Little Rock A.M.E. Zion Carries a Historic Charlotte Church to Radio Listeners
A weekly Praise Charlotte broadcast connects more than a century of African American faith, community service and worship with listeners across the airwaves and online.
By Cassandra Lee | Web Radio Info
Long before online streaming and mobile applications, radio gave churches a way to carry preaching, prayer and gospel music beyond the sanctuary.
Little Rock A.M.E. Zion Church continues that tradition each Sunday morning through a weekly half-hour broadcast on Praise Charlotte.
The program airs Sundays from 7:30 to 8:00 a.m. Eastern. Listeners can hear it on Praise Charlotte in the Charlotte area or through the station’s free worldwide stream.
The broadcast offers an early-morning introduction to a congregation whose history reaches back to Charlotte’s post-Civil War Black community.
A Church Rooted in Charlotte’s Black History
Little Rock A.M.E. Zion Church traces its beginnings to the early 1870s, when the Rev. Thomas Henry Lomax helped establish the congregation.
The church emerged during a defining period for formerly enslaved people in Charlotte. A.M.E. Zion ministers helped Black residents build religious institutions under their own leadership, free from white control.
The congregation purchased property in Charlotte’s First Ward in 1884. As its membership and ministries grew, it eventually constructed the Neoclassical church building completed around 1911.
That former sanctuary became one of Charlotte’s designated historic landmarks. Mecklenburg County describes it as one of the city’s oldest Black churches and the only known Charlotte building designed by prominent architect James Mackson McMichael for a Black client.
The congregation later moved into a larger building across the street. Its former home continued serving the community as the Afro-American Cultural Center, an institution that eventually became the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African American Arts + Culture.
Little Rock now worships at 401 North McDowell Street under the leadership of the Rev. Dr. Derrill A. Blue and the Rev. Dr. Paula B. Blue.
The Sunday Radio Broadcast
Praise Charlotte schedules Little Rock A.M.E. Zion Church every Sunday from 7:30 to 8:00 a.m. Eastern.
The radio program airs two and a half hours before the congregation’s regular 10:00 a.m. worship service. This means listeners should not expect a live relay of that morning’s service.
Neither the station nor the church currently explains whether the half-hour program contains an edited worship service, a recorded sermon or material prepared specifically for radio. Web Radio Info therefore describes it as a church broadcast rather than a live church service.
Even with that distinction, the program provides something valuable. It gives listeners a free, screen-free connection to an historic African American congregation at the beginning of Sunday morning.
How to Listen
Little Rock A.M.E. Zion Church airs:
- Day: Sunday
- Time: 7:30 to 8:00 a.m. Eastern
- Station: Praise Charlotte
- Online: Praise Charlotte live stream
- Smart speaker: Amazon Alexa
Praise Charlotte currently identifies its service as 102.5 FM and 610 AM, although the station’s Little Rock event page still contains an older reference to 100.9 FM. Charlotte-area listeners should confirm the current over-the-air frequency before Sunday.
For Alexa listening:
- Open the Alexa application.
- Find Skills & Games.
- Search for Praise Charlotte.
- Enable the station’s skill.
- Say, “Alexa, play Praise Charlotte.”
Because smart-speaker commands and station directories can change, test the command before the broadcast begins.
The church’s regular Sunday worship service starts at 10:00 a.m. Eastern. Little Rock also provides live and archived worship through its own website, but that option depends on video and is separate from the radio broadcast.
The Web Radio Info Recommendation
Start with the Sunday radio program if you want a screen-free introduction to Little Rock A.M.E. Zion Church.
The half-hour broadcast brings together local gospel radio and one of Charlotte’s oldest Black congregations. Its significance comes not only from what is heard on Sunday morning, but also from the history behind the ministry.
Little Rock grew from the work of African American church leaders during Reconstruction. Its former sanctuary became a historic landmark, and its congregation continues reaching beyond the church building through radio.
Web Radio Info has confirmed the schedule, station stream, church leadership and Alexa instructions. We have not confirmed the precise format of the weekly program, so listeners should regard it as a church broadcast rather than a guaranteed complete worship service.
For anyone interested in African American church history, gospel radio and screen-free Sunday listening, Little Rock A.M.E. Zion Church is worth hearing.
