Pastors throughout Indianapolis are asking members of the Indianapolis community to take just a little time to remember the Emancipation Proclamation, which officially granted freedom to African-Americans.
At the same time, they are inviting people to come and receive encouragement and information to help them get “emancipated” from some of today’s challenges as they enter the New Year, whether they are related to finances, health or addiction.
Guests will be able to enjoy praise music, a discussion of solutions to local community issues and a special message from a prominent guest speaker during the annual Emancipation Day Service, a free event taking place on Jan. 2 at 10 a.m. at Christ Missionary Baptist Church, 1001 Eugene St.
“We should always commemorate the law that allowed those of us living today to be born free, and use what we have learned as since then to make progress for the future,” said Rev. Fitzhugh Lyons, pastor of Galilee Missionary Baptist Church and president of the Interdenominational Ministers Alliance, which co-sponsors the service with the Baptist Ministers Alliance of Indianapolis.
Emancipation Day services are an African-American church tradition designed to celebrate the day in January of 1863, when President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation.
The proclamation is credited with freeing slaves in the South after 244 years of illegal and immoral captivity, and keeping the Union (as the United States was then known) together as a nation during the Civil War.
Support from abolitionist ministers, Black and white, played a key role in securing freedom and getting the message of the proclamation out during church gatherings, one of the few places where Blacks could legally meet in large groups.
“Many people don’t know that the Watch Night services many churches observe actually came from what was known as the ‘Freedom Calls,’ or gatherings where slaves heard news about the emancipation,” said Elder John Davis, pastor of Greater Sanders Temple Church of God in Christ and a participant in previous Emancipation Day services.
The Indianapolis version of the Emancipation Day service has been held since 1944, and has featured well-known clergymen such as Rev. Jesse Jackson, Rev. Ralph Abernathy, Bishop Henry M. Williamson and many others.
This year’s speaker will be Indianapolis Congressman André Carson, who represents the 7th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Carson, who was elected to Congress in 2008, is expected to provide an inside analysis of this year’s political events and how they have affected the African-American community.
Organizers say it is important to remember that the Emancipation Day service is also intended to help attendees remember the historic achievements of African-Americans since the end of the Civil War, and discuss how to safeguard those accomplishments.
“Right now, for example, we have the first African-American president of the United States, and there is definitely a strong movement to discredit and remove him in a way no other president has faced,” said Melvin Girton, pastor of Christ Missionary Baptist Church and host pastor of the event. “We’re calling on all pastors in this city who support him, or believe he should be evaluated fairly in the same way as his predecessors to join us.”
Rev. E.E. Russ, pastor of Greater St. James Missionary Baptist Church, said the Emancipation Day service will be a positive, uplifting forum that will remind participants how much “God has blessed” African-Americans to succeed over the generations.
“It is important to remember the inroads made by our forefathers and build on their legacy of faith and strength to structure more success in this community,” Russ said.Freedom fighters
Pastors who helped secure emancipation
Minister Henry Highland Garnet
(1815-1882)
An ordained New York minister, Garnet was an early proponent of armed revolt against slaveholders and was the first African-American clergyman to deliver a message before Congress. He later served as ambassador to Liberia.
Quote – “The humblest peasant is as free in the sight of God as the proudest monarch that ever swayed a scepter. Liberty is a spirit sent out from God and, like its great author, is no respecter of persons.”
Rev. Nathaniel Paul (1775-1839)
Pastor of the first African Baptist Society and associate of prominent abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison.
Quote – “I have not failed to give Uncle Sam due credit for his 2,000,000 slaves; not to expose the cruel prejudices of the Americans to our colored race. And is this, they say, republican liberty? May God deliver us from it!”
Pastor Henry McNeal Turner
(1834-1915)
Ordained Methodist minister who preached throughout the South before the Civil War, and later become a supporter of colonization in Africa.
Quote – “The Black man cannot protect a country, if the country doesn’t protect him; and if, tomorrow a war should arise, I would not raise a musket to defend a country where my manhood is denied.”
Samuel Ringgold Ward (1817-1866)
The son of escaped slaves, Ward entered the Presbyterian ministry and became a popular abolitionist speaker who traveled worldwide.
Quote – “How long shall this important, increasing, progressive class of American-born citizens be trodded under foot? Shall the great fundamental principles of this republic ever be practically applied alike to whites and to Blacks?”
The Revels Brothers
Hiram Revels (1827-1901) was educated by Quakers at a seminary in Beech Grove, and became pastor of a church in Richmond. An outspoken advocate of equality, he later became the first African-American in the U.S. Senate, representing Mississippi. His older brother Willis Revels (1810-1879) served as pastor of Bethel AME Church, the oldest surviving African-American church in Indianapolis and a station on the Underground Railroad. Revels was also chief recruiting officer for the 28th Regiment U.S. Colored Troops, an African-American combat unit from Indiana that fought in the Civil War.
