A Long Reconstruction: Racial Caste and Reconciliation in the Methodist Episcopal Church

The Methodist Episcopal Church continued to struggle with issues of racial inclusion after the end of Reconstruction in 1877. It succeeded in appealing to freed slaves and white Unionists, building up a biracial membership far surpassing that of any other Protestant denomination. However, as segregation gradually took hold in the South, many northern Methodists evinced the same skepticism as white southerners about the fitness of African Americans for positions of authority and responsibility in an interracial setting.

Format: Hardback
Length: 344 pages
Publication date: 08 July 2022
Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc

After the abolition of slavery, white America took significant steps towards including African Americans as full participants in the country's institutions. While conventional historical timelines mark the end of Reconstruction in 1877, the Methodist Episcopal Church continued to grapple with issues of racial inclusion for decades after political support for racial reform waned.

An 1844 schism over slavery divided Methodism into northern and southern branches, but Union victory in the Civil War provided the northern Methodists with an opportunity to send missionaries and teachers into the territory occupied by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. To a remarkable degree, the M.E. Church succeeded in appealing to freed slaves and white Unionists, building up a biracial membership far surpassing that of any other Protestant denomination.

A Long Reconstruction details the denomination's journey towards unification and justice. African Americans who joined the M.E. Church did so with hope that through religious fellowship and cooperation, they could gain respect and acceptance and ultimately assume a position of equality and brotherhood with whites. However, as segregation gradually took hold in the South, many northern Methodists exhibited the same skepticism as white southerners about the fitness of African Americans for positions of authority and responsibility in an interracial setting.

While the African American membership of the M.E. Church was never without strong white allies who helped to sustain the Church's official stance against racial caste, the M.E. Church, like the nation as a whole, placed a growing priority on putting their broken union back together.

In conclusion, the M.E. Church played a significant role in the inclusion of African Americans in American society after the abolition of slavery. While there were challenges and skepticism along the way, the Church's commitment to racial justice and unity helped to pave the way for greater equality and inclusion in the years that followed.

Weight: 610g
Dimension: 166 x 242 x 33 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780197571828