those whose minister not only embraced revival techniques associated with Whitefield but also frequently visited and catechized their congregants.45
Among Congregational churches, Old South, Brattle Street, and New North were the most vibrant, the most in favor of revivalism, and the most active in pastoral engagement with the laity. In the words of historian George Harper, the pastors of these three churches engaged in “systematic visitation, catechesis, religious societies, and other tools of hands-on ministry.”46 These three churches also had the highest number of baptisms of black men and women among Boston’s Congregational churches. Moreover, Old South admitted five black men and four black women to full membership, and Brattle Street admitted eleven black men and nine black women to membership. In general, church affiliation appealed to both black men and black women. For enslaved black men, and women in general, being a church member was one of the only socially sanctioned positions of status that they could attain.47 The pastors of these churches, including Reverends Joseph Sewall, Thomas Prince, William Cooper, and Benjamin Colman, supported the revivalisms of the 1740s and actively and energetically met with parishioners and sought to bring them into the church. Benjamin Colman was so intent on welcoming slaves into the church that in a 1740 sermon, he told whites and blacks alike that “Your Ministers welcome you to the Table of christ . . . [and that] the pious Master, who is christ’s Servant, will be glad to see his Negro above a Servant, a Brother at the lord’s Table with him.”48
TABLE 1.1. Black baptisms in Boston’s Congregational and Anglican churches, 1730–1749
| Boston churches | Number of black baptisms | Total baptisms, 1730–49 | Percentage of black baptisms |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brattle Street (Fourth) Church | 46 | 1,134 | 4.06 |
| Old South (Third) Church | 35 | 1,158 | 3.02 |
| New North (Fifth) Church | 31 | 1,726 | 1.80 |
| Second Church | 22 | 623 | 3.53 |
| First Church (Old Brick) | 15 | 738 | 2.03 |
| New Brick (Seventh) Church | 9 | 593 | 1.54 |
| West (Ninth) Church (1737–40) | 8 | 263 | 3.04 |
| New South (Sixth) Church | 6 | 881 | 0.68 |
| Hollis Street (Eighth) Church | 3 | 313 | 0.96 |
| King’s Chapel Anglican | 9 | 574 | 1.57 |
| Christ Church Anglican | 55 | 1,010 | 5.44 |
| Trinity Church Anglican (1738–49) | 15 | 432 | 3.47 |
| Total | 254 | 9,445 | 2.69 |
The lay devotional activities that the pastors encouraged can explain the levels of black participation in these three churches. These activities also suggest that blacks and whites experienced interracial religious activities outside of Sunday services. The pastors at these three churches were more likely than some of their colleagues to visit the homes of parishioners and encourage religious societies. In these visits, the pastors asked enslaved servants about their religious beliefs, encouraged masters to educate their slaves in Christian doctrines, and catechized white as well as black children. Joseph Sewall stated in a 1716 sermon that “Heads of Families” should teach family members “the good Knowledge of the Lord” and “Catechise their Children and Servants.” Benjamin Colman went even further in a 1728 sermon, arguing that those fathers and masters who did not teach Christianity to their children, servants, and slaves risked eternal damnation. Colman warned, “His Offspring and Servants will rise up in Judgment against him, and accuse him, that he never instructed them by Word and Example in the Worship and Fear of God.” For these Christians, patriarchal privilege theoretically came with the ideal of patriarchal responsibility.49
These pastors encouraged religious meetings among pious parishioners, in which laymen and laywomen prayed, sang, and read scripture together and where ministers occasionally preached. These activities encouraged black participation in Boston’s churches. Black people, who heard the encouragements to meet privately for devotional activities, formed religious societies that complemented their attendance at regular church services (some of these societies included Indians and whites too). Reverends George Whitefield and Daniel Rogers each preached to assemblies or societies of black people in Boston. Later written accounts from enslaved and free blacks testify to the role that family devotions and conversations with white pastors had in their movement toward Christianity. Old South Church, Brattle Church, and New North Church baptized blacks before and after the Great Awakening, but they baptized and admitted a greater number of black people during the years 1740 to 1743, when revivalism was strongest in Boston. All these factors combined, including pastoral visitation, catechisms, fervent preaching, and private religious societies, led to 112 black people being baptized in these three churches compared to 63 black people being baptized in the other six Congregational churches. Evidence suggests that more black people were baptized in “New Light” Congregational churches than in “Old Light” churches, but the percentages of baptisms that were black people and black people’s rates of affiliation in Anglican churches complicate this narrative.50
The six other Congregational churches in Boston generally contrast with the three churches above because they had fewer black baptisms, but in one of them, the percentage of black baptism was relatively high. The ministers of all these churches did not participate in the revival movement or did not as energetically encourage devotional practice outside the church walls. In total, these six churches baptized sixty-three people of African descent between 1730 and 1749, with twenty-two of these baptisms occurring at Second Church. At Second Church, 3.53 percent of all baptisms were of black people, which was a relatively high percentage among Boston churches and suggests that this church was as attractive to black people as the “New Light” congregations.51 The absence of activist pastors and opposition to the changing religious culture of the Great Awakening in these six Congregational churches account for the fewer total baptisms and the lower numbers of black baptisms. Opposition or indifference from some people to black participation might have also existed in these churches. Boston Anglican minister Roger Price wrote in 1739 that the “baptizing of negroes is too much neglected,” which suggests that some Bostonians were at least indifferent to baptizing slaves, but all of Boston’s Congregational churches baptized some black people.52
Boston’s three Anglican churches also had significant
