SanghaToday Blog

A lot of middle class people became slave-owners in the 1830s which was a result of the economic boom, and that proved to be decisive in the history of evangelicalism. As the number of wealthy converts who came to the churches increased the evangelicals grew from small sects to large denominations. Thus from being biracial institutions, they made a radical turn in their policy as they pronounce slaveholding a necessary practice. Up to then the churches had a biracial structure, but with the exclusion of women and blacks this practice was doomed to extinction. But it did not put an end on the job done by the translators and as the Civil War was approaching they were busy translating various pamphlets and enlistment messages. One of those cities was Boston, where the Boston Translation Services were assigned the translation of various articles, some of which would be sent to the press abroad. However, while white evangelicals continued to support the slaveholding practices and insisted on the existing hierarchical order, the African-Americans view the war a means of liberation for their enslaved relatives.

The Civil War was followed by a period of reconstruction, during which the biracial churches were left by the blacks, who established their own denominations, which later turned into the largest black-owned institutions. It was also a period of turbulent changes for the white denominations who decided to adopt the suggested by the Social Gospel Movement reforms according to which it was only the congregations through which the society could be transformed. Another feature of the period following the Civil War was the racial intolerance that worsened since white Christians could not change social practice only by relying on their faith, while black Christians’ only antidote to racist ideology was the doctrine of Christian equality. What makes American Christianity unique among the other religions are the following features: its constant creativity, its populist nature and its striving towards innovation. The bottom steps of the socio-economic ladder were the basis for the foundation of a number of fundamentalist institution established by both whites and blacks. The most notable examples are those of the Church of Christ, the Seventh-Day Adventist, and the Assemblies of God, which underwent a rapid growth at the beginning of the 20th century. In order to gain more popularity and followers they had to reach all levels of society and all nationalities, which is why in Los Angeles they used the services of Los Angeles Translation who would establish the necessary contacts.

During the Great Depression of the 1930s those churches continued to flourish, and the resulting movements of the Holiness and Pentecostal indicative of the tensions between rebellion and traditional values. Since the Great Revival those were the most dynamically changing movements. Similar to the early evangelical movement, they insisted on equality and accepting members from different races. In order to guarantee the relevant contacts were directed to the right place they would need the assistance of expert interpreters and translators. A good example of this is Milwaukee, where the churches sought the services of the always busy Houston Translator. Saving their creative and spiritual energies was the only way for the smaller churches to survive as they were dwarfed by the larger denominations. So, the major denominations were able to double and triple their fortune and spread their influence over other spheres of life, as the 20th century saw a number of crucial social, economic and cultural changes.