district history

History of the AME Church

The African-Methodist Episcopal Church was formally organized in 1816. The church grew out of a congregation formed by a group of slaves and former slaves in the Philadelphia area, known as the Free African Society (FAS), led by Richard Allen, in 1787.

Richard Allen was born a slave to Benjamin Chew, Chief Justice of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania from 1774-1777. He was later sold to a Delaware farmer named Stokeley Sturgis, and it was at his keep that Richard Allen was converted to Methodism by Reverend Freeborn Garrettson, and joined the Methodist Society. He bought his freedom from slavery for $2,000 in 1780, after which he commenced traveling in 1783. Upon his return to Philadelphia, he joined the white congregation at St. Georges's Methodist Episcopal Church. He was licensed to preach in 1784 and did so regularly at services on Sunday mornings at 5am.

As the attendances of colored people at St. Georges's increased, the hostilities towards them increased as well. White leaders at St. George's viewed the new influx of black parishioners warily. Black members of the congregation were forced to sit toward the back of the church during prayers and were sometimes made to stand.

Recognizing that black congregants had special spiritual needs, and that the white congregants were growing uneasy with the burgeoning black population in the church, Allen approached the elder at St. George's and asked for his permission to establish a black church. However, the Elder denied his request. To counteract the "baleful influence" of St. Georges's, Allen and Absalom Jones came together to form the FAS on April 12, 1787. The Society, though not religiously affiliated, served much the same purpose as a church in the black community.

History of the First District

Coming Soon.