Bethel AME Church
For Rev. W. Ouemonde Brangman, pastor of Bethel AME Church, a brand-new event will help the church “enforce a sense of community.”
This month, the historic Harrisburg church hosts its first-ever community block party at N. 5th and Kelker streets. The community fellowship event will be filled with music, children’s games, prizes, raffles, a flea market, UPMC healthy living workshops, and, of course, an on-site prayer tent for individual or directed worship.
Available vendors include Coco’s Smokehouse featuring “Harrisburg’s own Courtney Randolph back from Louisiana and firing up the grill,” according to event organizers.
“If they want to shop at the flea market, vendors will be onsite,” said Myra Blackwell, a member of a church planning committee for the event. “If they want popcorn, we will have a popcorn machine. If they want face painting for kids, that’s available as well.”
Brangman said that he was approached around a year ago by “a group of (Bethel AME) ladies who said they wanted to do their own block party.” Blackwell said that the process sparked from an idea presented by parishioner Nanette Burney-Mitchell, who chairs the planning committee, with Brangman okaying final signoffs.
Blackwell said that Burney-Mitchell “came up with the idea as a way to reach out to the community post-COVID and to have a safe and healthy gathering.”
“Because we are a church, we promote a safe way to gather in the community,” Blackwell said. “With all the gun violence taking place in the City of Harrisburg, there needs to be something to uplift spirits and a space where people feel safe to gather.”
She added that healthy living is also important.
“We need to do a better job in reaching out to the community and doing things like blood pressure monitoring, effective weight loss programs, how to eat healthy, and so forth,” she said.
Bethel AME Church has been a fundamental part of the Harrisburg community for a very long time. It was founded in 1835 as “one of the premier Black churches in Harrisburg. It was a meeting place for people of color back then,” Brangman said.
In fact, the church is renowned for once serving as a conduit for the Underground Railroad and protecting abolitionist Frederick Douglass during a visit to Harrisburg when his life was threatened.
The church first was located on Meadow Lane before moving to a location on Short Street in 1839. In 1873, it moved to State Street until relocating to Briggs Street in 1913.
In 1953, Bethel AME relocated to 6th and Herr streets, where it remained until the building was gutted by fire in 1995. The congregation then settled into its current spot.
In 2021, the church partnered with RB Development, Paladin Development, a branch of the Harrisburg Housing Authority, and Gardner Capital Development to develop Bethel Village, comprising 49 affordable housing units for low-income seniors age 62 and over.
The completed four-story, nearly 45,000-square-foot building at 6th and Herr streets was built on a parcel that includes the former site of the Bethel AME Church that was destroyed by fire 30 years ago.
The block party will take place near the church’s current location at 1721 N. 5th St., where both adults and kids will find a wide variety of things to do.
“Block party attendees can expect a fun-filled day with different activities,” Blackwell said.
The Bethel AME Church community block party takes place June 7, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., at N. 5th and Kelker streets in Harrisburg. For more information, visit Bethel AME Church on Facebook or call 717-234-6505.
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