Hanover Church has celebrated Black History Month for over 35 years. Music, sermons, and speakers throughout January and February highlight African American culture and history during Sunday morning services. In addition, we celebrate African American traditions through our annual Soul Food Luncheon.
See our gallery of past Black History Month events at Hanover.
Artists that have performed in our Black History Month Celebrations in recent years include The Twin Poets, The Melodic Movements, Gus Mercante, Martin Hargrove, Tina Betz, Michael Hunter, Brian Gray, Bebe Coker, Micah Graves, Ryah Minyon, Shannon Booth-Johnson, Taralynn Dillard, The Mount Pleasant High School Gospel Choir, The Delaware State University Choir, and The HildaMan Chorale.
For more photos from past Gospel Vespers services, visit our gallery.
Soul Food Luncheon
The annual Soul Food Luncheon takes place on a Sunday in February immediately following the Worship Service. Everyone brings a favorite dish to share and joins in a feast of “good for the soul” soul food! We typically have lots of fried chicken, ham, macaroni and cheese, greens, and much more, with delicious homemade desserts. In 2024 we charged just $10 per person ($5 for children under 12), and all the proceeds went to our student scholarship fund. This year we will have The Twin Poets reciting some of their poetry during dessert.
2025 Black History Celebrations
FEBRUARY 2025 – All services are on Sundays at 11AM.
February 2 – “Audacious Resilience”
February 9 – “The African Presence in the Bible”
February 16 – “Celebration of African-American Spirituality”
Guest Speaker: Jamar Rahming, Executive Director of Wilmington Public Library; Melodic Dancers; Jazz Trio – Michael Hunter, piano; Anthony Smith, bass guitar; Virgil Brown, drums; and the Hanover Choir.
Soul Food Luncheon (immediately following Worship) – The Twin Poets will be joining us at the Soul Food Luncheon and sharing their poetry during dessert.
February 23 – BHM Youth Sunday
Guest Speaker: Hannah Grantham, Director of the Jane & Littleton Mitchell Center for American-American Heritage
Guest Musical Group: Sharon Temple Youth Choir