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Back at the beginning of the United States, few black preachers were filling the pulpits of churches across the colonies and, later, the country. Although the church has always historically stood on the front lines against slavery worldwide, at this point there were not many – if any – black pastors in America. But in the later 18th Century, as the nation was beginning its life, one man arose to the spiritual forefront in Philadelphia and became the first great black pastor in America. That man is the Rev. Absalom Jones.