Witness: Two Hundred Years of African-American Faith and Practice at the Abyssinian Baptist Church of Harlem, New York - Hardcover

McNeil, Genna Rae; Roberson, Houston Bryan; Dixie, Quinton Hosford; McGruder, Kevin

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0802863418 ISBN 13: 9780802863416

Publisher: Eerdmans, 2013

Synopsis

This detailed history of the famous Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, New York City, begins with its organization in 1809 and continues through its relocations, its famous senior pastors, and its many crises and triumphs, up to the present. Considered the largest Protestant congregation in the United States during the pre-megachurch 1930s, this church plays a very important part in the history of New York City.

About this title

About the Author

Genna Rae McNeil is a professor at the University of North Carolina; she specializes in African-American history and twentieth-century social movements in the United States. Her other books include Groundwork: Charles Hamilton Houston and the Struggle for Civil Rights.

Review

The Catholic Historical Review
"Represents an important addition to African American congregational history."

Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae
"A book which one cannot ignore but must read to understand the global experiences of the African."

Jeremiah A. Wright Jr.
-- Trinity United Church of Christ, Chicago
"This much-needed history of the Abyssinian Baptist Church of Harlem is a 'must-read' for generations of Americans who want to know the complex and complicated story of the black religious tradition, the black church tradition, and the intersectionality of race, religion, and politics amidst the ever-changing and evolving landscape of life for Africans in New York City -- from the days following the Civil War up through the Great Migration and on into the twenty-first century. . . . A debt of gratitude is owed to Genna Rae McNeil, Houston Bryan Roberson, Quinton Hosford Dixie, and Kevin McGruder! These dedicated historians have captured an important segment of black church history and written about it with passion and with care."

Lawrence H. Mamiya
-- Vassar College
"A magnificent history of an outstanding African-American congregation with a national pulpit for its preachers. On the basis of meticulous research, the authors have chronicled the triumphs and the failures, the harmonious unity and the conflicts within the two-hundred-year history of the Abyssinian Baptist Church. . . . This history serves as a model for the history of other church congregations."

Cornel West
-- from afterword
"Magisterial. . . . A powerful and poignant book."

Choice (American Library Association)
"This institutional account of one of the most long-lived and famous black churches in the US deserves a place in the larger history of religion in the US. . . . The abundant detail and substantive appendixes make this a useful resource in the pursuit of religious networks and institutions over time. Recommended."

Booklist
"A basic resource in African American history."

Journal of American History
"A landmark scholarly treatment of a consequential congregation and its large role in the American and African American religious experience."

Edition details

• Publisher: Eerdmans
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 0802863418
• ISBN 13: 9780802863416
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 656