Slave Entrance

Slave Entrance. [Zion Methodist Church]. , In 19th century America, most people followed strict Biblical teachings. God's fourth Commandment to keep the Sabbath Holy was no exception. On any given Sunday morning it was normal to see small and large churches alike filled to their capacity. In many southern communities, such as this one, it was customary for owners to give their slaves, and even their animals a day of rest and many slave owners brought their slaves to formal Christian services., This sanctuary, from its conception in 1857, was designed with the idea to permit slaves to worship here. When church construction started that year, this door was originally incorporated into the design as a slave entrance. It led to the balcony, or slave seating area at Zion. It was used in the antebellum south for slaves, and post war for freed blacks., Slaves and freed blacks that attended this church had to enter this door, while white families entered from the front. A three-foot tall divider wall running down the center of the sanctuary's first floor further segregated men from women. Women used the right front door to enter, and they sit on that side of the sanctuary, while men used the left front door., When Jim Crow laws were abolished, this door was sealed shut from the inside in 1958. An entrance was made to the balcony from inside the sanctuary, and the balcony area was turned into a youth Sunday school class space. This door and handle are original. The two front doors are also original, but the handles were modernized in this century when one of the old locks failed. There is also an original rear door, no longer seen from the exterior, that was used by the minister for entrance and exit to and from the main floor sanctuary.