By Dr. Aaron Treadwell, 13th Episcopal District
The Deep Impact of AME Roots: Dr. Sidney McPhee’s Story
According to African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church scholar Sharon J. Grant, Allenite missionaries often sought avenues for inspiration and uplift in “foreign lands.” Some of these destinations in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries included “the West Indies (Haiti, St. Domingo, and St. Thomas, Danish, WI), the African missions of Liberia and Sierra Leone, and the Indian Territory in North America” (Rebaptism Calmly Considered, p. 109). For these Allenite missionaries, a legacy of social protest and social reform were tenants that were fervently incorporated into the mission field. When researching the work of AME missionaries in the West Indies, when elements of worship were syncretized, explicit components of the liturgy and faith remained universal, there was always a mandate for a social gospel.
In 1907, Bishop Benjamin T. Tanner sent the Rev. Richard Henry Dames on a charge to continue the social gospel tradition of AME worship abroad. Dames, a Bahamian-born minister, would soon plant a cornerstone for the Bethel AME Church in 1908. Thus, Savannah Sound, Eleuthera became the birth site of the Bahamian connection, but it would not be the last. In 1938, Mt. Sinai was established in the Nation’s capital, Nassau, and in 2021 there are eight Bahamian AME churches.
The impact of the Bahamian AME Church reaches far beyond membership and revenue to those that have liberated minds, bodies, and souls since their genesis. One of the persons greatly influenced by the Bahamian AME Church is the current President of Middle Tennessee State University, Dr. Sydney McPhee. President McPhee name is well-connected to the Allenite legacy, as one of the country’s largest churches is Cousin-McPhee Cathedral. However, McPhee’s relationship to this church goes far beyond namesake alone.
According to President McPhee, Cousin-McPhee Cathedral played a pivotal part in his life. “My uncle, the Rev. Freeman McPhee, was both a founder of this church and an inspiration in my life.” He recalls that “This church gave me the opportunity to lead the choir, and to cultivate a relationship with my lovely wife, Liz McPhee.” According to President McPhee, this congregation also gave him lessons of structure, leadership, and public speaking that helped foster a spirit of leadership and confidence. “Although I am not an AME member at the very moment, I will forever be indebted to the denomination for what it instilled into me,” the president argued.
The influence of the AME Church is universal, and when membership upholds the responsibilities of The Great Commission found in Matthew 28:16-20, there is no limitation to the doors that can be opened. From a Nassau choir to the president of a university, when AME churches minister to the social, spiritual, and physical development of all people,” greatness will ensue.
Dr. Aaron M. Treadwell is an ordained itinerant elder in the AME Church and is an assistant professor at the Middle Tennessee State University. He is on loan to the United Methodist Church and pastors Key Memorial UMC in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
