A High and Noble Mission: The Adventist Outreach to African-Americans During the Civil War Era and Beyond

They were turbulent years, the ones following America's Civil War. The emancipation of those held in slavery opened new ministry opportunities for Northern churches. Previously blocked from reaching any held as slaves, they now were free to preach the Good News to the poor, helping "bind up the nation's wounds." They did their best to follow the Lord's example--setting prisoners free, releasing the oppressed, and especially as Adventists, proclaiming the year of the Lord's favor.

Individuals discovered within this new mission field, the Freedmen, willingly came to hear the Word of the Lord proclaimed. Among their many physical and spiritual needs, one request arose high above all others. The Freedmen wanted to read. That privilege had been vigorously denied in the past, but now, with freedom a reality--they wanted schools. Many had the noblest of reasons. Having heard preaching and teaching from the Bible all their lives, they now wanted to read those words on their own. Others wanted an education to help secure the new liberties coming their way.

Northern churches sent more preachers than teachers, yet schools were established. While teaching the new converts to read the Bible, missionaries were pressed to go beyond that introductory level. However, churches on the home front seldom saw the need for expensive schools and only reluctantly supported anything beyond the preaching ministry.

Meanwhile, the surrounding White community was strongly opposed to any schooling at all. Teachers were threatened, housing denied, and some schools burned to the ground.

Missionaries stood in the middle, seeking to please both the sending churches and the Black Freedmen, while maintaining peace within an oftentimes hostile community. They were overworked, financially under-supported, and all suffered from "burnout"; a few even paid the ultimate sacrifice. Yet many individual lives were wondrously transformed as they participated in this most high and noble Christian mission.