Two Maryland Church Congregations Trace their African Ancestry through DNA

In 2003, Gina Paige and Dr. Rick Kittes founded African Ancestry, Inc. Paige and Kittes are the president and scientific director, respectively, of an organization where over 50,000 people, including celebrities and national leaders, have used their services. African Ancestry has been at the forefront of DNA testing. It has the world’s largest database collection of African lineages (representing over 30 countries and over 200 ethnic groups) that can trace people of African descent back to a specific African country and tribe.

African Ancestry partnered with Ebenezer AME Church, in Fort Washington, Maryland where the pastors are Rev. Drs. Grainger and JoAnn Browning, and Mount Ennon Baptist Church, in Clinton, Maryland where the pastor is Rev. Delman Coates. Gina Paige wanted to reach out to the faith-based community to raise awareness about their DNA testing service.

Paige said, “We thought about what groups of people are Africa focused… Africa-centered. So we were drawn to certain pastors who celebrate Africa within their church and that sort of sparked us to identify churches throughout the community that celebrate Africa because they may travel to Africa or may have missionary projects in Africa. And we know that once people identify their roots they are much more interested in connecting so we thought that would be a natural path.”

You might have watched Dr. Henry Louis Gates’ popular PBS special, “African American Lives” that featured celebrities and notables such as Oprah Winfrey, Chris Tucker, Spike Lee , Morgan Freeman, Roberta Flack and many more who discovered their African ancestry through DNA testing. Rev. Dr. Grainger Browning said, “I saw the PBS special with Dr. Henry Gates. When I saw it I said, ‘Wow that would be wonderful if we could determine our African roots in that way.’ Then I was introduced to Gina Paige at a Rainbow PUSH meeting. So when I found out that it was possible I was excited… because of the fact we are the only people on the face of the earth who don’t know specifically what country or culture we are from… and to have that knowledge is so empowering. It’s one thing to go to Africa but it’s another when you know what tribe you are actually apart of…because African persons go back thousands of years in their oral history…so it gives you an empowering situation. So I thought it was important for the congregation to have that empowering moment.”

Ebenezer AME and Mount Ennon Baptist set aside four church calendar days to participate in this partnership with African Ancestry. The kickoff event was an African roots reveal of the pastors and first ladies to generate interest from their congregations. Next, there was a day designated for a workshop called “Where Are You From?” that was conducted, where people learned more about the company African Ancestry and about the process determining their roots. There was a Web site page created on the African Ancestry site for each church so members could reserve a paternal and/or maternal ancestry test to be taken on the scheduled community testing day.

On the designated Community Testing Day, each person picked up their reserved kit and was given instructions by the African Ancestry staff on how to conduct the DNA test using a painless oral swab to retrieve a DNA sample.

Eight weeks from the testing day a designated reveal day was set to culminate and celebrate the African root results. On the reveal day, Paige called the names of individual groups to stand and then announced the African country the group shared. Paige pointed out interesting facts about the countries and shared connections of celebrities and leaders who had the same ancestry results. Each person received their individual results package including a letter stating their African county, specific tribe and other interesting documentation such as a membership to the large online African Ancestry community.

To find out more information about partnering your church or group with African Ancestry or to obtain an ancestry test kit online you can go to www.africanancestry.com.

African Ancestry DNA Testing for Families DNA testing is a great way to bond families through this family reunion season

Summertime is a big season for black family reunions nationwide. Families in search of activities for their large or even small group gatherings can make it more exciting by commissioning the services of African Ancestry, Inc. This experience could start or complete a genealogy quest to document family history.

Here is some basic information about the DNA process:

• All DNA samples are confidential and destroyed after the results are known.
• Every sample in the testing lab is identified by a bar code and no personal information is shared.
• The DNA lab extracts your genetic sequence and compares the genetic sequence with African Ancestry’s lineage database to determine your present day African country of origin.
• The DNA results are returned within 6 – 8 weeks.
• Two DNA-based ancestry tests – MatriClan test of maternal DNA inherited from your mother; and PatriClan test of paternal DNA, inherited from your father if you are male. Females are only able to take the MatriClan test. Males are able to take both the MatriClan and PariClan test.
• The DNA tests trace the ancestry of a single lineage.

There are many reasons why people decided to participate in finding their African ancestry. Here are the comments from people who shared why they participated in this DNA testing:



George and Charlene Thomas (Husband/Wife)

“We actually visited South Africa about a year and half ago. After going to the continent we wanted to see what part we originated. We have some extensive family records from my mother’s side…so we’ve done a lot research from the archives. We managed to trace back six generations on my mother’s side in the U.S. We are now ready to take the next step.”

Joe Cooper “I’ve always been curious about what my lineage was of my ancestry. I’ve been interested in doing a genealogy for my family. But when I read about this test to find out about what country my ancestors came from … I just jumped at this opportunity. By knowing the results when talking with some of my colleagues… who always says I’m Irish… Polish… I can now say I can make a connection to Africa now. I want to be able to do that. I have white friends who always talk about where their families are from. I have only been able to say my family is from Virginia.”

Denise Cook “My sister had done a similar test that actually only gave the ethnic makeup on my maternal side. So we know what kinds of ethnicities we have. This organization can trace your DNA back to a specific country and tribe. I thought this might be interesting to see if it all jelled together.”

Eugene Cunningham and Elaine Washington (Cousins) Eugene - “I want to know where we are from. We realized that it was possible to find out where our ancestors where from and we just jumped on the opportunity. I travel a lot to Africa and I know my future trips to Africa will take on a different meaning.”

Elaine - “We are on the family reunion committee and we wanted to do this for our reunion. By doing this we thought we could provide something new to bring to the reunion.”

Patricia Kitt “I would like to know really where my heritage was from. If we are Indians or Africans…I’m just curious. This will kick start me into doing some research on my family.”

Vincent Davis “I don’t know a lot about my dad’s side of the family…like my great-grandparents. I said why not take this test to find out. I wanted to see what I could dig up and present to my paternal grandmother.”

A personal message from Gina Paige to the GospelCity family:


“I think Rev. Dr. Grainger Browning and Pastor Coates said it better than anybody. We know who we are spiritually but we don’t know who are historically. It’s very important that as we go through life and define and redefine our identities that we make sure we incorporate our African past as a part of that. As children of God part of our purpose is to give. And we have resources…we are the children of Africa…we have the resources to give back. Churches are the perfect vehicle for us to share our gift with Africa. I think on a personal level, it’s important, on a community and church level it’s important and on a family level. We’ve got to remember it’s not just one person finding out. A person provides the DNA but then 10...20...50 people in your family will know where they are from.”

Contact African Ancestry at 202.723.0900 or visit www.africanancestry.com to learn how to bring this program to your church.