A Time to Remember
A unique opportunity to participate and appreciate a nearly forgotten and beautiful African American folk tradition
An old fashion Camp Meeting and Prayer-Band Service will be held on
Sunday, September 9, 2012
at Mt. Olive A.M.E. Church in Butlertown.
(24840 Lambs Meadow Road, Worton, MD, 21678)
Singing & Prayer Meeting Bands of several churches in the Delmarva and Baltimore region will be featured. Dinners, sandwiches, desserts, beverages, etc. will be on sale starting at 1:00 pm.
Guest Preacher Rev. Darius K. Butler will speak at 3:00 and at 3:45 the music will begin.
The Singing and Praying Band tradition is a unique grassroots African American religious institution. This folksong and ring shout tradition began in Chesapeake Bay country in the early nineteenth century, with a fusion of Methodist prayer meeting worship and African religious, danced song traditions. Although some scholars have assumed ring shouts died out long ago, they still thrive in our region. A few members of Mt. Olive A.M.E. Church who participated in the tradition decades ago will be honored at this Sunday’s ceremony, including 100 year old Ms. Gertrude Hynson.
Funded in part by Kent County Arts Council