Portland Observer Section II February 28.1880 Page 7
/779 —The House of Commons in England passed a
law that allowed priests to allot time, each Sunday, to
the instruction of slaves. This was not fully transmitted,
however, to the West Indies, the remaining British
colonies in the Americas, until 1815.
1780 — Lemuel Haynes was licensed to preach in the
Congregational Church. Because he was a gifted
preacher, George Liele was permitted, by his master, to
preach at different times to slaves and whites. Alter
manumission, he baptized his wife, Hannah, Andrew
Bryan, Kate Hogg and Hogar Simpson. They became
the founders of the First African Baptist Church in
Savannah, Georgia.
Richard Allen and Absalom Jones organized the Free
African Sociey. It was the first Black organization dedi
cated to assisting widows, orphans, the sick, and indi
gent Blacks. It became the African Methodist Episcopal
Church.
1789 —The first Methodist Meeting-house was built on
Barbados. It acquired few adherants and was deeply
resented by the settlers.
Although repeated persecutions were visited upon
him, his followers and any slaves who cared to hear him
preach, Andrew Bryan refused to become bitter; in
stead, he prayed for those who abused him. The sym
pathy he thus aroused created a greater treedom for
worship and allowed him to rebuild the First Alrican
Baptist Church. He added the Second. Third and
Fourth AFrican Baptist Churches to aid and enhance
the religious life of Blacks in Georgia.
¡792 —Twelve hundred Nova Scotians joined the Sierra
Leone Company. “ Uncle Jack” preached to apprecia
tive white audiences that raised a tund tor his treedom.
The Nineteenth Century was witness to a tremendous
surge in the attempt to Christianize Blacks. Abolitionist
societies’ successful efforts to save bodies by halting the
slave trade caused attention to focus upon saving souls.
¡800 —The First African Methodist Episcopal Zion
Church was constructed in New York City. It was the
first Black-administered church in the city. Rev. James
Varick was its first pastor. He. along with others, de
cided to separate from the Methodist Episcopal C hurch
after suffering some indignities during a sermon.
/7A2_Rev. Harry (Black Harry) Hosier became the
assistant to Rev. Francis Asbury, the first bishop ot the
Methodist Episcopal Church in the U.S. Rev. Hosier
also founded the circuit Rider System.
/75J —By the end of the Revolutionary War, all ol the
members of the Society of Friends (Quakers) had
manumitted their slaves.
¡786 —Due to the Church of England’s laxity in mount
ing an organized Christianizing program in the West In
dies, Moses Baker, George Liele, George Lewis and
George Gibbo, Black missionaries from the U.S., were
able to engage in effective conversions by preaching to
the slaves. It was finally prohibited by the government
for fear of instilling an attitude of equality in the slaves.
¡787 —The Clapham Sect received cooperation trom
the British government to establish a settlement in
Sierra Leone. Liberated slaves were among the 411
passengers to form a nucleus for taking Christianity and
“ civilization” to Africa.
c. 1801 —John Chavis was made a missionary to the
slaves by the Presbyterian Church after having been
tutored by Dr. Witherspoon of Princeton University.
After the "Black laws” were passed in 1832, he estab
lished a school in North Carolina.
1807 —Rev. John Glouster founded the first Black-
administered church in Philadelphia.
Baptist Church In Freetown, Sierra Leone built
originaly by Reverend David George and rebuilt by
Reverend Hector Peters, son of Thomaa Patera
who was the stonemason.
¡794 - St. Thomas African Episcopal Church and
Bethel Church were founded by Jones and Allen, and
dedicated by Bishop Asbury.
\I8IO-I8II —Rev. Joseph Bishop, an eloquently im
pressive minister to a racially mixed church in Virginia,
became pastor of the Abyssinian Baptist Church in New
York-the first Black Baptist church in the free states.
1816 —Black Methodists were the first to establish a
national church. This was done during a meeting in
Philadelphia. Rev. Richard Allen became its bishop-
HUGHES MEMORIAL UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
REV. AUSTIN V. RAY, MINISTER
111 N.E. FAILING
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Dial-A-Prayer 284-0684
Worship 11:00am
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Church School 9:45am
Office 281-2332
Specializing In
Individual • Marriage and Family • Group Therapy
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'The Church Where NO Stranger Feels Strange
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