THE FIRST AME CHURCH

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The African Methodist Episcopal Church (AMEC) grew out of the Free African Society (FAS) which, Richard Allen, Absalom Jones, and others established in Philadelphia in 1787. When officials at St. George’s AMEC pulled blacks off their knees while praying, FAS members discovered just how far American Methodists would go to enforce racial discrimination against African Americans. Hence, these members of St. George’s made plans to transform their mutual aid society into an African congregation. Although most wanted to affiliate with the Protestant Episcopal Church, Allen led a small group who resolved to remain Methodists. In 1794 Bethel AME was dedicated, with Richard Allen as pastor. To establish Bethel’s independence from interfering white Methodists, Allen, a former Delaware slave, successfully sued the Pennsylvania courts in 1807 and 1815 for his congregation's right to exist as an independent institution. Because Black Methodists in other middle Atlantic communities encountered racism and desired religious autonomy, Allen called them to meet in Philadelphia to form a new Wesleyan denomination, the AME.