Sunday, May 20
The Lord’s Day
Minute for Mission: Presbyterian Heritage
The second of three sons born to Henry Grimke, a wealthy Charleston planter and his slave, Nancy Weston, Francis J. Grimke (1850-1937) remained a slave until the end of the Civil War. In 1866, with help from the Freedman's Aid Society, Francis and his brother Archibald enrolled at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, where the brothers' hard work and talent caught the attention of their famous abolitionist aunts, Angelina and Sarah Grimke. Upon learning the young men were in fact their nephews, the Grimke sisters decided to further finance their education. In 1878, Francis graduated from Princeton Theological Seminary, was ordained by the Presbytery of Washington City, and was installed as pastor of Fifteenth Street Presbyterian Church in Washington, DC.
Grimke used his pulpit at Fifteenth Street to speak against racial discrimination. Criticizing Booker T. Washington for his accomodationist stance, and later President Woodrow Wilson for his indifference, Francis became increasingly forceful in his views, demanding absolute equality for African Americans. In his sermons he invoked the names of African American leaders in order to inspire and embolden his listeners: ``Fathers and mothers . . . remember what I am saying; see to it that your children catch the spirit of which I am speaking, and which was so magnificently exemplified in the character of our great leader and champion [Frederick Douglass]. . . . Teach your sons and daughters . . . that though they may have a dark skin, they are just as much the children of God, are just as dear to Him, and are entitled to the same rights and privileges, under the Constitution, as the whitest child.'' (Excerpt from a sermon delivered by Francis Grimke at Fifteenth Street Presbyterian Church, 1898.)
Grimke served the Presbyterian church for nearly 50 years, becoming for future generations the very figure of inspiration about which he had preached.
- The staff of the Presbyterian Historical Society
Let us pray
Dear Lord, help us to hear your words of hope and your call to transformation - from the voices of the past into our shared future. Amen.
Sunday Lectionary and Hymns
Acts 1:15-17, 21-26
Somebody's Knocking at Your Door
PH 382
Ps. 1
The One Is Blest
PH 158
1 John 5:9-13
I Greet Thee Who My Sure
Redeemer Art
PH 457, HB 144
John 17:6-19
Guide My Feet
PH 354
Daily Lectionary
Morning Psalms 93; 150
First Reading Exodus 3:1-12
Second Reading Hebrews 12:18-29
Gospel Luke 10:17-24
Evening Psalms 136; 117