Above: Star Hill was the first A.M.E. church built (1867) in Richard Allen’s hometown of Dover, DE. “He was more like a father to his slaves than anything else,” said Richard Allen years later of Stokely Sturgis, his former master in Dover, DE. Sturgis trusted Allen enough, for example, to allow him as a teenager…
You’ve heard the story about George Washington chopping down the cherry tree, getting caught, and then fessing up with “I cannot tell a lie.” But do you know where that story came from? How was it viewed by the audience at the time it was first told? Mason Locke Weems (1759-1825), known to all as…
I was raised Presbyterian, but I never heard of communion tokens growing up. The idea was, right before taking communion, you presented a metal token to show that you were in good standing—fit to receive the sacrament. John Calvin suggested that tokens be used “to prevent the profanation of the Lord’s Table.” No token? No…
