which only cost a nickle for one song," Artis laughed. "But we also went to do a little courting. We went to talk and see our little boyfriends." Latham also said he remembers sneaking to the drugstore to get a soda while church service was going on and running back in a hurry before he thought he was missed. "I had to run like the devil sometimes when I had stayed too long," remembered Latham. "But if a neighbor or somebody saw you and told your mother, you were in big trouble." At 6 p.m., there was a special service that all of the young people attended called Vesper Hour. Later it became known as the Methodist Youth Fellowship. Children would learn Bible verses, talked about how their lives had been touched in someway by God and paid their dues. The dues were used to have church outings. A neighborhood choir called Handel's Chorus, was started in the 1944. The chorus began at St. John, but the church reached out to young people in the community, and community youth joined the chorus performing all over North Carolina. During the 1970s, Sallie B. Howard returned to Wilson to live and found there were only five children at the church. Church members said Howard has always had a great love for all children. Not put off by the small group of children at the church, Howard started a mini-band and even used some non-traditional musical instruments of that time. "Sallie has always had a lot of energy," said Inez Bell. "She would work with those children, and they sounded real good." Howard's band reached out to community children, and eventually had over 40 children in it. Same mission Rev. Bell said the calling to touch people in the community is as strong as ever at his church. They have a community development center called the Wilson Renaissance Project, and have huge plans for the church neighborhood. St. John has already opened up a mental health clinic that takes anyone in for service, especially the poor and uninsured. "We don't ask them for insurance cards, or about their ability to pay," he said. "We are here because people are hurting, and we are here to give hope." The church has counseling for battering men. "We know that the women and children in violent situations need help," he said. "But the men need therapy also. We want to break the cycle of abuse that these men are in." What used to be a block of crack houses, has been purchased by the church. The crack houses have all been torn down. They hope to build houses and attract businesses to that area. "This used to be a thriving area for black businesses in this neighborhood," the pastor said. "Some of the life of a community has to do with the business that it can attract." He said he loves the role his church has played in the community, but he said what was done in the past is not enough. Bell said his church will continue to look to the future and use innovative measures to continue the work he believe Jesus Christ has called him and his church to do. "We must preach the love of Jesus to all," he said. "Then we have to roll up our sleeves and work hard to make the community better. Then we are doing more than preaching it. We are living it." janet@wilsontimes.com | 265-7847 ============================================================ Special Events at St. John A.M.E. Zion Today -- 140th Church Anniversary Banquet at the Darden Alumni Center. The event begins at 6 p.m. and tickets are $40. The keynote speaker for the banquet is G.K. Butterfield. Musical Guest is the Rev. F.C. Barnes and Company Sunday -- Special guest Bishop Richard K. Thompson, presiding prelate (morning service at 11 a.m.) |
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