When Cheryl Townsend Gilkes was a little girl, she leaned over to her mother in their normally sedate, traditional New England church one day to ask why Mrs. Sinclair was shouting.  She feels the Spirit,  her mother explained in a whisper. Gilkes marveled at the older woman\u27s curious behavior at the time, but now smiles in understanding

Ritchie, Kathryn

English

University of Maine

The University of Maine DigitalCommons@UMaine Social Justice: Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Special Collections 4-21-1997 African-American churches: Women feeling the Spirit take some by surprise Kathryn Ritchie University of Maine Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/social_justice  Part of the Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons, Higher Education Commons, Race and Ethnicity Commons, and the United States History Commons Repository Citation Ritchie, Kathryn, "African-American churches: Women feeling the Spirit take some by surprise" (1997). Social Justice: Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion. 265. https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/social_justice/265 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@UMaine. It has been accepted for inclusion in Social Justice: Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@UMaine. For more information, please contact um.library.technical.services@maine.edu. The Maine Campus, Monday, April 21, 1997 5 • African-American churches Women feeling the Spirit take some by surprise By Kathryn Ritchie Maine Campus staff When Cheryl Townsend Gilkes was a little girl, she leaned over to her mother in their normaJJy sedate, traditional New England church one day to ask why Mrs. Sinclair was shouting. "She feels the Spirit," her mother explained in a whisper. Gilkes marveled at the older woman's curious behavior at the time, but now smiles in understanding. "If Mrs. Sinclair shouted, they knew that God had been in that church," said Gilkes, an ·associate professor of African-American stud-ies and sociology at Colby College. She spoke about the Spirit and women in the church to a diverse gathering at the Bangor Theological Seminary Thursday. James Varner, president of the Bangor chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, joked that as a child he was frightened when his mother felt the Spirit "because she might flail her arms out and hit me." He said in his church people would circle around the women to keep them from hurting themselves when the Spirit visit-ed, and asked Gilkes if similar behavior scared children away from religion. "For someone not socialized in this tradi-Lion, it's absolutely terrifying," she said, add-ing that socializing children makes these peo-ple less threatening. While she read from the first chapter of her book, "That Blessed Book," which is a work in progress, she peppered the evening with religious anecdotes and prayers. Gilkes said slave masters used to offer to pay slaves not to shout while practicing their religion, but to no avail. "'Every time I feel the Spirit, master, you don't have any control over that,"' quoted Gilkes from a song, adding, 'The Spirit has ultimate authority." Gilkes, a minister, said women play an important role in the church, teaching chil-dren the Bible in Sunday school and appear-ing in a number stories in the Bible. "Women in African-American churches are often the principal agents of the folk ver-nacular surrounding the Spirit," Gilkes said. An audience member asked Gilkes about how blacks feel when whites go to their churches. Gilkes said it's not that blacks don't want them in the church, it's that white people usually don't dress as formerly for church as they do. She said it might be tempting to think everyone in a church is middle class because they are so dressed up, but that's not the case-she's seen homeless people make ev-ery effort to find a decent wardrobe just so they could attend church. She ended the night on a positive note. "I've got a right, you've got a right, we've all ot a ri ht to the tree of life." Cheryl Townsend Gilkes, professor of AfricarrAmerican studies and sociology at Colby College, speaks at the Bangor Theological Seminary Thursday. (Dave Gagne Photo.) 

African-American churches: Women feeling the Spirit take some by surprise

https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1264&context=social_justice

African-American churches: Women feeling the Spirit take some by surprise

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