People of faith share a storied role in our country’s founding. The American Revolution was sometimes referred to as “The Presbyterian Rebellion” by King George III and others in Britain because of the representative form of government in that church.
At the Federal Convention of June 28, 1787, none other than Benjamin Franklin (not exactly known for being a person of faith) made this passionate proposal to the Federal Convention, recorded in James Madison’s notes: “We shall be divided by our little partial local interests; our projects will be confounded; and we ourselves shall become a reproach and a by-word down to future ages. I therefore beg leave to move — that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessings on our deliberations, be held in this Assembly every morning before we proceed to business.”
Prayer is interwoven throughout the rich tapestry of our nation’s beginnings. But what did a small group of German refugees gathering for prayer in the early 1700s have to do with North Carolina’s history?
The roots of faith go deep in North Carolina’s founding through the contributions of Quakers, Anglicans, Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists and many others. Some came to escape religious persecution and to worship freely; others were intent on sharing the message of Christ. This included a group of German missionaries aboard the ship Simmonds in 1736 en route to Savannah with the hope of beginning a mission to indigenous peoples. While underway, the ship encountered a violent storm that broke its mainsail in two. Also among the passengers were John and Charles Wesley (the founders of Methodism) and James Oglethorpe, the first governor of Georgia. John Wesley wrote of the event in his journal: “The sea broke over, split the mainsail in pieces, covered the ship, and poured in between the decks, as if the great deep had already swallowed us up. A terrible screaming began among the English. The Germans sang calmly on.”
The calmness Wesley observed was born out of the deep conviction of a community that had already engaged in a 24-hour prayer vigil for years (this “prayer watch” would be sustained for a century, and was originally intended to keep peace among the community and invoke God’s blessing). Missionaries had earlier been sent to St. Thomas to live among enslaved peoples there and share the gospel with them. When landowners objected, these devoted young Germans even offered to sell themselves into slavery so that their work might continue.
Among those who had come to the colonies, the mission in Georgia did not work out as planned, and they departed for Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, five years later. Some of these settlers later left there in 1753 for Bethabara, North Carolina (Bethabra means “house of crossing” in Hebrew and may also indicate a staging point for greater things). Appropriately, this location became the birthplace of Winston-Salem.
These faithful people — also known as Moravians — brought much more to our state than just Christmas cookies. They and their prayers contributed significantly to religion, trade, agriculture, urban planning, craftsmanship, medicine and education, including the pioneering of education for women. Bethabara was the launching point of several other missions of mercy, and its construction and neutrality aided the protection of the region during the French and Indian War. A descendant of Count Nicholas von Zinzendorf, the Moravian founding leader, is a retired pastor who planted a church in Durham and still lives there today.
Just think. It all started with people who were praying around the clock that they would get along for the common good and the blessing of our world.
Not a bad place to begin, then or now.
James Banks is the founding pastor of Peace Church in Durham and the author of several books.
The post BANKS: A touch of heaven in North Carolina first appeared on The North State Journal.
