The Martha's Vineyard Camp Meeting Association holds religious events in the Tabernacle during the season. These events vary, but include book signings, spiritual music, and hymn sings.
Please check back as 2021 events are announced throughout the summer.

Sunday, August 8, 9:30 am, the Tabernacle in Oak Bluffs (Masks Required)
Joint Sunday Service: Rev. Dr. Raphael Warnock, Rev. Cathlin Baker, & Rev. Julie Johnson Staples
Special Music by Mark Miller Music

Reverend Senator Raphael G. Warnock will be the distinguished preacher at the Tabernacle in Oak Bluffs on Sunday, August 8, 2021 at 9:30 am. Rev. Dr. Warnock will preach at a joint worship service of the Martha’s Vineyard Camp Meeting Association (MVCMA) and the First Congregational Church of West Tisbury (FCCOWT).

For over a decade, Rev. Dr. Warnock has preached at the First Congregational Church of West Tisbury, a natural by-product of his long-standing friendship with Rev. Cathlin Baker, pastor of the church in West Tisbury. This year, FCCOWT is inviting the wider community to share in worship and in hearing Rev. Warnock preach.

Since 2005, the Reverend Dr. Raphael Gamaliel Warnock has served as the Senior Pastor of the Historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, spiritual home of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The son of two Pentecostal pastors, Rev. Dr. Warnock responded to the call of ministry at a very early age, and at age 35 became the fifth and the youngest person ever called to the senior pastorate of Ebenezer Baptist Church, founded in 1886.

On January 6, 2021, Rev. Dr. Warnock made history by becoming the first African American elected to the United States Senate from the state of Georgia. His electoral victory marks the second time since Reconstruction that an African American has served in the U.S. Senate representing a southern state.

The joint worship service will include guest musician, Mark Miller, Professor of Church Music, Director of Chapel, and Composer In Residence at Drew University in Madison NJ, and a Lecturer in Sacred Music at Yale University. Rev. Cathlin Baker and Rev. Julie Johnson Staples from FCCOWT will be worship leaders. Ken Lowe will represent the MVCMA as liturgist.

Due to the expected high volume of worshippers, and in light of increasing Covid rates, masks will be required. Alternate row seating is already underway, which reduces capacity. Parking in Oak Bluffs is limited near the MVCMA, and the Tabernacle circle will be blocked off to cars by 9:00am for Sunday Service. Early arrival is encouraged.

You can also visit mvcma.org for a live streaming link or attend an in-person viewing of the livestream at 9:30 am at the First Congregational Church of West Tisbury, 1051 State Road, West Tisbury.

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Thursday, July 29, 7 pm, the Tabernacle in Oak Bluffs
​History Lecture:  Dr. Rev. Douglas Strong,
"Race and Faith in the 19th century at America’s Camp Meetings.”

The camp meeting movement was a series of open-air religious revivals that swept the early United States.  The movement began on the frontier, in Kentucky, and rapidly spread east.  Camp meetings became  extraordinarily popular,  a radical new form of religious expression with far-reaching impact on American social norms and  the new nation's sense of spirituality and identity.  
 
Please join us for a lecture by Dr. Rev. Douglas Strong, (Phd, M. Div, Princeton Theological Seminary),  the Paul T. Walls Professor of Wesleyan Studies and Professor  of the History of Christianity at Seattle Pacific University.
 
Dr. Strong will reflect on questions such as:
How did 19th century camp meetings deal with issues of race and faith?
What is the legacy of racial justice advocacy in the history of camp meetings?
A free will offering will be taken.  
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