Rawdon Street Methodist Church is a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

historical church in what was the historical

Settler Town, Sierra Leone Settler Town (Settler Tong in Krio) is the oldest part of the city of Freetown, now the capital of Sierra Leone, and was the first home of the Nova Scotian Settlers. History The Nova Scotian Settlers were African Americans, many of them ex-sl ...

which is now known as

Freetown, Sierra Leone Freetown () is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, educational an ...

. Rawdon Methodist was established by

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

settlers in

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...

who are known in Freetown as the '

Nova Scotian Settlers The Nova Scotian Settlers, or Sierra Leone Settlers (also known as the Nova Scotians or more commonly as the Settlers), were Black Britons or Black Canadians who founded the settlement of Freetown, Sierra Leone and the Colony of Sierra Leone, ...

'. The first minister at the church was Joseph Brown; George Carrol (Carral) and Isom Gordon assisted him with running the church. Rawdon was supported built and supported by the Nova Scotians.

Style of worship

The Nova Scotian settlers brought their "American" style of worship to

, much to the chagrin of the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

entrepreneurs who brought them there. The Nova Scotian Settlers' style of worship, preaching, and teaching were based upon the

culture they brought with them to Sierra Leone.

Wealth and independence

Rawdon Methodist was a church for the wealthy Nova Scotian Settlers and often the settlers of a lower status went to

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

churches in

. Thus Baptist churches were associated with low economic Nova Scotians and the

churches were associated with wealthy merchant Nova Scotian traders.

Ebenezer Methodist Church

Ebenezer Methodist Church was established by Nova Scotian Settlers who broke away from the Rawdon Street congregation after a dispute. Ebenezer was established by wealthy Nova Scotian settler merchants.

Sources

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References

Nova Scotian Settler (Sierra Leone) African-American history by location Churches in Freetown Methodist churches in Sierra Leone {{SierraLeone-stub