Saved and Sanctified: The Rise of a Storefront Church in Great Migration Philadelphia (History of African-American Religions)

During the early twentieth century, millions of southern blacks moved north to escape the violent racism of the Jim Crow South and to find employment in urban centers. They transplanted not only themselves but also their culture; in the midst of this tumultuous demographic transition emerged a new social institution, the storefront sanctified church. __Saved and Sanctified__ focuses on one such Philadelphia church that was started above a horse stable, was founded by a woman born sixteen years after the Emancipation Proclamation, and is still active today. “The Church,” as it is known to its members, offers a unique perspective on an under-studied aspect of African American religious institutions. Through painstaking historical and ethnographic research, Deidre Helen Crumbley illuminates the crucial role these oftentimes controversial churches played in the spiritual life of the African American community during and after the Great Migration. She provides a new perspective on women and their leadership roles, examines the loose or nonexistent relationship these Pentecostal churches have with existing denominations, and dispels common prejudices about those who attend storefront churches. Skillfully interweaving personal vignettes from her own experience as a member, along with life stories of founding members, Crumbley provides new insights into the importance of grassroots religion and community-based houses of worship. During the first half of the twentieth century, millions of southern blacks moved north to escape the violent racism of the Jim Crow South and to find employment in urban centers. They transplanted not only themselves but also their culture. In the midst of this tumultuous demographic transition emerged a new religious phenomenon, the storefront Sanctified church. This book focuses on one such Philadelphia church - started above a horse stable, founded by a woman born sixteen years after the Emancipation Proclamation, and still active today. "The Church," as it is known to members, offers unique perspective on an under-studied aspect of African American religious organizations. This book tells of how one charismatic woman, with a call to preach the gospel, galvanized a handful of Great Migration Philadelphians to create an enduring community of faith amid rapid social change and racial inequity. Surviving the death of its founder and establishing power sharing by both male and female elders, The Church embodies grassroots institution-building and the propitious structuring of religious innovation. Through painstaking historical and ethnographic research, Deidre Helen Crumbley - who grew up in The Church - illuminates the crucial role these often controversial churches played in the spiritual life of the African American community during and after the Great Migration. She offers new perspectives on women and their changing roles in black churches, examines the tenuous relationship between traditional denominations and Pentecostal storefront churches, and dispels common prejudices about the people who attend them.--Publisher's description On one level, Saved and Sanctified tells a very particular story: this is the story of a church started above a horse stable in Great Migration Philadelphia, which, led by a charismatic woman born just sixteen years after the Emancipation Proclamation, not only survived the death of the founder, but also institutionalized power-sharing by female and male elders. On another level, this book tells a more universal story: this is the human story of institution-building, establishing community, and pursuing a life of faith while negotiating rapidly changing and often adversarial social realities. Crumbley first situates “The Church,” as members, “saints,” refer to it, within the socio-historical landscape of the Great Migration, when, over six decades, six million African Americans left the Jim Crow South. She does this not only by drawing on germane historical research, but also by documenting the oral histories of founding members, both North and South of the Mason Dixon Line. Crumbley also explores the ritual and symbolic content of The Church, as a Sanctified Church within Black Church traditions and as an expression of African Diaspora religion. She analyzes its institutionalization as an experiment in employing both gender and age as organizing principles. Crumbley brings a unique perspective to this historically embedded ethnography in that she looks at The Church through the telescopic lens of the trained anthropologist and through the microscopic lens of one raised within this faith community Cover 1 Title 4 Copyright 5 Contents 8 Acknowledgments 10 1. Call 14 2. City Tales 42 3. Saints Tales 62 4. Becoming Saints 120 5. Family 152 6. Response 178 Notes 188 Bibliography 200 Index 214 A 214 B 214 C 215 D 216 E 216 F 217 G 217 H 217 I 218 J 218 K 218 L 218 M 218 N 219 O 219 P 219 Q 220 R 220 S 220 T 221 U 222 V 222 W 222 Y 223 Z 223