Grace: The History of Black Churches in Cambridge
Throughout this nation’s history, Black Churches have been a cornerstone of community, culture, and resilience, and this has certainly been the case in Cambridge. Black Churches have played an essential role not only in the spiritual lives of their congregants, but also serving as incubators for social justice, education, and community building. Grace: The History of Black Churches in Cambridge strives to illuminate part of the rich history and contributions by highlighting just some of these enduring institutions, focusing on their collective, enduring legacy in our community. By showcasing the history of just some of these important institutions, Grace aims to foster a deeper understanding of their significance in Cambridge’s past, present, and future.
Cambridge’s Black Church Community is a multi-denominational phenomenon. In addition to the mainline denominations—African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.), Baptist, Episcopal, and African Methodist Episcopal Zion (A.M.E.Z.), denominations founded in the early twentieth century during the Great Migration and the Caribbean immigration are also represented, particularly Holiness, Pentecostal, Apostolic, and African Orthodox. All of these churches have connections through kinship to African Americans who had been in Cambridge from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. At least one A.M.E. Church pre-dates the founding of St. Paul A.M.E. Church, which itself was founded in 1873 and is now the oldest Black Church in Cambridge. St. Paul was followed shortly after by Rush Memorial A.M.E. Zion in 1877, and Union Baptist Church in 1878. In addition to migrants from the South, in the first two decades of the twentieth century, Cambridge began to receive large numbers of West Indian immigrants, especially from Barbados and Jamaica. These immigrants established their own churches. First Holiness, which is now Kingdom Empowerment Center, had its beginnings in 1909. Christian Mission Holiness was established in 1916. These new churches also drew members from people migrating from North Carolina and Georgia. And some of these new Caribbean migrants also joined the St. Paul, Rush, and Union congregations.
Not only were these churches connected through marriages and family but these churches also shared religious culture through revivals and other activities. W.E.B. Du Bois, in his 1903 description of the Negro Church in The Souls of Black Folk, pointed to the shared religious culture that transcended denominational boundaries. He described three elements of this culture, its leadership (“the preacher”), its music, and its emphasis on the Holy Spirit (“the frenzy”). Most importantly the diverse musical styles of these churches included spirituals, hymns, gospel music, and classical music. The importance of Black Churches as cultural centers could be seen in the concerts and afternoon “programmes” where choirs and budding musicians, especially singers, could showcase their talents. The musical culture of Cambridge’s Black Church produced singers and choirs who also became prominent through recordings.
The houses of worship featured in this digital archive show just some of the rich, multilayered histories that have comprised the Black Churches throughout the Cambridge community over the course of nearly two centuries.
This digital archive is modeled after the in-person exhibit titled Grace: The History of Black Churches in Cambridge. The in-person exhibit was hosted by the Cambridge Museum of History and Culture in the Kendall Center in February, 2025.
Click the link below to learn about the digital archive and how to navigate an archive:
Sources:
1. Christian Mission Holiness Church, History, accessed January 21, 2025, https://cmhc789.org/history.
2. Du Bois, W. E. B. The Souls of Black Folk. Chicago: A. C. McClurg & Co., 1903.
3. Kingdom Empowerment Center, Our History, accessed January 21, 2025, https://www.kecmass.org/our-history
4. “Rush AME observes 100th,” The Cambridge Chronicle, May 12, 1977, 11.
5. St. Paul A.M.E. Church, History, accessed January 21, 2025, https://st-paul-ame.org/st-paul-history.html.
6. Drawing of St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church from pamphlet “We’ve Come This Far by Faith - The 120 Year Journey of an African-American Community: The St. Paul A.M.E. Story” (detail). Image courtesy Cambridge Historical Commission.