Calpurnia's church, First Purchase African M.E. Church, was not as privileged as the church Jem and Scout were used to. We get this impression first based on its "ancient" appearance on the outside, with peeling paint. The cemetery featured crumbling headstones and Coca Cola bottles for markers, with ground so hard that bodies had to wait to be buried if the rain was sparse. It was unlike the other churches in Maycomb because it was the...
Calpurnia's church, First Purchase African M.E. Church, was not as privileged as the church Jem and Scout were used to. We get this impression first based on its "ancient" appearance on the outside, with peeling paint. The cemetery featured crumbling headstones and Coca Cola bottles for markers, with ground so hard that bodies had to wait to be buried if the rain was sparse. It was unlike the other churches in Maycomb because it was the only one with a steeple and a bell. It was only used for worship on Sundays. During the week, white people used it as a gambling hall, showing how deep the disrespect and disregard for colored people ran.
Once inside, Scout found there was no ceiling, paint, piano, organ, church programs, or hymn-books. The only decoration was a banner that read "God is Love". The church members compensated for their lack of books, and literacy, by singing their hymns by "lining", where Zeebo (one of the few who could read) read out hymn line-by-line with the congregation singing after him. Scout observed that the sermon was the same, except that the reverend referred to specific people who needed to be prayed for or that had recently sinned. The collection was taken not by passing a plate, but by each person coming to the front and dropping their coins into a can. A major surprise came when Reverend Sykes counted out the offering in front of everyone and wouldn’t let anyone leave until they had donated enough for Helen Robinson to have ten dollars.
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