Once a meeting place for the enslaved, Galveston-area church serves as home of Juneteenth

GALVESTON, Texas (KTRK) — Down on Broadway in Galveston is a church with enough history to fill its entire sanctuary.

Reedy Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church is often referred to as the Mother Church of Texas, a place where the enslaved would gather to worship.

“When you walk into Reedy Chapel, there’s a presence. You feel the ancestors here in the sanctuary,” Rev. Lernette Patterson said.

Patterson says it’s important to tell the church’s history.

“It’s important to tell the history of Reedy, because Reedy was established in 1848. It was known as the Colored Church on Broadway, and it was such because the other persons did not want us to worship with them. So, they gave us some land, and our ancestors built a church, which is not the one that we’re standing in today, because this is the reconstructed church. But they gave us the land so that we could worship,” Patterson said.

Reedy Chapel has become synonymous with Juneteenth celebrations, considering the history of the church. From a meeting place for the enslaved to where Major General Gordon Granger and Union soldiers would stop to deliver the news of freedom on June 19, 1865. Galveston would become the birthplace of Juneteenth.

“We look to increase the knowledge and the history of Juneteenth. You may not know, but the Emancipation notice was posted on the doors of Reedy Chapel, and so that’s one reason why we’re also historic. We want to see our history continue to be told. We know that in our present age, history is being erased for people of color, and we existed as well,” she said.

The church would remain a place of refuge even after the end of slavery. Patterson says they’re looking forward to continuing to spread the church’s history.

This year, an even bigger Juneteenth event is planned.

“We will begin our day at noon. That is when the fun day begins, and so we’ll have all of the vendors and the water slides and the games and all of that at 12. Then at 5:45 p.m., we’ll gather to begin our walk to the courthouse, which is two blocks away. At the courthouse, that’s where the electrifying moments occur. When we have the reading of the proclamation and the ringing of the bell and the singing of the songs and the hymns, and we march,” Patterson said.

“When you were taking those steps, what went through your mind?” ABC13 anchor and reporter Brandon Hamilton asked.

“It’s almost like you’re there. We have the Buffalo Soldiers come. They participate, read the proclamation, and we ring the bell,” she responded. “We say, ‘freedom, freedom.’ And then on our way back, we sing the songs that our ancestors sang on that way. ‘Oh freedom, oh freedom,’ you know? And so, I can’t really describe it because it’s a feeling. It’s …as the young people would say, it’s a vibe on that day.”

Just as the enslaved kept their faith, Patterson says it’s important to remember God’s promise.

“We have to stand on his promises, knowing that the struggle may be real, but God is bigger than any struggle that we will encounter,” she said. “We just have to keep the faith and keep knowing that he has started a good thing in us. We will complete it at the day’s end.”

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