The Black church remains true to its roots

The ushers of the Allen Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church circled around her, hugging her and joined arms in prayer. Sister Wilson had recently lost her son to the streets of Anacostia. She stood before the congregation and Rev. Dr. Michael E. Bell Sr. sheltering her face with her right hand, tears streaming down her eyes.As she retreated back to her pew, members of the church stood, greeting her with open arms. Some whispered words of hope.

Rev. Bell asked the congregation to stand if they knew anyone who has been a victim of the streets. Nearly 30 people stood on the floor level and balcony of the church. "God help us heal our land, heal our people in Jesus' name," Rev. Bell said.

The Black church, according to Bell, developed as a result of the injustices that took place in the house of God. Since colonial times, long before slavery was abolished in 1865, Black churches, like Allen Chapel, have served as safe havens.

"African Americans were moved out of the sanctuary," said Rev. Bell, 52, a third-generation preacher. "White ushers asked them to move and make way for Whites."

Former slave Richard Allen, a Methodist deacon at St. George's Methodist Church in Philadelphia in the late 18th century rebelled against such injustice. In 1794 Allen opened the Mother Bethel A.M.E. Church, an all-Black congregation. Nearly two decades later, several regional congregational members formed the A.M.E. Church as the first independent Black denomination. Allen was the bishop.

The major historically Black denominations include the African Methodist Episcopal Church; the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church; the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church; the National Baptist Convention, U. S. A., Incorporated; the National Baptist Convention of America, Unincorporated; the Progressive National Baptist Convention, and the Church of God in Christ.

Gail Lowe, Smithsonian Institution Anacostia Community Museum historian, said the Black church played a major role in every aspect of the life of Blacks, including health care, education and cultural affairs.

"It is important for us to know who we are where we've come from," Lowe said. "There are many of us who wouldn't have had enough money, clothes or enough for the $150 chemistry book or wouldn't have made it to or through college without the support of the church, without the scholarship from the Christian Education Society from the church. Many wouldn't have found an outlet for their gifts and talents."

The church was the place where the slaves and the free slaves could gather, said Rev. Carolyn Scales, 60, a member of the ministerial staff at Allen Chapel. Scales added that many slaves learned to read and write in the church. "My great-grandmother, a former slave, learned to read by reading the Bible," she said. "They memorized scriptures and then they would go through the Bible to find the words."

The close of the Reconstruction era, after the Civil War, gave rise to the independent Black church, according to Eric Foner in his book "Give Me Liberty: An American History, Second Edition."

Nat King Cole's father was a Baptist minister in Chicago and it was in the church where Cole first learned to play the organ. Madam C.J. Walker joined St. Paul's African Methodist Episcopal Church in St. Louis, which helped her to develop speaking, social and managerial skills. Frederick Douglass resided in Southeast Washington and was an ordained minister at the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church.

Rev. Bell said the Black church has played a vital role in allowing many African-American singers, entertainers, businessmen and women, and activists "to exercise their gifts."

"The church gave people the courage to speak and talk," he said. "Go back to any prominent individuals, and you can trace their roots in the Black church."

It was the first Sunday and Rev. Bell told the congregation to turn to Matthew 25: 40-31. "Neighbor, the Lord is on your side," he said. He stressed the importance of helping others, especially those less fortunate, pointing to Anacostia's high rate of illiteracy, the school dropouts and incarceration.

A report by the National Association to Restore Pride in America's Capital reveals that the high school dropout rate is nearly 40 percent in Anacostia.

"In order to help somebody else you have to have sensitivity," Rev. Bell said. "We forget that we should suffer sometimes for somebody else.