The First African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church of Oakland, California, stands as a beacon of faith and community, with a rich history dating back to the mid-19th century. This house of worship emerged in the eastern part of the Bay Area, founded by members of the Black community in Oakland at the time, but it wasn’t until 1863 that they had a physical building to hold their services. The church founders collectively purchased what was then the Carpenter School House.
First AME Church was the first, and still is, the oldest African American church in Oakland. During its time, it was the only African American church in the East Bay for thirty years. It was the first school for minorities in Oakland since only white children were allowed to attend public schools at this time. Church also acted as the cultural center of the African American community, hosting not only the first church and school but also social and political clubs, events, and festivals.
The earliest public schools in California did not admit Black, Asian, and indigenous students, causing some community members to open informal schoolhouses of their own. The school’s most distinguished teacher was Elizabeth Flood who also was a founding member of the church. Flood was educated in Massachusetts but moved to California with her husband. Prior to her teaching at First AME in Oakland, she opened up her own private school for black children in Sacramento because her son was denied an education by the public school system at the time.
The AME church also served as a gathering place for the black community in Oakland, the venue where social and political clubs and cultural organizations would hold meetings and where community events were staged and festivals were celebrated.
The congregation of First AME cycled through many other names before its current name was selected. Before the name was changed officially to First AME Church in 1954, the church was originally called Shiloh AME Church. After years of stationing their congregation in a carpenter school building, the leader of the congregation at the time, Reverend James Grisby, led the congregation in acquiring a larger building in 1884, where the name was changed from Shiloh AME Church to the Fifteenth Street Church. The congregation moved one more time in 1954 under the leadership of Reverend H. Solomon Hill to a new church building at 3701 Telegraph Avenue, where it was renamed the First African Methodist Episcopal Church.
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The church building on Telegraph Avenue has sat empty since a 2023 fire. Images of the palatial church building, with a cross affixed to the roof and giant columns rising along its front facade, being consumed by flames in the middle of the night made news across the country. Seventy Oakland firefighters responded to the blaze, which was under control by early Monday morning. The inside suffered a tremendous amount of damage, particularly the roof and the upper floors. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, or ATF, is also on scene to investigate.
Investigators tell us they haven't yet determined a cause of the fire but did have arson dogs on scene Monday, sniffing for any traces of accelerants. They say new information in the investigation could be released on Tuesday.
Following last month’s fire, the building was red-tagged again and the church won’t be able to hold services there for the foreseeable future. Last week, church leaders walked through the building with insurance agents to assess the damage, and it could be several weeks before they know how much it will cost. But Smith intends to rebuild there, and their outreach ministries, which include providing meals to homeless people three times a week, will continue.
In the meantime, as they work to clean up and eventually rebuild from the fire, members will continue to worship through Zoom, just as they did during the height of the pandemic.
“Up from the ashes” has been Pastor Rodney D. That theme was present on Sunday afternoon as the congregation met in the sunny parking lot for a farewell service and deconsecration - a ceremony to decommission a site from spiritual to secular use.
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Parishioners, some of whom have been part of the church for decades and others who have recently joined, made their way to rows of white chairs beneath a canopy. Speakers reminisced about the history of the church, from its early beginnings as the Shiloh AME Church in 1858, just four years after the city of Oakland was founded, when it doubled as one of the first schools for Black children in Oakland, to its move to Telegraph Avenue in 1954.
Senior Pastor Rodney D. Smith of First African Methodist Episcopal Church poses for a photo near the church following a Sunday night fire at the building in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023. “I’m out here because the work continues. This is just a building, but the ministry we do is beyond this building.
The church temporarily moved its services to Temple Beth Abraham, a synagogue on Macarthur Boulevard, then to Uptown Station in downtown Oakland. Oakland has been holding services at North Oakland Missionary Baptist Church at 1030 32nd St. Oakland until 2020.
“When I think about all of the special memories in that building - the people I baptized, the children I held in my arms, the sermons that I preached - it’s bittersweet,” Mayberry told The Oaklandside.
“Babies were dedicated, couples joined in marriage, souls were saved and saints were laid to rest in peace,” said Reverend Rosalynn Brookins.
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Community leaders, including Pastor Zachary E. Lee and Fife pledged support from the city as the church rebuilds. “I always feel like I’m back home when I’m here,” Lee said.
Lamarria Coleman, 35, has been coming to the church since she was a kid growing up in West Oakland. “If it wasn’t for this church and a lot of the things that I was involved in in my childhood, I don’t think I would be who I am today,” Coleman said. “It’s definitely a pillar in my life. Coleman said she remembers rushing down to the church on Feb.
The service opened with a reading of “Still I Rise,” a poem by Maya Angelou about succeeding over adversity and critics. Pastor Rodney D. Smith drew from the Bible story of Shadrach, Mesach, and Abednego, three Hebrew men who were thrown into a furnace for refusing to bow to an image of King Nebuchadnezzar. “Sometimes we don’t know why God allows certain things to happen, but one thing is for certain: We will rise again,” he said.
Pastor Rodney D. Smith delivers a sermon at Temple Beth Abraham, the church’s temporary home after a fire gutted their building on Feb. 16, 2023. Smith’s tenure as lead pastor, which began in 2020, hasn’t been the smoothest. For his first year and a half here, Smith had to get to know his congregation virtually because of the pandemic. Last Easter brought in-person services back, but less than a year later, the church burned down. “Today is difficult because we are in a space and a season that we never thought we’d be,” said Smith.
“Ironically, [during] Black History Month, the oldest (Black) church in the East Bay burns down, but what we do know is we’re going to rise above the ashes,” Smith said during the Sunday service on Feb. 26.
Began in the spring of 1858 as a mission started by members of the Flood and Peterson families, along with others, in a small house on 5th Street, presumably in West Oakland, according to an undated research paper at AAMLO. It was considered a mission because it had no pastor or chapel, and its “services” were held in various members’ homes. is now America’s church and you’re going to see people from all across the United States step up to the plate because this is an opportunity for Oakland.” - Senior Pastor Rodney D.
Barney Fletcher, who joined the mission in 1862, may have been the church’s first pastor. But Fletcher, who also helped to found the St. Church in 1850 in Brooklyn, New York, served for less than a year in the role. That same year, the congregation purchased a schoolhouse-a small 20-by-30-foot redwood structure that was moved from an unspecified location to 7th and Market streets.
In 1884, Rev. according to Taylor in her book. Reverend Solomon Hill joined during this time and was instrumental in increasing the church’s membership.
In 1986, Mary Glenn and her husband at the time, Frederick Murph, arrived in Oakland from Baltimore to lead the church. Those efforts were set back when the Loma Prieta earthquake struck in 1989, damaging the sanctuary and making it uninhabitable. For the next two years, the church held services in the fellowship hall adjacent to the sanctuary, Glenn said. The pastors faced pressure to pay for repairs, while also supporting members with financial and other needs.
“It’s crucial to stay in an area where people know you and where people are not afraid to approach you. When you move a church, it can be detrimental to the people in that area because sometimes they can’t physically get to you,” Glenn said.
Rev. Smith is greeted by Father Jayson J. Landeza, Chaplain of the Oakland Fire Department following the fire of FAME Oakland church in Oakland, Calif., Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023.
“It’s not about rebuilding a sanctuary. What this is about is, how can we do greater ministry?” Senior Pastor Rodney D. “We have a serious homeless problem here, right? People are still trying to find jobs. The economy is still trying to get up and moving. We’re still living through a pandemic. And in the midst of all that, our church goes up in flames,” Smith said.
The church started a GoFundMe after the fire for those who wanted to donate immediately, and there will be more fundraising campaigns once church leaders learn exactly how much it will cost to rebuild, Smith said.
List of Pastors
- Reverend J.B.
- Reverend J.
- Reverend Oscar E.
- Reverend F.
- Reverend J.M.
- Reverend T.
- Reverend Daniel G.
- Reverend Justus E.
- Reverend Dr. H.
- Reverend J.
- Reverend Edward S.
- Reverend George R.
- Reverend L.
- Reverend Dr.
- Reverend Dr. Harold R.
- Reverend Dr. Rodney D.
We encourage researchers to contact AAMLO before visiting so that we can be prepared to assist you.
Additional Resources:
- American African Museum Library of Oakland (AAMLO)
- GoFundMe for FAME Church Rebuilding
