A Philadelphia-area United Methodist church recently reached a major milestone in its journey to address historic racial injustice toward Indigenous people its area.
The path included reaching back in time to learn a poignant local history and reaching across the Delaware River to share in ministry and fellowship with a historic Native American church in New Jersey.
Established in 1828, Marshallton United Methodist Church in West Chester, Pennsylvania, is “walking the good road” (a Native American expression of mutual respect and fellowship) alongside St. John United Methodist Church in Bridgeton, New Jersey.
The fifth-oldest historically Native American church in the denomination and one of only three outside of Oklahoma, St. John, now multiracial, was established in 1841 by mostly Lenni Lenape people, who are indigenous to Delaware, New Jersey, Eastern Pennsylvania and southern New York.
“We did not want to gather in Oklahoma,” said Cynthia Mosley, a Nanticoke Lenni Lenape and longtime leader of St. John. “The Indian Removal Act (passed by Congress and signed by President Andrew Jackson in 1830) presented a very frightening possibility: leaving a place that we loved and going somewhere that we knew nothing about.
The mission-minded church decided to do a land acknowledgment in 2023, the year Rev. David Eckert became its pastor. The church’s anti-racism covenant group, named Path Toward Wholeness, wanted to “authentically engage in Native American ministry beyond just doing worship that contained Native American elements but lacked genuine relationships,” he recalled.
Worship Recognizes Land Acknowledgement
Marshallton’s milestone came in October during its Native American Sunday worship service, when church leaders read to the congregation their official land acknowledgment statement written and approved after months of research and consultation.
A land acknowledgment confirms a congregation’s recognition that it gathers on the traditional, unceded lands of Indigenous peoples. More than just a symbolic gesture, such acknowledgments involve learning about and respecting the history of the land and the sovereignty and rights of its original, dispossessed inhabitants, while taking meaningful action toward reconciliation.
Mosley and Barbara Revere of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference Committee on Native American Ministry advised the church in preparing its land acknowledgment during the past year. Marshallton is the third church that Eastern Pennsylvania’s committee has aided in preparing land acknowledgment statements since 2023. Mosley also chairs the Greater New Jersey Conference Committee on Native American Ministry.
The Rev. David Eckert, Marshallton’s pastor, led the congregation’s Native American-themed worship, including prayers, hymns, liturgy and a Scripture reading from the First Nations Version New Testament, described as a “culturally authentic translation of the New Testament through Native American storytelling traditions, created by Indigenous elders and pastors to bridge cultural perspectives through sacred narratives.”
Marshallton, which officially approved the land acknowledgment proclamation at its recent charge conference, will frame and prominently display it, Eckert reported. And the learning and engagement with St. John will grow, as members continue to work on dismantling racism while treading their Path Toward Wholeness.
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Your gifts on Native American Ministries Sunday equip seminary students who will honor and celebrate Native American culture in their ministries. You empower congregations to find fresh, new ways to minister to their communities with Christ’s love.
excerpt from a story by John W. Coleman, UM News correspondent and part-time pastor.
This story shows the impact of Native American Ministries Sunday—one of six United Methodist Special Sundays with offerings—to honor Indigenous heritage and strengthen Native communities. Your gifts support Native ministries, scholarships, and leadership development, ensuring that Native voices and traditions continue to shape the life of the Church. Together, we celebrate culture, empower ministry, and stand in solidarity with Native peoples across the connection.
When you give generously on Native American Ministries Sunday, you help preserve tradition, nurture leadership, and support vibrant Native ministries within The United Methodist Church.
