Great Gathering

A historical gathering occurs in South Carolina.

When 10,000 members of three African-American Methodist denominations gathered this March in Columbia, S.C., it was their historic first meeting together in more than 45 years. Some planners might think a citywide meeting of this scope would take two years or more to pull together, but a volunteer effort led by event chairman Dr. Staccato Powell, pastor of the Grace AME Zion Church in Raleigh, N.C., made it happen in only six months — with the help of the Holy Spirit, a lot of prayer and volunteers working day and night. “The Great Gathering” brought together the AME, AME Zion and Christian Methodist Episcopal (CME) denominations.

Powell describes the fast-paced organization effort: “We were very vigilant and intentional, and we had a lot of teleconferencing. There were only three face-to-face meetings.” An “intercessory prayer team” was also launched to ask the Holy Spirit to aid and direct the meetings; organizers fasted each Wednesday for two months leading up to The Great Gathering.

Great Gathering organizers had to pay ahead for expenses that were later offset by the $21 registration fee (in honor of the 21st century), which Powell says reflects the need to plan ahead for financial obligations. “Make sure all the principals are engaged, paying attention and committed from a financial standpoint,” he advises. “If you don’t have capital to work with, try to get a line of credit. You will need resources for deposits.” Another lesson Powell learned was the need to be more conscientious about the registration process, which he concedes was not “strategically organized well.”

The Great Gathering took place at the Carolina Coliseum, with the first day held at the Colonial Life Arena because of a scheduling conflict (not enough time to prepare the coliseum following a weekend gymnastics event). Columbia was chosen as the location because a CME denomination meeting already was planned for later in the week. “I would stress to anyone planning these events that choosing a date and the availability of the venue are critical,” says Powell. “We had to find a date when none of the denominations would have a conflict, so we coordinated with the CME, which had already planned to go to Columbia that week.”

The Great Gathering faced criticism about choosing Columbia because of an NAACP boycott of South Carolina related to the Confederate design of the state flag. “We were there primarily because our sister denomination had already made the choice,” says Powell. “Given that commitment, we said OK rather than try to find another date.”

Programming included appearances by children’s activist Marion Wright Edelman and philosopher and civil rights activist Cornel West, and each night of the gathering ended with a worship service and concert. Attendance peaked Tuesday night at 10,000. On Wednesday, the meeting culminated with the three denominations agreeing to form a coalition to promote community-wide issues including a “Male Investment Plan” aimed at keeping young males out of prison and in school and church.