Echoes From the Sandhills

Series 2: Sanctuary & Strength

##Early Black Churches

Echo 3: Continuing the Journey — The Growth of Presbyterianism and the Cape Fear Presbytery

As the Lillington Field of Churches continued to nurture faith and community, they—along with many others—found strength through connection. The establishment of the Cape Fear Presbytery provided a vital network of support, guidance, and fellowship for emerging African American Presbyterian congregations across the Sandhills.

Formed in the years following Emancipation, the Presbytery became much more than an administrative body—it was a spiritual lifeline. Through shared ministry, training, and encouragement, it helped equip pastors, organize new churches, and expand access to Christian education in rural communities.

Officially established in May 1886 by a commission of the Atlantic Synod, the Cape Fear Presbytery was bounded on the north by Virginia, on the east by the Atlantic Ocean, on the south by South Carolina, and on the west by the North Carolina counties of Durham, Person, Chatham, Moore, and Richmond.

Dr. D.J. Sanders served as its first Moderator and Dr. J.A. Savage as its first Stated Clerk. The Presbytery was originally comprised of sixteen small but determined congregations: Bethany, Calvary, Chestnut Street, Davie Street, Ebenezer, First Fuller Memorial, Garnett Chapel, Haymount, Panthersford, St. Matthews, St. Paul, Second, Shiloh, Timberland, and Wilson Chapel (History of the Cape Fear Presbytery).

Each church reflected the deep determination of freed men and women to worship freely, to learn, and to build institutions that would strengthen both faith and community life.

A Glimpse at Some of the Founding Churches

Chestnut Street Presbyterian Church (Wilmington, NC) Established in October 1866, Chestnut Street Presbyterian Church was founded by William Cutlar, Henry Taylor, Elvin Artis, Duncan Holmes, Alfred Hargrave, Owen Burney, David Sadgwar, Edward Davis, Sandy Moore, and Mrs. Alice Price.A former pastor, Rev. D.J. Sanders, later became the first African American president of Johnson C. Smith University (then Biddle University) and also started the first Presbyterian newspaper for African Americans.

Bethany Presbyterian Church (Lumberton, NC) Formally organized as a mission church in 1876 by the Board of National Missions of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Bethany was initially served by Rev. W.E. Carr of Chestnut Street Presbyterian Church. He was succeeded by Dr. D.J. Sanders in 1878, and in 1879 Rev. S.L. Stevenson became the regular pastor of both Bethany and Panthersford Churches.

As early as 1865, missionaries were sent south to “organize churches and schools in areas with high concentrations of freedmen.” Often, the church and the school were one and the same, serving as both a spiritual and educational foundation for newly freed communities.

In our next series, we’ll explore that close relationship in Series 3: Built to Educate, Meant to Empower — Black Schools of the Sandhills.

See you in two weeks.