Historic Raleigh church celebrates 175 years of worship and social-justice activism

The words on the front of Sunday’s bulletin at St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church in downtown Raleigh might have seemed like a simple message.

“You belong here,” they said.

But for a Black church celebrating its 175th anniversary, the phrase was more than a modern-day welcome. It encapsulated the church’s whole history, going back to its formation in 1848, when some of its founding members still were enslaved and all of them had to worship separately from white believers of the same Christian faith.

The Rev. Dr. Larry McDonald Sr., pastor at St. Paul, reminded the congregation of the church’s history in his sermon for the anniversary celebration. Behind him, the choir underscored the message.

“Nobody told me that the road would be easy,” McDonald said. “But I don’t believe that he brought me this far to leave me.”

God has had his hand on St. Paul for 175 years, McDonald said, and will continue to guide the congregation for another 175 years if the church stays focused on its work.

In the early 1800s, what was then Edenton Street Methodist Episcopal Church allowed freed Blacks and the enslaved people of its members to worship with the congregation, something that wasn’t allowed at all churches across the South. But by 1846, according to St. Paul’s National Register of Historic Places designation, Edenton Street’s congregation had grown to the point where it relegated Black worshipers to hold separate services in the basement.

In 1853, the white members of Edenton Street bought the former Christ Church building nearby and the Black membership moved the wood-frame structure to the corner of Edenton and Harrington streets. They began holding services there the next year.

In 1865, the new church separated from Edenton Street and joined the African Methodist Episcopal Conference, one of the nation’s first Black denominations. The church got its first Black pastor through the denomination.

St. Paul AME was Raleigh’s first independent Black church.

According to the National Register nomination, St. Paul counted as members a number of skilled masons who began work on a new building to house the growing church — an ambitious structure, late Victorian Gothic architecture with an elaborate brick facade and 75 stained-glass windows imported from Europe.

It would be as lovely as any church in town.

Work started on the building in 1884, and members deprived themselves at times, vowing to live on biscuits and molasses if they had to in order to support the building campaign.

Throughout its history, the church has served not just as a spiritual home, but a springboard for civil rights and social justice activism.

In 1865, St. Paul hosted the first lawful assembly of Black residents, and delegates came from 200 miles around to draft proposals calling for the repeal of unjust racial laws and the improvement of social conditions. From the church members came some of the state’s most notable leaders: the Rev. Henry Eppes, Stewart Ellison, and the Rev. R.W.H Lea, a leader in the Republican-Fusionist movement.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson made a speech at the church during his second run for the presidency in 1988.

The congregation at St. Paul today is smaller than in the past, as it is at most churches. But the church is still busy at work in the community, conducting SAT prep workshops, offering tutoring and homework assistance, job training, writing clinics, money management training and programs around the arts.

For Sunday’s celebration, the first level of the sanctuary was nearly full.