Marshall Keeble (1878-1968), a native of Tennessee, was the impetus behind the emergence of black Churches of Christ in the United States, especially in the South. Garnering widespread moral and monetary support from whites in Churches of Christ, Keeble traversed North America, planting the seed of the “pure gospel” and erecting black congregations in southern states. But Keeble did not achieve this alone. He had help. Keeble’s untiring diligence and his non-threatening racial posture in the Jim Crow Era attracted the support of A. M. Burton, a white Christian philanthropist, who generously financed the black evangelist’s preaching tours and enabled him to commit himself to fulltime evangelism. Keeble also received help from his spiritual “sons,” young men whom he taught, baptized, and trained. Like their father, these men worked diligently, refused to disturb the racial order in the segregated South, and received generous financial support from white believers. This support made it possible for these sons” to stabilize and strengthen fledgling black congregation and to win converts in southern communities where their father had little success. This is a complex and compelling story of bi-racial collaboration in an era of racial separation.
Image | Title | Year | Type | Contributor(s) | Other Info |
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Show Us How You Do It: Marshall Keeble and the Rise of Black Churches of Christ in the United States | 2008 | Book |
Edward Jerome Robinson |