Act I

Act I takes place "on a Sunday morning in Harlem." It begins with a church service, led by Margaret Anderson, the pastor of a "corner" church. The singing of hymns, accompanied by Margaret's eighteen-year-old son, David, on the piano, is an important element of the service. At one point, Mrs. Ida Jackson, a young woman, walks up to the pulpit holding her sick baby; she asks Margaret what she should do to save her baby, and Margaret advises her to leave her husband, but Mrs. Jackson asserts that she doesn't want to leave her husband.

After the service, Margaret, her sister Odessa, David, and three elders of the church, Sister Moore, Sister Boxer, and Brother Boxer, congregate in Margaret's apartment, which is attached to the church. Margaret's long estranged husband, Luke, arrives unexpectedly at the apartment. In front of David and the church elders, Luke confronts...