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Henry Evans
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The Methodists did not develop preachers who founded congregations until the coming of the National Negro Methodist Churches. There is one exception, however. The one black preacher who founded a congregation in the Methodist system in that earliest period was Henry Evans of Fayetteville, North Carolina in 1790 (The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church: Reality of the Black Church, William J. Walls (©1974 A. M. E. Zion Publishing House). The following extract, on Henry Evans and the Evans Metropolitan A. M. E. Zion Church of Fayetteville is taken from the Autobiography of Bishop William Capers: "The Most remarkable man in Fayetteville when I went there, and who died during my stay, was a Negro, by the name of Henry Evans. I say the most remarkable in view of his class; and I call him Negro with unfeigned respect....I have known and loved and honored not a few Negroes in my life, who were probably as pure of heart as Evans, or anybody else....Remarkable....I use the word in a broader sense for Henry Evans, who was confessedly the father of the Methodist Church, white and black, in Fayetteville, and the best preacher of his time in that quarter; and he was so remarkable as to have become the greatest curiosity of the town; insomuch that distinguished visitors hardly felt that they might pass a Sunday in Fayetteville without hearing him preach. Evans was from Virginia; a shoemaker by trade, and I think, was born free. He became a Christian and a Methodist quite young, and was licensed to preach in Virginia. While yet a young man, he determined to move to Charleston, South Carolina, thinking that he might succeed best there at his trade. But having reached Fayetteville on his way to Charleston, and something detaining him for a few days, his spirit was stirred at perceiving that the people of his race in that town were wholly given to profanity and lewdness, never hearing preaching of any denomination, and living emphatically without hope and without God in the world. This determined him to stop in Fayetteville; and he began to preach to the Negroes, with great effect. The town council interfered, and nothing in his power could prevail with them to permit him to preach. He then withdrew to the sand-hill, out of town and held meetings in the woods, changing his appointments from place to place. No opposition passed into the hands of the mob. These he worried out by changing his appointments, so that when they went to work their will upon him he was preaching somewhere else. Meanwhile, whatever the most honest purpose of a single heart could do to reconcile his enemies was employed by him for that end. He elude no one in private, but sought opportunities to explain himself; avowed the purity of his intentions; and even begged to be subjected to the scrutiny of any surveillance that might be thought proper to prove his inoffensiveness; anything, so that he might be to preach. Happily for him and the cause of religion, the fruits of his labors soon powerfully seconded his honest countenance and earnest pleadings. One after another began to suspect their servants of attending his preaching, not because they were made worse, but wonderfully better.
Divine Appointment
Henry Evans
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The Methodists did not develop preachers who founded congregations until the coming of the National Negro Methodist Churches. There is one exception, however. The one black preacher who founded a congregation in the Methodist system in that earliest period was Henry Evans of Fayetteville, North Carolina in 1790 (The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church: Reality of the Black Church, William J. Walls (©1974 A. M. E. Zion Publishing House). The following extract, on Henry Evans and the Evans Metropolitan A. M. E. Zion Church of Fayetteville is taken from the Autobiography of Bishop William Capers: "The Most remarkable man in Fayetteville when I went there, and who died during my stay, was a Negro, by the name of Henry Evans. I say the most remarkable in view of his class; and I call him Negro with unfeigned respect....I have known and loved and honored not a few Negroes in my life, who were probably as pure of heart as Evans, or anybody else....Remarkable....I use the word in a broader sense for Henry Evans, who was confessedly the father of the Methodist Church, white and black, in Fayetteville, and the best preacher of his time in that quarter; and he was so remarkable as to have become the greatest curiosity of the town; insomuch that distinguished visitors hardly felt that they might pass a Sunday in Fayetteville without hearing him preach. Evans was from Virginia; a shoemaker by trade, and I think, was born free. He became a Christian and a Methodist quite young, and was licensed to preach in Virginia. While yet a young man, he determined to move to Charleston, South Carolina, thinking that he might succeed best there at his trade. But having reached Fayetteville on his way to Charleston, and something detaining him for a few days, his spirit was stirred at perceiving that the people of his race in that town were wholly given to profanity and lewdness, never hearing preaching of any denomination, and living emphatically without hope and without God in the world. This determined him to stop in Fayetteville; and he began to preach to the Negroes, with great effect. The town council interfered, and nothing in his power could prevail with them to permit him to preach. He then withdrew to the sand-hill, out of town and held meetings in the woods, changing his appointments from place to place. No opposition passed into the hands of the mob. These he worried out by changing his appointments, so that when they went to work their will upon him he was preaching somewhere else. Meanwhile, whatever the most honest purpose of a single heart could do to reconcile his enemies was employed by him for that end. He elude no one in private, but sought opportunities to explain himself; avowed the purity of his intentions; and even begged to be subjected to the scrutiny of any surveillance that might be thought proper to prove his inoffensiveness; anything, so that he might be to preach. Happily for him and the cause of religion, the fruits of his labors soon powerfully seconded his honest countenance and earnest pleadings. One after another began to suspect their servants of attending his preaching, not because they were made worse, but wonderfully better.
By Divine Appointment He came here, in the year 1795.
Christian Advocate and Journal, 1827
Henry Evans came to North Carolina by divine appointment. He was a free black cobbler and Methodist preacher, "awakened and converted to God" in Charles City County, Virginia. On the way to Charleston, he stopped in Fayetteville, discovering a dangerous yet providential place of ministry. He was resisted, threatened, and persecuted. He was imprisoned at least three times, under accusation of being a run-away slave, of promoting insurrection by preaching among slaves, and of owning goods from a bankrupt merchant. Driven out of Fayetteville, he preached in the sandhills, moving from place to place to avoid violence by mobs from the town. By his own testimony, he swam across the icy Cape Fear River three times to preach the gospel. However, the "most unequivocal evidence" of the will of God was given to Evans: he was convinced of God's calling to preach the gospel in Fayetteville to poor and uneducated people of color. He persevered and was given a license to preach by town leaders in 1802. The Methodist Society led by Henry Evans built the first church in Fayetteville. Francis Asbury preached at Evan's Meeting House in 1806 and welcomed it into the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1808. Black and white Methodists worshipped together, wept together at Evans funeral, and rejoiced together in the assurance of everlasting life. In 1831, there were 333 black and 145 white members of the church. The congregation moved to Hay Street where they continued to worship together. In 1850, the black members returned to worship at the site of Evans Meeting House. Evans Metropolitan Church joined the AMEZ connection in 1866. This history is repeated in our communities: Methodists worshipped together until the evils of slavery and racism overpowered faithfulness. The church, Christ's body, was broken by us. We preferred separateness to unity. The AME, AMEZ, and CME churches were formed as a result of the racism within the Methodist Church. Heritage Day is a good time to remember what we are called to be, what we might have been, what we yet might be. Christian unity, multicultural ministry, social justice, and inclusiveness are not new ideas but gospel light in the darkness of every age and place. April is appointment time, Heritage Day time, and Easter time. The life, ministry, and legacy of Henry Evans are instructive. Might clergy and laity think together about the divine appointment of their shared ministry in every place? Might local churches honestly embrace our heritage, both what we have been and what we might have been? Might we all acknowledge unifying resurrection power, given by God yet not fully realized in our life together?
By Divine Appointment He came here, in the year 1795.
Christian Advocate and Journal, 1827
Gleaming Column
"Christian Advocate and Journal, 1827"
By: Hope Morgan Ward
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