Many slaveowners in the American South wanted their slaves to be Christian, but their motives were often sinister. However much they tried to control Black peoples’ worship and beliefs about Jesus, enslaved people met for worship on their own terms (in secret). In Christ they were not hated or less than. In Christ, they didn’t suffer violence – they found beloved community.
A former slave named James Smith told this incredible story from the 1830s. He was leading worship. The people had sung hymns and prayed. He had started preaching when he felt warm and inspired. Just then, some patrollers happened by – spies who hunted for runaway slaves at night. They wouldn’t have hesitated to arrest Smith and the congregation. He said:
“They came, armed to the teeth, and surrounded the house. The captain of the company came in, and as soon as we saw him we fell on our knees and prayed that God might deliver us. While we prayed he stood there in the middle of the floor, without saying a word. Pretty soon we saw his knees began to tremble… he turned and went out.” The patrollers who were there with him asked him: “Are we going to arrest them?” He said, “No, it was too hot there for me.”
A miracle happened before his very eyes. How could anyone deny that the Spirit was living and active in that church, with enslaved people worshipping from the heart?
Sources:
*https://slaveryandremembrance.org/articles/article/?id=A0059
*https://civilwar.vt.edu/religion-and-resistance-in-enslaved-communities/
*https://accessgenealogy.com/georgia/slave-narrative-of-mrs-celestia-avery.htm
*https://www.jstor.org/stable/25664424
*https://www.searchablemuseum.com/illegal-to-preach/
