From “What Makes You Come Alive: A Spiritual Walk with Howard Thurman” by Lerita Coleman Brown
Dr. Howard Washington Thurman was born on November 18, 1899, near Palm Beach, Florida. Shortly after his birth, his family moved to Daytona Beach, Florida, where Howard spent his early years with his parents, two sisters, and maternal grandmother, Nancy Ambrose. Saul Thurman, his father, worked as a laborer on the railroad and often spent the weekdays away from the family. Even though his wife, Alice, and his mother-in-law actively participated in a local Baptist church, Saul maintained a certain suspicion about organized religion. He read a great deal and did not attend church.
One day when young Howard was seven years old, his father arrived home from work very ill with pneumonia. Saul Thurman suffered for about four days before he died. Howard, present in the bedroom, beheld his father’s last breath. Because Saul Thurman was not a church member, several local ministers refused to officiate his funeral. Finally one traveling preacher agreed, but in his eulogy he condemned Saul Thurman to hell because he was not a churchgoer. This incident baffled young Howard. He began to wonder about Christianity and how a minister who knew nothing about his father could castigate him in this way. Howard vowed that once he reached adulthood, he would never join a church.
This pledge was short-lived. Howard’s mystical experiences in nature and his burning desire to teach, lead, and uplift the human spirit were undeniable, and these longings constantly tugged at his heart. Later in his life he cofounded an interracial, interdenominational church designed to reflect his sense of what God desired: community or oneness for all people, for all creation. It became a sanctuary for those who sought spiritual renewal and change in the larger society. With literature, art, liturgical dance, meditation, and phenomenal sermons, Thurman created a worship experience in which those in attendance felt the presence of God.