The first Negro church mentioned in the fictions has burned down before Flags in the Dust begins, which is why its pastor refers to it as the "late Fust Baptis' church" (286). It is where Simon Strothers worshipped, and as a "Deacon" had possession of the funds that the congregation was saving to build the Second Baptist church (286). In that novel readers meet that preacher and half a dozen members of his congregation, but hear nothing more about the church or where its building was located.
Submitted by tmtowner@utdall... on Fri, 2014-08-08 18:30
In one of the many scenes of pursuit in Light in August, Nathaniel and Juana spend several years searching for a "white preacher" (as opposed to a "priest") to marry them suggests how scarce the Protestant preachers were in the novel's vision of the frontier (247). It's not said where the "preacher" who does marry them in Kansas is from, but on the "Saturday night" before the Sunday wedding he arrives at the Burden home from somewhere else (250).
