St. Philips Moravian Church is the oldest surviving

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

church building in North Carolina. The

Moravian church The Moravian Church ( cs, Moravská církev), or the Moravian Brethren, formally the (Latin: "Unity of the Brethren"), is one of the oldest Protestantism, Protestant Christian denomination, denominations in Christianity, dating back to the Bohem ...

was built in 1861 on the east side of South Church Street, near Race Street, in

Old Salem Old Salem is a historic district of Winston-Salem, North Carolina that was originally settled by the Moravian community in 1766. This small city features a living history museum (operated by the non-profit Old Salem Museums & Gardens, organize ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

. St. Philips was enlarged in 1890 and remained in continuous use until 1952. In 2004 it was restored by Old Salem Museums & Gardens for use as an interpreted building. ''Images of Old Salem: Then & Now''. David Bergstone. Old Salem Museums & Gardens, and John F. Blair, Publisher: Winston-Salem, NC, 2010. Currently only worship services are held at the church weekly.

History

Members of a local black congregation, newly formed in 1822, built a log church south of the 1773 'Strangers Graveyard', which had been designated as an African American cemetery in 1816. Between 1827 and 1831, a Sunday school was taught by white Single Sisters, until a state law forbade teaching literacy to slaves. Moravian leaders built a larger brick church to the east of the graveyard in 1861. On May 21, 1865, Rev. Seth G. Clark, 10th Regiment, Ohio Cavalry read General Orders 32, announcing freedom from the St. Philips pulpit. In 1890, an extension consisting of a central hall with a classroom on each side of the lower level and a large room above (which opened onto the sanctuary and could be closed off and used as a classroom) was added to the front of the building. The brick church was referred to as the Moravian "Negro congregation" until December 1913, when at a

lovefeast An agape feast or lovefeast (also spelled love feast or love-feast, sometimes capitalized) is a communal meal shared among Christians. The name comes from ''agape'', a Greek term for 'love' in its broadest sense. The lovefeast custom originat ...

service it was given the name ''St. Philips'' by Bishop Edward Rondthaler. The church building was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1991. The adjacent 1823 log church was reconstructed on its original site in 1999.

References

External links

Official websiteOld Salem website with details about the churchInformation on this church from the Moravian ArchivesInformation about the congregation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Philips Moravian Church African-American history in Winston-Salem, North Carolina Churches in Winston-Salem, North Carolina Moravian churches in North Carolina Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in North Carolina Churches completed in 1874 19th-century Moravian Church church buildings National Register of Historic Places in Winston-Salem, North Carolina 1861 establishments in North Carolina

History

References

Further reading

External links