“The church was able to do what the country wasn’t,” said one church member.
Historic Mother Bethel A.M.E.’s new pastor has a message to Philadelphians in the wake of political vitriol: ‘You are amazing’The Rev. Carolyn Cavaness sings with the congregation as she celebrates her first worship service on Sunday, the day after historic Mother Bethel A.M.E. Church appointed her the first woman pastor in its 237-year history.The Rev. Carolyn Cavaness stood at the pulpit of the oldest African Methodist Episcopal church in the nation and looked up.
“I had his Bible, and I had that view,” she said, “and his voice of, ‘Wow, my daughter made it to the mother of the A.M.E. Church.’”What’s more, she said, was the timing. Cavaness was named to the role the same week that Americans opted not to elect what would have been the first woman, and woman of color, to be president of the United States.
Cavaness’ path here followed that of three generations of pastors before her. She was involved with the church as a child, and often helped her father as he led churches in the Newark area. She received her license to preach at age 15, and went on to earn a degree in urban studies and economics from Barnard College of Columbia University in New York City.
At the start of Sunday’s service, Cavaness was introduced by Associate Pastor Lynette Taylor and Presiding Elder Stanley Hearst Sr., who both called the day “herstoric.”Cavaness took the microphone to a standing ovation, beginning her sermon by first sharing her deep ties to the Philadelphia area. Her great-grandfather, she said, came north for the A.M.E. Church and settled in Pennsylvania, and her grandmother was a graduate of Philadelphia High School for Girls.
“Mother Bethel, we are an amazing place. Ain’t no place on Earth like this place. Because you don’t have nobody unless you have your mother,” she said. “As things are being stricken down, there is a place on Sixth and Lombard that will stand.”“She was just tremendous, and she had a beautiful message,” said member Cheryl Grundy.
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