Metropolitan Buries Unique Historical Time Capsule at November 20 Homecoming

METROPOLITAN AME CHURCH
1518 M St. NW
Washington, DC 20005

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Anthony Hawkins
202- 331-1426

Media Alert and Release
November 12, 2011

A record of the faith, hopes and dreams of thousands of members of Metropolitan AME Church over the past 173 years will be entombed for posterity when the church buries its historic time capsule on Sunday, November 20. The event is a highlight of its annual Homecoming celebration as the downtown church celebrates its 173rd anniversary with a single, combined service at 9 a.m.

The Rev. Harold B. Hayes, Jr., pastor of Hunter Memorial AME Church in Suitland, Md., will be guest preacher. The church is located at 1518 M Street, NW.

The time capsule – and Metropolitan’s -- deeper significance is that it represents the entire A.M.E. denomination. The General Conferences of 1872, 1876 and 1880 confirmed and promoted “the building of a connectional church, national in character and representing…the intelligence and religious of the American Negro at the nation’s capital.” Each conference that existed in 1880 supported its commitment to the denomination by donating funds toward the stained glass windows that adorn the church.

That church, Metropolitan, is emerging from a two-year modernization and restoration and is celebrating 173 years as the denomination’s National Cathedral of African Methodism. Rev. Dr. Ronald E. Braxton, senior pastor, led the successful restoration efforts.

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