“A sub-text on every page is the renewable hope in the struggle 
for racial reconciliation in America.”
—Kevin Lewis, University of South Carolina

In 1861 two religious traditions collided on Saint Helena 
Island. Already firmly entrenched on the island, the slaves' 
religion represented a mixture of Southern evangelicalism and 
African practices. The other, newer tradition would be an 
imported faith found primarily at the Penn School established 
for the islanders by Northern missionaries whose Protestantism 
emphasized citizenship, character development, service, and 
self-discipline.


In The Abundant Life Prevails, Michael Wolfe examines 
the history of this rich religious life on Saint Helena Island 
off the coast of South Carolina. Previous works have given 
extensive attention to the unique linguistic culture of the 
island called Gullah, but Wolfe is the first to provide a 
comprehensive treatment of the religious traditions represented 
there. The story of Saint Helena Island reveals how two vastly 
different traditions—missionary and islander—emerged from their 
own environments, how each sought particular goals for the 
island, and how they eventually merged into a living faith 
community.


In our present era, deeply concerned with the conflict of global 
and local cultures, Saint Helena is an island whose history is 
instructive. As educators struggle again with the ideals of 
"character development," the Penn School offers many lessons. 
And in the midst of debate about the proper relations between 
religion and government, the history of Penn demonstrates that 
American society has always been cut from a seamless cloth; that 
religion has deeply affected our values, both public and private.


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MICHAEL C. WOLFE received his Ph.D. in European and 
American Religious History from the University of Virginia. An 
ordained Methodist minister, he currently serves as chaplain 
and instructor of religion at Spartanburg Methodist College.