Our Black History: How Richard Allen’s Vision Lives on Through Our Church

By Tra’Nyce Jones, Connectional YPD Communications Secretary

Junior at Kennesaw State University

Major: Biology

It is easy to look around and see how our AME Church has grown and thrived in recent years, but what about the history and journey that brought our church to this point? The African Methodist Church is filled with so much rich history and is deeply rooted in struggle, resilience, and faith. Our story begins with Richard Allen, a young man born into slavery. 

Richard Allen was born on the 14th of this month in 1760. He was initially enslaved to Benjamin Chew but later purchased his freedom from Stokely Sturgis, obtaining his freedom at 23 years old. Allen’s owner, a member of the Methodist church, allowed his slaves to attend the Methodist church services. This sparked Allen’s interest in church, so he began evangelizing to other enslaved people. Richard Allen’s involvement with the Methodist church continued when he became a preacher at St. George’s Methodist Episcopal Church. He was only allowed to preach sermons to segregated crowds. Richard Allen’s breaking point was when he and his friend Absalom Jones, also formerly enslaved, were dragged from their knees during prayer in a whites-only section of St. George’s. A time that is so sacred with God was interrupted by prejudice. They realized that there was segregation and prejudice even in the house of God, and it was not going to change anytime soon. This unfair treatment and the segregation of Black people led to Allen leading himself and others to leave St. George’s. This was a catalyst for him to become a preacher with a profound vision: a church led by and for African Americans. With Allen’s vision, our church would become a beacon of hope against dehumanizing acts of slavery, segregation, and oppression.

In 1787, Allen and Jones created the Free African Society with various black community leaders in Philadelphia. This organization provided aid to freemen, fellowship, and a place of worship, as well as strengthened and built up community leaders. When the meetings and services began to mimic those of Quakers, Allen decided that he needed to leave to keep the Methodist values. In response, he decided to establish a separate African Methodist church.

 In 1794, Allen was determined to establish a Methodist church, so he met with a group of Black Methodists to discuss his plan. His plan resulted in him purchasing and renovating a building that became Bethel AME Church. On April 9, 1816, at Bethel Church, Allen organized a conference with members from African Methodist churches from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and New Jersey. It was there that Allen decided the time had come for these churches to band together, resulting in Bethel Church becoming Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church and the birth of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. At that meeting, they adopted the Episcopal form of church government, where they would be under the authority of bishops within the church. At that meeting, Allen was elected the first Bishop of the AME Church. 

One of the collaborators in the founding of Mother Bethel was the Rev. Morris Brown, a member of Charleston’s Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. Due to racial discrimination, the Rev. Brown decided to leave the church and form the African Methodist Episcopal Church of Charleston, which was later renamed Emanuel AME Church. During the Reconstruction Era, after the Civil War, more AME churches began opening throughout the South, providing safe spaces for Black people to gather, worship, and organize a way to freedom. The Emanuel AME Church was the first one in the South.

Our African Methodist Episcopal Church stands as a cornerstone of Black history in America. From its humble beginnings in the vision of a formerly enslaved young man to now its global presence today from districts 1-20, the AME Church has been such a catalyst for social change and a pillar of strength for African Americans. As we know, the legacy of the AME Church did not stop in the 1800s; it continues to thrive today. The AME Church is still prospering, flourishing, and embracing what unites us, our Savior, and our Black AME History. Richard Allen’s leadership and vision for the AME Church became the basis for our church, which is more than a place of worship; it is a body rooted in ideals that reflect social change and civil rights. 

Tra’Nyce Jones is the Connectional YPD Communications Secretary. She is a Junior at Kennesaw State University majoring in biology.