The African Methodist Episcopal Church, commonly known as the AME Church, stands as a beacon of faith and resilience in the African-American community. It is a Methodist denomination based in the United States.
The AME Church was founded by Richard Allen (1760-1831) in 1816. Allen, a previously ordained deacon in the Methodist Episcopal Church, was elected by the gathered ministers and ordained as its first bishop in 1816 by the first General Conference of the five churches-extending from the three in the Philadelphia area in Pennsylvania to ones in Delaware and Baltimore, Maryland.
He called together five African American congregations of the previously established Methodist Episcopal Church with the hope of escaping the discrimination that was commonplace in society, including some churches. The church was born in protest against racial discrimination and slavery.
This was in keeping with the Methodist Church's philosophy, whose founder John Wesley had once called the slave-trade "that execrable sum of all villainies." It was among the first denominations in the United States to be founded for this reason (rather than for theological distinctions).
Richard Allen AME Church in Philadelphia, a significant landmark in AME history.
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Origins and Early Development
The AME Church worked out of the Free African Society (FAS), which Richard Allen, Absalom Jones, and other free blacks established in Philadelphia in 1787. They left St. George's Methodist Episcopal Church because of discrimination. These members erected a site of worship to escape the "unkind treatment of their white brethren, who considered them a nuisance in the house of worship." They were told if they did not give up this space, they would be publicly expelled from the church.
Although Allen and Jones were both accepted as preachers, they were limited to black congregations. In addition, the blacks were made to sit in a separate gallery built in the church when their portion of the congregation increased.
These former members of St. George's made plans to transform their mutual aid society into an African congregation. Allen led a small group who resolved to remain Methodist. They formed the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1793. In 1794 Bethel AME was dedicated with Allen as pastor. In general, they adopted the doctrines and form of government of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Because black Methodists in other middle Atlantic communities also encountered racism and desired religious autonomy, Allen called them to meet in Philadelphia in 1816 to form a new Wesleyan denomination. It began with eight clergy and five churches, and by 1846 had grown to 176 clergy, 296 churches, and 17,375 members.
The denomination then expanded west and through the South, particularly after the American Civil War (1861-1865).
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Map showing the locations of AME churches around the world.
Expansion and Influence
The church also expanded internationally during this period. The AME Church currently has 20 districts, each with its own bishop: 13 are based in the United States, mostly in the South, while seven are based in Africa. The AME Church was created and organized by people of African descent (most descended from enslaved Africans taken to the Americas) as a response to being officially discriminated against by white congregants in the Methodist Episcopal Church.
The church was not founded in Africa, nor is it exclusively for people of African descent. The church's roots are in the Methodist tradition. Members of St.
Other members of the FAS wanted to affiliate with the Episcopal Church and followed Absalom Jones in doing that. In 1792, they founded the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas, the first Episcopal church in the United States with a founding black congregation.
While the AME is doctrinally Methodist, clergy, scholars, and lay persons have written works that demonstrate the distinctive racial theology and praxis that have come to define this Wesleyan body. In an address to the 1893 World's Parliament of Religions, Bishop Benjamin W. Arnett reminded the audience of blacks' influence in the formation of Christianity. Bishop Benjamin T. Tanner wrote in 1895 in The Color of Solomon - What? that biblical scholars wrongly portrayed the son of David as a white man. In the post-civil rights era, theologians James Cone, Cecil W.
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Wayman AME Church: A Local Perspective
Wayman African Methodist Episcopal Church of Bloomington
Wayman AME is one of Bloomington’s oldest congregations, established on October 10, 1846. The first pastor of the “African Church” was Bloomington’s Reverend P.H. Ward, who served during its first decade. On January 16, 1847, a lot at 804 N. Center was purchased by Moses Bird, Joseph Hobson, and J.W. Hill. The first church was built in 1848 for $300. In 1858 Hayes and Evans contractors completed the wooden structure which served for over a century.
The church possibly was an Underground Railroad stop, assisting escaping enslaved people. It also served as a school for African American children. In January 1860, Ward reported raising $100 from white citizens to open the school and the local African American population raising enough for fuel and other expenses. The Board of Education hired Emily B. Howard in August 1860 to teach the 25 students. missionary parents. Maryanne Aray, who was African American, taught at the school from 1861 to 1863. Reverend A.T. Hall succeeded Ward in 1860.
From Bloomington, Reverend C.S. Smith established the AME Sunday School Union in 1882, which published Sunday School literature for national distribution. The Center Street building was renovated in 1910. Wayman has a long history of community involvement. precursor of Black History Month, was recognized at the church. In 1992, the McLean County Historical Society led an archeological dig behind the church. The church moved from Center Street to the former St. John’s Lutheran Church at 803 W. Church.
Wayman Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Dayton
Wayman Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church Marker (Side A) Inscription. The first African American congregation and first African American Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church in Dayton trace their roots back to the early 1830s. They were organized by Father Thomas Willis and a small group of faithful men and women. After several moves, the congregation settled on Eaker Street and the church was dedicated in the early 1870s. The church was rededicated in 1882 and renamed Wayman Chapel AME Church.
The eminent poet Paul Laurence Dunbar and his mother Matilda attended and worshiped at the Eaker Street church. His untimely death in 1906 brought family and friends to his funeral services held at the church. By 1923 church leadership felt the need for more secure space for the growing congregation and moved to a new building at Fifth and Banks streets. The Great Depression years were financially difficult for the church, but in 1937 Reverend P.A. church of debt.
By 1940, under the guidance of Reverend Thomas Chryer, the debt had been reduced from $113,000 to $12,000 and under the pastorate of Reverend Granville Reed Jr, the mortgage was burned in 1944. Reverend Wallace M. Wright became pastor in 1949 and following his death, Reverend Carlton N. Flanigan became the pastor. His first major undertaking was to relocate the church to Hoover Avenue due to construction of a new interstate highway system in Dayton. Other Wayman pastors include Bishops Rembert Stokes and W. Deveaux and Reverends Dr. Wilbur M. Lowe Jr. and Frederick A. Wright Sr. Pastor Dr. Ronald L. Glenn strengthened the church for the twenty-first century and beyond.
Wayman Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church Cornerstone
Wayman Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Temple, Texas
Deeply rooted in the growing development of the city of Temple, Texas, historic Wayman Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church epitomizes the expansion of African Methodism in Central Texas. Wayman Chapel was organized in 1885 on a spur of the Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe Railroads four years after the railroad arrival to Temple, Texas in 1881. This One hundred thirty-five year old congregation was organized by Rev. George Conner and trustees Dock Lacy and Green McGrew.
The church pioneers recalled a tiny wood framed building that faced north on Avenue D. The structure in 1885 was simple in design and was a frame construction. The coming of additional members brought on growing pains, thus in the spring of 1912, the Wayman Chapel church called a church conference for improvement and indebtedness. The evidence of these proceedings are in the Bell County Archives. Wayman Chapel has been a leading factor in the moral and religious life of Temple for more than 130 years.
Thus, it has stood as one of the landmarks of culture and society within the city of temple. It stood for 132 years, not only as a landmark, but served as a school for the Temple Public Schools and later a day Care Center.
The constant growth in membership and finances gave vent to a vision for a more accommodating place of worship. The present structure was erected under the leadership of the late Rev. L.M. Sanders and the Board of Trustees at a cost of $65,000. After much struggling and borrowing, the debt was liquidated and a parsonage was purchased under the leadership of the Rev. George E. Brown.
AME's Commitment to Education
AME put a high premium on education. In the 19th century, the AME Church of Ohio collaborated with the Methodist Episcopal Church, a predominantly white denomination, in sponsoring the second independent historically black college (HBCU), Wilberforce University in Ohio. Among Wilberforce University's early founders was Salmon P.
By 1880, AME operated over 2,000 schools, chiefly in the South, with 155,000 students.
After the America Civil War, Bishop Henry McNeal Turner (1834-1915) was a major leader of the AME and played a role in Republican Party politics. In 1863 during the American Civil War, Turner was appointed as the first black chaplain in the United States Colored Troops. Afterward, he was appointed to the Freedmen's Bureau in Georgia. He settled in Macon, Georgia, and was elected to the state legislature in 1868 during Reconstruction. In 1880 he was elected as the first southern bishop of the AME Church after a fierce battle within the denomination.
Henry McNeal Turner, a major leader of the AME Church and advocate for education.
Key Beliefs and Governance
The basic foundations of the beliefs of the church can be summarized in the Apostles' Creed, and the 25 Articles of Religion, held in common with other Methodist denominations. The church also observes the official bylaws of the AME Church. The "Doctrine and Discipline of the African Methodist Episcopal Church" is revised at every AME General Conference and published every four years. The official position of the African Methodist Episcopal Church is not in favor of the ordination of openly gay persons to the ranks of clergy in our church.
The General Conference is the supreme body of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. It is composed of the bishops, as ex officio presidents, according to the rank of election, and an equal number of ministerial and lay delegates, elected by each of the annual conferences and the lay electoral colleges of the annual conferences. Other ex officio members are: the general officers, college presidents, deans of theological seminaries; and chaplains in the regular United States Armed Forces.
At the General Conference of the AME Church, notable and renowned speakers have been invited to address the clergy and laity of the congregation. Such as in 2008, the church invited then Senator Barack H.
The Council of Bishops is the executive branch of the church. It has the general oversight of the church during the interim between general conferences. The AME Council of Bishops shall meet annually at such time and place as the majority of the council shall determine and also at such other times as may be deemed necessary in the discharging its responsibility as the executive branch of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. This council shall hold at least two public sessions at each annual meeting. At the first, complaints and petitions against a bishop shall be heard, at the second, the decisions of the council shall be made public.
The Judicial Council is the highest judicatory body of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.
Episcopal Districts
The AME Church is organized into Episcopal Districts, each led by a bishop. These districts span across the United States and Africa, demonstrating the global reach of the denomination.
Here is a list of the Episcopal Districts and their respective bishops:
- 1st Episcopal District - Bishop Samuel L. Green, Sr.
- 2nd Episcopal District - Bishop Reginald T. Jackson, Sr.
- 3rd Episcopal District - Bishop Stafford J. N. Wicker
- 4th Episcopal District - Bishop Frederick A. Wright, Sr.
- 5th Episcopal District - Bishop Francine A. Brookins
- 6th Episcopal District - Bishop Michael L. Mitchell
- 7th Episcopal District - Bishop James L. Davis
- 8th Episcopal District - Bishop Erika D. Crawford
- 9th Episcopal District - Bishop Julius H. McAllister, Sr.
- 10th Episcopal District - Bishop Ronnie E. Brailsford, Sr.
- 11th Episcopal District - Bishop Marvin C. Zanders, II
- 12th Episcopal District - Bishop Silvester S. Beaman
- 13th Episcopal District - Bishop Harry L. Seawright
- 14th Episcopal District - Bishop Paul J. M. Kawimbe
- 15th Episcopal District - Bishop Henry A. Belin, III
- 16th Episcopal District - Bishop Jeffrey N. Leath
- 17th Episcopal District - Bishop Vernon R. Byrd, Jr.
- 18th Episcopal District - Bishop Jeffery B. Cooper
- 19th Episcopal District - Senior Bishop Wilfred J. Messiah
- 20th Episcopal District - Bishop Gregory V. Epps
Ecumenical Officer and Endorsing Agent- Bishop David R. Daniels, Jr.
Retired Bishops: Bishop Frank C. Cummings, Bishop Philip R. Cousin, Sr., Bishop John R. Bryant, Bishop Robert V. Webster, Bishop T. Larry Kirkland, Sr., Bishop Adam J. Richardson, Jr., Bishop Vashti M. McKenzie, Bishop Gregory G.M. Ingram, Bishop Preston W. Williams, II, Bishop Julius H. McAllister, Sr., Bishop John F. White, Bishop Clement W. Fugh, Bishop E. Earl McCloud, Jr., Bishop Frank M. Reid, III.
Notable Figures in AME History
- Daniel Coker (1780-1846), born "Issac Wright" in Baltimore, Maryland to mixed-race parents. Famous preacher and abolitionist. Ordained deacon in the new...
- John M. Brown (1817-1893) bishop, leader in the Underground Railroad. He helped open a number of churches and schools, including the Payne Institute which became Allen University in Columbia, South Carolina and Paul Quinn College in Waco, Texas.
- Jamal Harrison Bryant (born 1971), founded Empowerment Temple (AME Church) in Baltimore in 2000 with a congregation of 43 people. Bishop William D.
