In My Trials, Lord, Walk with Me : What an Antebellum Parish Register Reveals about Race and Reconciliation by Paul Porwoll (2018, Trade Paperback)

Porwoll, Paul

0692069313

9780692069318

242749876

Adult & Further Education

306 Pages

English

In My Trials, Lord, Walk with Me : What an Antebellum Parish Register Reveals about Race and Reconciliation

General, United States / General

2018

Textbook

Religion, History

Paul Porwoll

Trade Paperback

0.9 in

27.3 Oz

9 in

6 in

Adult Education

2018-901674

23

Yes

306.3/6209757915

¿In My Trials, Lord, Walk with Me¿ explores the world of plantation slave ministry and its aftermath through the twenty-first century through the eyes of the recently discovered antebellum register of St. Andrew¿s Parish Church, Charleston, SC. A transcription of the register, the church¿s logbook of baptisms, confirmations, marriages, and burials, made more than a century ago curiously omitted more than a hundred entries pertaining to the enslaved. To put the register into context, ¿In My Trials, Lord, Walk with Me¿ investigates the plantation slave ministry movement in its epicenter of the South Carolina and Georgia Lowcountry, and in particular, at St. Andrew¿s Parish Church. Why were the enslaved Christianized? What were the motivations of the clergy and planters? Was this simply a well-intentioned missionary effort, or an insidious mechanism to maintain order in the ¿peculiar institution?¿ The book examines the motives of the church leaders who omitted these slave entries at the end of the nineteenth century. Were they simply a reflection of the racism of the times, or was there more? It discusses how slavery and race are explored at Charleston¿s publicly-open plantations today and examines the unique bond between two churches named St. Andrew¿s, one predominantly white and one predominately black, located just down the street from each other. These churches share a common history forged by slavery, a past that could have torn them apart and left them strangers to each other. But just the opposite has occurred, and what a magnificent story that is.¿This book contains a story that needs to be understood by all who seek true racial understanding and reconciliation in the Lowcountry of South Carolina, particularly after the shootings at Mother Emanuel AME Church,¿ says the Reverend Marshall Huey, rector of St. Andrew¿s Parish Church.

HT913.P67 2018