3/2/2011 Loudoun churches: Equal before God, …

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Loudoun churches: Equal before God, but barely integrated

W e dne sday, Mar. 2 by Laura Pe te rs | 0 com m e nts | Em ail this story

T imes - M irror Staff

P hoto/Beverly D enny
Shirley Squirewell
impers onates M arie
M oton M edley- H oward,
the founder and firs t
pres ident of the
L oudoun N A A C P ,
during the blac k his tory
s ervic e at the Sec ond
M t. O live Baptis t
C hurc h in H amilton
Feb. 2 7 . T he s ervic e
inc luded prayers , Bible
readings ,
impers onations of
his toric al figures from
L oudoun’s blac k
his tory, and s inging by
M t. Zion U nited
M ethodis t C hurc h
men’s c horus .

Pastor Michelle Thomas used to hold a Bible study in the basement of her house – previously
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used for house parties equipped with a stage and sound system – before opening her church in
Lansdowne. Frida y, Fe b. 25 | 7343 vie ws
T he Dock at Lansdowne restaurant
is closed
The church, Holy and Whole Life Changing Ministries International, opened Jan. 2 in
Lansdowne. Thomas said that her church being in Lansdowne is significant because the area Tue sday, Mar. 1 | 1818 vie ws
was once plantation land, run by slaves. Authorities searching for m issing
Ashburn wom an
“It’s just amazing in this point in time, that descendents of slaves are coming back to start a Tue sday, Mar. 1 | 1403 vie ws
church. I get teary-eyed just thinking about it,” Thomas said. Man stabbed, say s he was too
intoxicated to rem em ber h ow
When she first started it, her church was mostly made up of her close friends. Thomas said that Thursday, Fe b. 24 | 1184 vie ws
one of the challenges she faces is branching out of that group of friends to a more diverse Court rejects appeal of m an
congregation – she keeps coming back to one of the most well-known sayings that the most spending life in prison for killing
segregated day in America is Sunday. girlfriend
Frida y, Fe b. 25 | 1141 vie ws
“People go to church where they live. But in smaller churches, they go to church with people T rees will com m em orate fallen Civ il
they like and feel comfortable with,” Thomas said. “Y ou may find as the church is smaller, War soldiers
you’re going to have more of the same race of people. But as the church expands and gets more
into the community, then more people of other races and nationalities will come.”

Thomas said that churches choose to desegregate voluntarily, as opposed to schools, which were
mandated to. Stay
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Most of her congregation is black, although she opens her doors to anyone. She hopes the
church will eventually reflect Northern Virginia’s mixing-bowl population, with a wide variety
of races in attendance. Most people tend to go to church with people they have things in
common with and who share the same ideas and values, she said.
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Denominational lines Ne ws | Spo rts

Herbert DuVall, chairman of the Black History Committee in Loudoun County, grew up
Catholic, but said most blacks in the south are Baptist.

“The thing is. if you take any race, you get used to and trained to do a certain thing. There is a Like Us
tendency to do that because of habit,” DuVall said of segregation in churches. “Most of the on Facebook
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3/2/2011 Loudoun churches: Equal before God, …
blacks in the south were Baptist. Nowadays, that’s not the case.”

DuVall said when he was about 5 years old, he attended a Baptist church with his family.

“I’m telling you they were jumping up and down, and I jumped out the window and ran off. I Subscribe
via RSS
was scared,” DuVall said. “When you go to a Catholic church, it’s very quiet, and when you go to Ne ws | Spo rts
the Baptist church they’re jumping up and screaming.”

Diverse worship styles

Debbie Stevenson, of the Blue Ridge Bible Church in Purcellville, said her church is
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nondenominational and opens its doors to anyone. The church, built in 2005, is on the Email List
Emancipation Association Grounds in Purcellville. In the first two years of the church’s opening Sign up for
we e k ly update s
on the grounds, Loudoun County’s Emancipation Association Committee worked with members
to hold the annual Emancipation Day, which marks the day President Abraham Lincoln signed
the Emancipation Proclamation.

After that, the committee moved its celebration to the Carver Community Center about a mile
away. Repeated attempts to get both parts of the community involved just didn’t work out.

“We did have some African-Americans come on Sundays and others said that this group didn’t
represent them,” Stevenson said. “We figured we’d let them do their own thing and they are
The Loudoun Tim e s-Mirror
more than welcome to worship with us. There are different worship styles, and people go where
they are more comfortable. I don’t see it as a bad thing, and there are no hard feelings, it just
didn’t fit.”
is an inte ractive , digital re plica
of the printe d ne wspape r.
The Emancipation Association Committee declined to comment.
Open the e-edition now.

An Ongoing Struggle - A Black History Month Series

This is the fourth installment in a four-part series outlining the challenges and triumphs of Vie w our othe r print publications available online .
blacks in Loudoun County.

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