Tears of Joy at Paw Creek Presbyterian

Posted by Dr. Tom Hanchett, Levine Museum staff historian on June 2 2009

Sunday May 31 was a red letter day in the Paw Creek community along Mount Holly Road in northwest Charlotte.

Paw Creek Presbyterian Church celebrated its 200th anniversary with a remarkable ceremony. In the centuries old graveyard, new crosses marked the long-forgotten graves of enslaved African Americans who worshipped there before the Civil War.

And joining in the ceremony, as equal partners, were the congregation of Woodland Presbyterian, whose African American ancestors had left Paw Creek Presbyterian at the end of slavery times.

Two choirs joined voices. Paw Creek's pastor Rev. Gary Bryant gave a warm welcome, Woodland's Rev. Larry Hill lit up a rousing sermon. And then everyone walked together to the graveyard. People sang and clapped and laughed and cried tears of joy.

Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., talked about a time when Sunday morning might not be "the most segregated hour of the week," when "the children of former slaves and the children of former slave owners" might walk together as one.

That time came Sunday in Paw Creek.

See reporter Tim Funk's front page story in the Charlotte Observer.

Thanks to Karen Sisk of Paw Creek and to all of those whose hearts and hands made this day a reality.