Historic Church in Salem Celebrates 150th Anniversary
Today marks the 150th Anniversary of the St. Philips African Moravian Church in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
St. Philips, which is North Carolina oldest African-American Church and one of the oldest in the country, was consecrated in 1861. The historic Church held its first service on Dec. 15 of the same year.
Events were held throughout the day to celebrate the legendary church. An open-house was held Thursday from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., where visitors were able to tour the African Moravian Log Church, St. Philips African Moravian Church and the African American and Strangers Graveyards, according to WFMY News.
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A program will take place at 7 p.m. at the church, which will feature words from community and regional clergy leaders.
The church brings light to the social evolution of the North Carolina’s Moravian community.
The Moravians were a group that migrated to North Carolina from the present-day Czech Republic in the 1750s. They settled in Salem in 1766 and at the time the Moravian Church had no issue with slavery, according to reports.
John Sensbach, a History professor at the University of Florida said that they thought the Bible was a pro-slavery document.
“They thought Christianity and slavery went hand in hand,” Sensbach said in a WFAE News report.
He went on to say that Moravians believed it was a godly duty to treat a slave with Christian kindness, so Moravian slaves were an active and accepted part of Salem. They learned the Moravian language and were integrated in their society. They were members of the local Church, worshiped with white parishioners and were called, “Brother” and “Sister.”
As segregation slowly became adopted in the south in the 1800s, the Moravians began to take on the discriminative customs. They prohibited blacks from being buried in their cemetery and in 1822 the Moravians fully segregated the Church. This led to the formation of the St. Philips congregation, comprised of mostly enslaved black Moravians.
The Church matched other churches in the area at that time. It featured large brick, Greek Revival style, according to WFMY News.
The African-American Moravian congregation, which was organized in Salem, is one the original black congregations in America. It is the only historic African-American Moravian congregation in America.
