Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Emanuel AME Church |
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| "Mother Emanuel" African Methodist Episcopal Church |
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 Emanuel AME Church
Location in South Carolina
Emanuel AME Church
Location in the United States
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| 32°47′14″N 79°55′59″W / 32.78722°N 79.93306°W | |
| Location | Charleston, South Carolina |
| Country | United States |
| Denomination | African Methodist Episcopal Church |
| Membership | 1600 (2008) |
| History | |
| Status | Church |
| Founded | 1816 |
| Founder(s) | Rev. Morris Brown Denmark Vesey |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | Active |
| Architect(s) | John Henry Devereux |
| Style | Gothic Revival |
| Groundbreaking | 1891 |
| Specifications | |
| Capacity | 2500 |
| Number of spires | 1 |
| Administration | |
| Parish | African Methodist Episcopal Church |
| District | Seventh |
Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, often called Mother Emanuel, is a historic church in Charleston, South Carolina. It was founded in 1817. It is the oldest AME church in the Southern United States. The AME denomination itself was started in 1816 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was the first independent black church group in the country. Mother Emanuel has one of the oldest black congregations south of Baltimore.
Contents
A Rich History of Faith and Freedom
Early Beginnings and Challenges
In the late 1700s and early 1800s, a religious movement called the Great Awakening encouraged people to join Baptist and Methodist churches. Both enslaved and free African Americans, as well as white people, became members. Black members were welcomed, and some black leaders were allowed to preach.
However, white church leaders usually controlled these churches. Black members were often made to sit in separate areas or attend different services. Laws in the state and city said that white people had to lead churches. Black members, many of whom were enslaved, could hold their own services, usually in church basements.
In Charleston during the 1800s, white-led churches treated black members unfairly. A problem started when white leaders of Bethel Methodist decided to build a shed for a funeral carriage over a burial ground for black people. This made the black church members very upset.
In 1818, a church leader named Morris Brown left Bethel Methodist because of this. Nearly 2,000 black members from Charleston's three Methodist churches followed him. They wanted to create a new church.
They started a church first known as the Hampstead Church on Reid and Hanover streets. This church became part of the "Bethel circuit" of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. This was a new, independent black church group. It was founded in 1816 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by Richard Allen and other black church leaders.
At that time, state and city laws limited how black people could worship. Services for black people could only happen during the day. Most people in a church had to be white, and black people were not allowed to learn to read or write. In 1818, Charleston officials arrested 140 black church members. Eight church leaders were fined and whipped. City officials raided Emanuel AME Church again in 1820 and 1821, showing a pattern of harassment.
In June 1822, Denmark Vesey, one of the church's founders, was accused of planning a rebellion of enslaved people. Vesey and five other organizers were quickly found guilty in a fast trial. They were put to death on July 2 after a secret trial.
The city held more trials in the following weeks as more people were questioned. They eventually found more than 30 men guilty and put them to death. Other suspected participants, including Vesey's son, were sent away from the state. The original Emanuel AME church was destroyed by an angry crowd of white people that year. After meeting in secret for a while, the church was rebuilt after the Civil War.
Rev. Morris Brown was put in prison for many months, but he was never found guilty of any crime. After he was released, he and several other important members moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Other members managed to restart the congregation in a few years.
After Nat Turner's slave rebellion in 1831, the city of Charleston, which was run by white people, made all-black churches illegal in 1834. The AME congregation met in secret until the American Civil War ended in 1865.
Rebuilding and Growth After the Civil War
After the Civil War ended, AME Bishop Daniel Payne appointed Reverend Richard H. Cain as the pastor. He led the congregation that would become Emanuel ("God with us") AME. In 1872, after serving in the South Carolina Senate, Cain was elected as a Republican Congressman in the U.S. House of Representatives. This continued a tradition of religious leaders also serving in government.
The congregation rebuilt the church between 1865 and 1872. It was a wooden building. The architect was Robert Vesey, who was the son of Denmark Vesey, a co-founder of the church. After an earthquake destroyed that building in 1886, President Grover Cleveland gave ten dollars to the church to help with rebuilding. He wrote that he was "very glad to contribute something for so worthy a cause."
The current building, made of brick and stucco, was built in 1891 on Calhoun Street. This church and other black churches built after the Civil War were located on the north side of Calhoun Street. Black people were not welcome on the south side of what was then known as Boundary Street. The building was designed by a leading Charleston architect, John Henry Devereux. Work began in the spring of 1891 and finished in 1892.
A Center for Civil Rights in the 20th Century
In March 1909, Booker T. Washington, who was the president of Tuskegee Institute and a national leader, spoke at Emanuel AME Church. Many white people attended, including a member of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania and Robert Goodwyn Rhett, the mayor of Charleston.
By 1951, the church had 2,400 members. It completed a $47,000 renovation project. This earned an "outstanding improvement" award from the Charleston Chamber of Commerce.
At a church meeting in 1962, Reverends Martin Luther King Jr. and Wyatt T. Walker of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference were guest speakers. They encouraged church members to register and vote. At that time, most African Americans in the South were not allowed to vote. This had been the case since the early 1900s, when white-led governments created laws that made it hard for black people to register. In 1969, Coretta Scott King, Martin Luther King Jr.'s widow, led a march of about 1,500 people to the church. They were supporting hospital workers in Charleston who were on strike. At the church, they faced members of the South Carolina National Guard carrying bayonets. The church's pastor and 900 marchers were arrested.
Hurricane Hugo damaged the church building in 1989. Major repairs were made, but the tin roof soon rusted and leaked. It was replaced with interlocking copper shingles.
Mother Emanuel in the 21st Century
As of 2008, the church had more than 1,600 members. It helped the Charleston Interfaith Crisis Ministry and other charities. The church is also involved in the local arts community. For example, it hosted an art show in 2013 and concerts by the Charleston Symphony Orchestra Gospel Choir.
In 2010, the senior pastor and state senator, Rev. Clementa Pinckney, was noted for continuing the tradition of earlier church leaders. Like Reverend Richard H. Cain in the 1800s, he served as both a religious and a political leader.
On December 31, 2012, the church held a watchnight service. They celebrated the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, which was issued on January 1, 1863. Charleston's yearly Emancipation Day Parade on January 1 ends at Emanuel AME Church.
A Tragic Event in 2015
On June 17, 2015, nine people tragically lost their lives inside Mother Emanuel. The victims included South Carolina State Senator Clementa Pinckney, who was the senior pastor, and eight members of his congregation: Cynthia Hurd, Depayne Middleton-Doctor, Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, Susie Jackson, Myra Thompson, Tywanza Sanders, Ethel Lance, and Daniel Simmons. A tenth person was also shot but survived.
A young man named Dylann Roof was arrested soon after and accused of the killings. Investigators found that the killings were motivated by hate. According to the FBI, Roof had written about his hateful beliefs online before the shooting. The church, on its own website, refers to Roof as "the stranger."
In December 2016, Roof was found guilty of many serious federal crimes, including hate crimes and murder. On January 10, 2017, he was given the death penalty for those crimes. Roof was also accused of nine counts of murder in the South Carolina state courts. In April 2017, Roof admitted his guilt to all nine state charges. He did this to avoid getting a second death sentence. As a result, he was sentenced to life imprisonment without the chance of being released.
Moving Forward After 2015
The Rev. Dr. Norvel Goff Sr. served as the interim pastor from June 17, 2015, until early 2016. On January 23, 2016, The Rev. Dr. Betty Deas Clark was appointed pastor. She was the first woman to lead the congregation in its 200-year history. Currently, Rev. Eric C. Manning serves as Senior Pastor.
The Church Building
Built in 1891, Emanuel AME Church has one of the few well-preserved historic church interiors in the area. It still has its original altar, communion rail, pews, and light fixtures. In December 2014, the church announced plans to raise money for an elevator. This would make the building easier for everyone to access. A pipe organ was installed in 1902. The church can hold 2,500 people, making it one of Charleston's largest black churches. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2018.
In 2014, it was discovered that the building had termites. This caused "severe structural deterioration." The church received a $12,330 federal grant in May 2014. This money helped them study the building's structure.
Documentary Film
A producer for a documentary film called The AME Movement: African Methodism in South Carolina tried to raise money in 2013. The film describes the history of the AME church movement in South Carolina. However, he did not reach his fundraising goal. Various interviews were conducted and filmed for the documentary.
