Antioch AME Church sets 131st annual camp meeting

Antioch African Methodist Episcopal Church will hold its 131st annual camp meeting from Saturday, Aug. 12 to Sunday, Aug. 20, culminating with singing and praying band day, at 194 Clayton Ave., Frankford. Nightly devotions begin at 7:30 p.m., with services at 8 p.m. Sunday services begin at 11 a.m., with devotions at 3:30 p.m. and worship at 4 p.m.

Before there were church buildings and preachers, members of the small, rural African American communities in the Mid-Atlantic held their religious services in secret outdoor meetings and later in private homes. With the establishment of institutional churches, these local groups were incorporated into Methodist practice, and they and the ring shouts they practiced found a place not in Sunday morning services, but in prayer meetings held in the church building on Sunday evenings and weekday nights. Beginning in the late 1800s, many of these churches sponsored large, annual, multi-day camp meetings on their grounds and invited the public to attend. 

Antioch Camp Meeting is a continuation of this historic religious practice. 

For more information, go to Frankford Camp at Antioch AME Church on Facebook.