39 www.ReadMPM.com | www.MountPleasantMagazine.com | www.MountPleasantPodcast.com Pastor Abdnour added that no matter what time of year, all are welcome to come visit Mount Pleasant Presbyterian and ponder in worship together. Also rooted in the Reformation is the Anglican Church, which was founded in 1534 by King Henry VIII after Pope Clement VII denied his request for an annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. Henry’s Act of Supremacy pronounced the Church of England independent of the Catholic Church in Rome. According to Archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America, Steve Wood, whose jurisdiction includes 120,000 parishioners who attend 1,000 churches across Canada, the United States, Mexico and Cuba, Anglicanism embraces a blend of its Catholic heritage and Protestantism, which offers a sense of beauty and transcendence from the faith’s fundamentally pastoral approach. “In a world where everything changes rapidly, there is something to be said about the rituals, practices, the flow of the service, communion and confession, all of which tell the stories of the Gospel,” the archbishop said. “Further, in the Anglican Church, we welcome questions as faith seeking understanding rather than doubt, intimidation or a threat. Part of our ethos is relational and conversational, and because of the high value we have for relationships and conversation, we engage with self-discovery questions in our sermons.” Having grown up in the faith, the archbishop explained that what further attracted him to Anglicanism is its presentation. “Our liturgy is a pageant that tells a story with movements such as the vestments and the ritual of our prayer book services,” he said. As Christianity spanned the Atlantic Ocean and found its way to our shores, not all were always welcome at certain houses of worship, however. According to Clint McPherson, Lead Pastor of the Greater Goodwill AME Church (which celebrates its 189th anniversary in February 2025), in 1794, a group of Blacks were worshiping at Philadelphia’s St. George’s Methodist Episcopal Church in a separate area from whites and were abruptly told they had to leave forever. The Blacks requested the opportunity for one last prayer before they left but were denied. As the worshippers didn’t want to lose their momentum in faith and praise and needed a place to congregate, an enslaved blacksmith named Richard Allen stepped to the front and started hosting fellowship in his shop. This movement to maintain belief “sparked the oldest black animation in the world,” Pastor McPherson said, further explaining that “The AME denomination came out of a disrupted worship service. The people did not pout or complain, we pivoted and because of this foundation, our roots, our beginnings, we are proud of where we came from. We are still standing and still serving the community, which is a testament that our faith remains.” “The AME Church today carries forward centuriesold traditions like clapping and dancing and drums, the tambourine and sometimes a cowbell and a washboard, making joyful noise unto the Lord. It’s important to look back and see where he has brought us from: through St. Andrews Church - Bishop Steve Wood. Mount Pleasant Presbyterian - Rev. Dr. Nicole Partin Abdnour. our town
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