|
|
Article: Mother Boards provide guidance to churches.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)
- Article from:
- Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service
- Article date:
- May 15, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
KANSAS CITY, Mo. _ Mother Lillie Johnson, sitting at the end of a pew, begins a line that stretches down the red-cushioned pew of senior women, dressed all in white.
Even in the large sanctuary of Metropolitan Missionary Baptist Church, the group is easy to spot _ they occupy two rows on the second and third center pews, wearing white hats and white dresses or suits.
This saintly group, revered in the congregation, are the mothers of the church.
They are part of a tradition from mostly black Baptists of the South, said Edward Beasley, a black history expert. As a group they were often called the Mother's Board, sometimes just shortened to Mother ...