At a time when church attendance is dwindling , especially among young people , Marshall says the Black community needs the solace of faith .
REV . LEROY MARSHALL
“ I do believe for the Black community , church is the last hope ,” Marshall said .
In the summer of 2020 , protests began sparked by the police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor . When Black Lives Matter representatives came to talk with him , he said they didn ’ t agree on everything . But they agreed on one thing : that they needed to work together .
Marshall said people are quick to dismiss issues of racial injustice or violence as existing only in Louisville . But , he ’ s seen firsthand that New Albany isn ’ t exempt from issues .
“ Children have been killed right here in New Albany ,” Marshall said .
Because of this , he said the city needs to assess where it stands in civil rights and include church leaders in that conversation .
“ As long as it doesn ' t look like Louisville , we ' re fine . But it ' s getting to the point where it ' s not going to be fun and games ,” Marshall said .
“ Decisions are going to have to be made to change things and we want the Black church to be game changers .”
A FEW BLOCKS AWAY AND ESTABLISHED JUST A FEW YEARS EARLIER , IN 1848 , SITS BETHEL AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL , OR BETHEL AME , THE OLDEST BLACK CHURCH IN NEW ALBANY .
The network of AME churches was created when Black Americans were excluded from white-majority churches . Rev . William Paul Quinn , who later became a bishop , established the church as part of a route establishing Black churches along the shore of the Ohio River as hubs for the Underground Railroad and free Black Hoosiers .
Quinn would take his parishioners and preach along the shoreline of the Ohio so he could be heard in Kentucky and give hope to enslaved African Americans .
THE ICONIC STRUCTURE , WHICH SERVED AS A BEACON OF HOPE ALONG THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD , WAS SEVERLY DAMAGED IN A STORM IN 1915 . 101 YEARS LATER , THE STEEPLE WAS RESTORED .
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