海角大神

Two historic Black churches. One vision of freedom.

Sen. Raphael Warnock is used to following in the footsteps of the incomparable Martin Luther King Jr. But when the Georgia senator and the pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church walked into the pulpit at Tabernacle Baptist Church on Sunday, his presence linked two historic religious institutions bound by civil rights and community service.

鈥淭abernacle Church is a part of the Black church tradition. And when we say the Black church tradition, we have never meant anything racially exclusive about that,鈥� Senator Warnock said at the third of four services to commemorate Tabernacle鈥檚 140th anniversary. 鈥淭he Black church tradition is shorthand for talking about the antislavery church. The anti-segregation church. The antibigotry church. We are the church that was literally born fighting for freedom.鈥�

Tabernacle and Ebenezer are sister congregations, both having emerged from the challenges of the post-Reconstruction South and an America that betrayed the promise of the Emancipation Proclamation. Tabernacle was founded in 1885 by the Rev. C.T. Walker, a pastor regarded at the time as the 鈥渕ost famous Negro preacher in the world.鈥� That claim to fame was noted by church guests such as George Washington Carver, Booker T. Washington, John D. Rockefeller, and former President William Howard Taft.

Ebenezer, about 150 miles away in Atlanta, was founded a year later, in 1886. The pastor who petitioned Ebenezer spiritually and economically was the Rev. Adam Daniel Williams, who began his tenure in 1894 and not only promoted Black businesses, but also challenged parishioners to become homeowners. He was a predecessor to the King family, which began with Martin Luther Sr., who was affectionately called 鈥淒addy King.鈥�

Senator Warnock鈥檚 message Sunday was entitled 鈥淔aith From a Rearview Mirror鈥� 鈥� fitting because of the commentaries shared in that same pulpit that inspired past generations. In his first formal appearance at Tabernacle in 1962, Dr. King Jr. not only called for a 鈥渟econd Emancipation Proclamation,鈥� but also flatly rebuked segregation. He said those who fight it are 鈥渨orking to make the American dream a reality and these persons may well be the saviors of democracy.鈥�

Senator Warnock shared a similar message. 鈥淲e鈥檝e seen bigots before. We鈥檝e seen folk who were impressed with themselves before. We鈥檝e seen pharaohs before,鈥� he told the congregation. 鈥淗ere鈥檚 what we鈥檙e gonna do. We鈥檙e gonna build a multiracial coalition of conscience that bears witness to God鈥檚 freedom in the world.鈥�

That sense of being and collaboration is reflected in the interwoven leadership between the two churches. In 1874, Dr. Walker, Tabernacle鈥檚 first pastor, enrolled in the Augusta Institute, which would later become Morehouse College. Morehouse was where Dr. King studied prior to his time at Crozer Theological Seminary and Boston University. But Morehouse also molded a father and son, the Rev. Otis Moss Jr. and the Rev. Otis Moss III, who would later become pastors at Ebenezer and Tabernacle, respectively.

The elder Dr. Moss co-pastored with the elder Mr. King in 1971. The younger Dr. Moss adds pointed social commentary to his sermons at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, most recently a five-minute bit about racial gerrymandering in Texas.

The Rev. Charles Goodman, who has been the pastor at Tabernacle since 2006, lauds Senator Warnock鈥檚 balancing of social commentary with optimism. He says such faith is the hallmark of the church.

鈥淚 think the only thing that鈥檚 going to hold us is our collective belief and hope in God and in one another, and that鈥檚 going to continue to be our message,鈥� Dr. Goodman said in a phone interview after the service. 鈥淥ne hundred and forty years makes you really think. Coming out of Reconstruction and still having amazing people like Dr. C.T. Walker, who came up in that time where Black people were facing such overwhelming odds, and was still succeeding.

鈥淭hroughout history, I think we鈥檙e seeing that,鈥� he continued. 鈥淎nd even though we鈥檙e in a very dark period now, we still have to keep the faith and keep our eyes collectively on the prize.鈥�