{"product_id":"for-a-great-and-grand-purpose-the-beginnings-of-the-amez-church-in-florida-1864-1905-9780813081403","title":"For a Great and Grand Purpose: The Beginnings of the Amez Church in Florida, 1864-1905","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe story of a church that became influential within the Black community in Florida after the Civil War\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis history of the\u003cbr\u003e African Methodist Episcopal Zion (AMEZ) Church in Florida tells how \u003cbr\u003ededicated members of one of the oldest and most prominent black \u003cbr\u003ereligious institutions created a forceful presence within the \u003cbr\u003eAfrican-American community--against innumerable odds and constant \u003cbr\u003echallenges. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe African Methodist Episcopal Zion denomination \u003cbr\u003eestablished an official presence in the state one year before its \u003cbr\u003ebetter-known cousin and rival, the African Methodist Episcopal Church. \u003cbr\u003eWhen Connecticut native Wilbur Garrison Strong arrived in Key West in \u003cbr\u003e1864, he stood out as the first black ordained minister in all of \u003cbr\u003epeninsular Florida. He brought with him the northern Methodist tradition\u003cbr\u003e of joyful praise and preaching, an ethos of a plain and simple gospel \u003cbr\u003ethat emphasized \"righteous living\" and an unbending commitment to \u003cbr\u003eemancipation and hope. With Key West under the control of Union forces \u003cbr\u003eduring much of the Civil War, slaves and free Black people were able to \u003cbr\u003eexpress their desire for independence from white churches more easily \u003cbr\u003ethere than throughout the rest of the state, and they gravitated to the \u003cbr\u003echurch that Strong established. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eDuring its formative years, the \u003cbr\u003eAMEZ became one of the first mainline churches to ordain women to full \u003cbr\u003eclerical status. Its ministers commanded great strength in certain \u003cbr\u003ecities, and its membership included more of the urban and middle-class \u003cbr\u003epopulation than was typical for southern religious organizations, which \u003cbr\u003ewere predominantly rural. At its zenith, the AMEZ was one of the largest\u003cbr\u003e African-American churches in the state. But it faced \u003cbr\u003edifficulties--gender issues, idiosyncratic leadership, rivalries between \u003cbr\u003elocal ministers and Episcopal authorities, and political dissension at a\u003cbr\u003e point when the church was attempting to address larger social issues. \u003cbr\u003eIn addition, the scourge of hurricanes and yellow fever and citrus crop \u003cbr\u003efreezes affected church fortunes. By 1905, when the governor urged the \u003cbr\u003eexpulsion of all African-Americans from Florida and when state laws \u003cbr\u003emandated racial segregation on public transportation, the era of \u003cbr\u003elynching, discrimination, and disfranchisement already had begun and the\u003cbr\u003e period of AMEZ decline had commenced. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn this remarkable yet \u003cbr\u003evirtually unknown story, the coauthors capture the mood of the \u003cbr\u003epost-Civil-War period in Florida, when Black people faced the obstacles \u003cbr\u003eand the opportunities that accompanied their new freedom. This work adds\u003cbr\u003e significantly to the growing body of literature on African-Americans in\u003cbr\u003e Florida and offers keen insights into the nature of institution \u003cbr\u003ebuilding within the black community and the greater society. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University Press of Florida\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 12\/16\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780813081403\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 272","brand":"Edgar Canter Brown,Larry Eugene Rivers","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51948714590389,"sku":"9780813081403","price":23.8,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/files\/img_1d321cb1-ddee-48d5-ab14-9d86ef32fcc4.jpg?v=1762272491","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/for-a-great-and-grand-purpose-the-beginnings-of-the-amez-church-in-florida-1864-1905-9780813081403","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}