The steeple of the Wellesley Village Church towers over downtown Wellesley as the sun rises.

News

CSAME Heritage Day Walkathon July 22

July 13, 2023

Thanks to all who attending Saturday’s walkathon! It was a beautiful event which allowed us to literally and figuratively walk with our brothers and sisters from the Charles Street AME Church. Follow this link to hear Sue Grant’s reflection >

 

RSVP here for JULY 22ND WALKATHON > 

If you were unable to attend but would like to leave a message for CSAME you may do so by clicking the button above to RSVP and leave your message in the notes section. You can also Sponsor Rev.’s Groover and Butter by following this link > 

CSAME HERITAGE DAY WALKATHON  LOGISTICS

  • Date:  Saturday, July 22
  • Time:  8:30am for group picture, walk kicks off at 9:00am, will finish by 11amDistance:  about 3.5 miles, people who prefer to drive the route may also do that
  • Place:  Meet at Charles St Meeting House, on the corner of Charles St and Mt. Vernon, in Beacon Hill

Please join in this important event which will allow us to literally and theologically walk with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Some history from Wikipedia: Built in 1807, the Charles Street Meeting House originally served as the home of the Third Baptist Church. Like most Boston churches at the time, Third Baptist enforced racially segregated seating. In 1836, Timothy Gilbert, a White abolitionist, challenged the church’s policy by inviting several of his African American friends to sit in his pew. Expelled for his actions, Gilbert founded the First Free Baptist Church, also known as Tremont Temple, considered the first integrated church in Boston. In 1876, Third Baptist sold the building to the First African Methodist Episcopal Church. Known thereafter as the Charles Street A.M.E. Church, it became the largest of Boston’s five Black churches at the time. When the church moved to Warren Street in Roxbury in 1939, Charles Street A.M.E. Church became the last Black institution to leave Beacon Hill.1

Throughout its history, the Charles Street Meeting House served as a space for social activism. During abolition, anti-slavery leaders held lectures and meetings. At the end of the 1800s, women’s suffragists of the Massachusetts Woman Suffrage Association held suffrage meetings to encourage support among the Black community.2 In 1895, Black clubwomen held a special meeting at the end of the First National Conference of Colored Women of America to establish a national organization that laid the foundation for the National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs.3 As the neighborhood changed in the 1900s, the Meeting House became a safe space for members of the LGBTQ+ community.*For more history visit:https://www.nps.gov/places/charles-street-meeting-house.htmhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Street_African_Methodist_Episcopal_Church