The Servant Entrance

Enslaved members of the church entered and exited through a separate door that led by a blind stairwell to the gallery, where they were allowed to sit for worship out of sight of white members. Presbyterians rarely used the term slave, preferring servant, and in the 1860 roster 142 servants were listed as members; over the next four years, 100 babies belonging to the enslaved membership were baptized. In 1859, a major remodeling project expanded the gallery because the original balcony on that side could hold only thirty or forty worshippers. Church records indicate that enslaved members joined in the same manner as white members, by examination before church elders; their babies were baptized, and they received Holy Communion, though only after white members were served. Services usually lasted three hours, with the sermon taking up two-thirds of that time, and discipline was applied equally to slave or free, young or old, male or female, with ushers using eight- to ten-foot poles padded with leather to strike anyone who fell asleep or misbehaved. The steps at this door were carved by Lewis Phifer, an enslaved mason on the farm of William Sample, now known as Latta Plantation, who also carved the gateposts to the old cemetery, the upping block in front of the church, probably the feed trough beside the steps, the original front steps to this building, and the first front steps to First Presbyterian Church in Charlotte; because he was so highly respected, Sample hired him out. It was unusual for an enslaved person to be commonly known by both a first and last name, and Lewis Phifer stands as a reminder that the contributions of enslaved people to infrastructure and culture usually went uncredited. At the end of the Civil War, the pastor informed the enslaved members that they were free, and many left for nearby farms as sharecroppers to ensure their liberty, while some remained as members. In the records, their identification changed from a first name with servant in parenthesis to a first and last name with colored in parenthesis, but they remained unequal members, still confined to the balcony, unable to vote in congregational elections, and barred from serving as officers or ministers. In 1868, the northern branch of the Presbyterian Church began sending money so former slaves who remained loyal Presbyterians could build their own churches, and at least three congregations came out of the gallery at Hopewell: Little Hopewell or Whitacre, Miranda Presbyterian Church, and Caldwell Presbyterian Church; Little Hopewell eventually became A.M.E. Zion, and in the 1950s Miranda and Caldwell combined to become Catawba Presbyterian Church on McCoy Road. In 2000, a service of reconciliation sought to make amends for the divisive history between the mother church and the churches that came out of the gallery.

Huntersville, North Carolina · United States