The African Methodist Episcopal Church is the oldest independent Black denomination in the United States, established in Philadelphia in 1816 by Reverend Richard Allen. Formed in response to racial discrimination in white-dominated congregations, it unites historic Wesleyan theology and episcopal governance with a long commitment to civil rights and community empowerment.
History of the African Methodist Episcopal Church: The St. George's walkout
The origins of the African Methodist Episcopal Church are rooted in late eighteenth-century Philadelphia. Richard Allen, born into enslavement in Delaware in 1760, purchased his freedom after his owner was converted by an itinerant Methodist preacher. In 1786, Allen arrived in Philadelphia and began preaching regularly at St. George's Methodist Episcopal Church, leading services early in the morning for growing crowds of African Americans.
In 1787, Allen and fellow preacher Absalom Jones established the Free African Society, a non-denominational mutual aid society devoted to supporting widows, orphans, and newly emancipated Black citizens. During the devastating 1793 Philadelphia yellow fever epidemic, when municipal leaders fled the city, Dr. Benjamin Rush appealed to Allen and Jones for aid. Free Black citizens responded heroically, serving as nurses, carting supplies, and burying hundreds of victims at tremendous personal sacrifice.
Despite their community standing, Black members at St. George's faced intensifying racial hostility as their numbers grew. Church leaders relegated African American members to an upstairs gallery. On a Sunday in November 1787, while Black members were kneeling in prayer in the newly constructed gallery, white church trustees attempted to pull them to their feet, demanding that they relocate to the back rows. Rather than endure public humiliation, Allen, Jones, and their fellow worshippers rose from their knees and walked out of the sanctuary in unison, a decisive turning point in the history of the Black Church.
Mother Bethel and the founding of the denomination in 1816
Following the walkout, Richard Allen was determined to build an autonomous congregation where African Americans could worship in dignity while holding property in their own name. In 1794, Allen acquired a blacksmith shop, moved it to the corner of Sixth and Lombard Streets in Philadelphia, and dedicated it as Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church. Bishop Francis Asbury of the Methodist Episcopal Church officiated at the dedication, recognizing the congregation within the wider history of the Methodist Church.
However, over the next two decades, white Methodist elders continuously attempted to control Bethel's pulpit, appoint presiding pastors, and seize legal ownership of church real estate. Allen resisted these incursions through prolonged litigation. On January 1, 1816, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania issued a landmark ruling in Commonwealth v. Green, affirming that the congregation held full title to its property and complete autonomy over its pulpit.
With their independence legally secured, Allen convened a general convention in Philadelphia in April 1816. Delegates gathered from African American Methodist congregations in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland. On April 9, 1816, they voted unanimously to unite into an autonomous national denomination: the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Richard Allen was consecrated as its first bishop on April 11, 1816, by Absalom Jones and fellow clergy, establishing Mother Bethel as the mother church of the connection.
Civil War expansion and the drive for higher education
Prior to the Civil War, the AME Church was largely confined to northern states and border cities because southern slaveholding states banned autonomous Black assemblies. Following the Emancipation Proclamation and Union victory in 1865, AME leaders sent hundreds of preachers southward to evangelize and organize freed men and women.
Led by missionary pastors and bishops like Daniel Alexander Payne, the AME Church expanded rapidly across the South, growing from roughly 20,000 members in 1860 to more than 400,000 by 1890. Crucially, the denomination placed central emphasis on education as the key to racial uplift, literacy, and economic independence:
- Wilberforce University: Founded in Ohio in 1856, Wilberforce was purchased by the AME Church in 1863 under Bishop Payne, becoming the first private, Black-owned and operated institution of higher learning in the United States.
- Other AME Institutions: The church subsequently established Paul Quinn College in Texas (1872), Allen University in South Carolina (1870), Morris Brown College in Atlanta (1881), and Edward Waters University in Florida (1866).
These colleges educated thousands of teachers, lawyers, doctors, and civic leaders who spearheaded community progress throughout the twentieth century.
Mother Emanuel in Charleston: Resilience and prophetic witness
Among the most historic and revered congregations in the denomination is Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, known as "Mother Emanuel." Founded in 1816 by Reverend Morris Brown, the church quickly grew into a spiritual sanctuary for free and enslaved Charlestonians.
In 1822, church co-founder Denmark Vesey organized what would have been the largest slave uprising in American history. When the plot was betrayed before it began, colonial authorities executed Vesey and thirty-four co-conspirators and burned the church building to the ground. In 1834, the state of South Carolina outlawed all all-Black churches, forcing the congregation to meet in secret underground meetings until the conclusion of the Civil War in 1865, when members reorganized and erected their current historic sanctuary on Calhoun Street.
Tragedy struck Mother Emanuel again on June 17, 2015, when a white supremacist entered a Wednesday evening Bible study, sat with the members for nearly an hour, and murdered senior pastor and South Carolina state senator Reverend Clementa C. Pinckney along with eight faithful church members. In the days following the massacre, the families of the victims moved the nation by offering public Christian forgiveness at the shooter's bond hearing, bearing heroic witness to Christ's grace and spurring the removal of Confederate flags from state capitol grounds.
Core AME Church beliefs and worship
Theologically, the AME Church is rooted in orthodox Wesleyan doctrine. Its official confession consists of twenty-five Articles of Religion adapted directly from the Anglican Thirty-Nine Articles by John Wesley. Core teachings include:
- The Wesleyan Triad of Grace: Prevenient grace surrounding all human beings, justifying grace received through personal faith in Jesus Christ, and sanctifying grace leading believers toward continuous personal holiness.
- Sacraments: The church observes two sacraments instituted by Christ: Baptism (celebrated by sprinkling, pouring, or immersion for infants and adults) and the Lord's Supper (an open table welcoming all repentant believers).
- The Apostles' Creed: Recited corporately in every Sunday morning worship service as a public declaration of apostolic Christian orthodoxy.
- Connectional Episcopacy: The denomination is governed by a College of Bishops who assign pastors to local charges through regional annual conferences.
The global connection is structured into twenty episcopal districts, each presided over by an active bishop elected by the General Conference. Bishops supervise annual conferences, ordain qualified clergy, and appoint presiding elders to oversee district clusters. Every four years, the General Conference gathers as the supreme legislative and judicial assembly of the church, bringing together clerical and lay delegates from across North America, the Caribbean, Africa, and Europe to deliberate on ecclesiastical law, adopt resolutions on social concerns, and revise the official AME Book of Discipline.
To review these foundational doctrines in detail, read our guide on what Methodists believe, and see our profile on the founder's theology in John Wesley and Methodism.
Comparing Black Methodist bodies: AME, AME Zion, and CME
The AME Church is one of three historic, major African American Methodist denominations in the United States. While they share identical Wesleyan doctrine and connectional episcopal governance, their historical origins differ:
- African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME): Founded in Philadelphia in 1816 under Richard Allen; historically strongest in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio, Georgia, and Florida, with roughly 2.5 million members globally.
- African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church (AME Zion): Formed in New York City in 1796 and formally organized in 1821 under James Varick. Known historically as the "Freedom Church," its members included Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, and Sojourner Truth. Today, the AME Zion Church claims roughly 1.4 million members worldwide.
- Christian Methodist Episcopal Church (CME): Founded in Jackson, Tennessee, in 1870 by formerly enslaved Methodists with the peaceful cooperation of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, representing approximately 800,000 members.
Unlike the theological disputes that triggered the recent United Methodist Church split, these three historic Black Methodist bodies have worked in close harmony for generations, frequently discussing structural unification and joint missionary initiatives.
Visiting an AME church today
Today, the AME Church operates twenty episcopal districts spanning thirty-nine countries on five continents. In the United States, congregations are active in every state, anchored by deep historical roots in Mid-Atlantic and Southern communities; explore regional numbers in our report on Methodist churches by state.
Sunday worship in an AME congregation seamlessly weaves historic Anglican liturgy including formal pastoral robes, litanies, and choral anthems with expressive African American gospel praise, Hammond organ accompaniment, and passionate prophetic preaching. Guests of all backgrounds are received with genuine warmth. If you plan to attend a service, review our helpful guide on what to expect at church, or locate nearby congregations through our nationwide directory of Methodist churches.