THE ANVIL
Cross & Anvil Human Services has a symbolic and a historical meaning which must be noted by all who call themselves African Methodist. OUR beginnings emerged from the depths of racism and bigotry and when our founding fathers chose to stay with Methodism they purchased a blacksmith’s shop and converted it into their house of worship; they called it BETHEL, meaning “House of God.”
In the blacksmith’s shop was an anvil used to pound and shape metal ores into a usable and functioning object. And, as any blacksmith will tell you, hammers may wear down, and many a man may lose his life to the exhaustion from the hard work of being a blacksmith, but the Anvil never fails. A man only need to purchase one in his or her entire lifetime, and it continues to last through MANY lifetimes. So it is with God; He cannot be beaten down and He is Eternal. The Anvil represents our beginning and the lasting Strength of our Lord and Savior that never ceases.
Academic Support Services
FCAT and College Preparation, Computer Skills Training, GED Assistance, and Financial Literacy.
Mental Health Counseling
Crisis Intervention, Individual Counseling, and Trauma Informed Care Counseling.
Parental Engagement
Parent Effectiveness Training, School System Navigation & Advocacy Training, Teenage Pregnancy Prevention, Gang Prevention and Bullying.
Veteran Services
Counseling and Employment, Housing, and Treatment Referrals.
The Cross and the Anvil: Our Salvation and our Strength. Our beginnings in a blacksmith shop and our eternal ending in God’s heavenly realm. The AME Church was founded at a time when racial discrimination and segregation was the norm, even in the relatively liberal Methodist Church. John Wesley himself was staunchly anti-slavery and yet in US Methodist churches, it was difficult for African-Americans to remind the white congregation that God loves all men equally.