wfn.org | UCC Historians seek Afro Christian roots

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

> Historians seek Afro Christian roots

> Written by J. Martin Bailey
> June 29, 2009

As part of a rapidly developing "Christian Preservation Project," a
group of UCC historians is searching for documentation and personal
reflections on the church's Afro-Christian roots.

During a luncheon sponsored by the Historical Council during the 27th
General Synod, the Rev. Yvonne Delk shared her surprise that the
African American congregations in which she grew up were somehow
related to a predominantly Caucasian denomination. "I grew up thinking
that the Afro-Christian Conference was independent," she said.

Delk went on to become the first African American woman ordained in the UCC.

"Our churches were deeply involved in mission," she reported. "We had
a powerful group of women who organized our churches, raised money and
supported new congregations and sent missionaries overseas."

A panel, moderated by Barbara Brown Zikmund, included the Rev. Rick
Taylor, who has searched out documentation on the African-American
churches in the "Mighty Second C"?the Christian Church that united
with Congregationalists in 1931 and joined the UCC in 1957. Taylor
described Allen Howell, likely the first black missionary, who was
sent to work in Liberia.

He also reflected that at a time when it was illegal for slaves to be
taught to read and write, the newly discovered minutes of several
congregations show that they were as clearly written as any from white
churches of the same era.

Prof. Elisabeth Nordbeck of Lancaster Theological Seminary described a
cluster of churches in New Hampshire that were part of the Christian
Connection originating in New England. One of the congregations still
exists, outside the UCC, and continues its revivalist style today.

Participating in the session were librarians from the Congregational
Christian Historical Society and the Amistad Library, where
significant collections of Christian history are preserved.