The Birth Of The AME Church
By Ron Pritsch 02/27/2003
When it comes to Black History Month and this region, one person stands out--the Rev. Richard Allen.
Born in Philadelphia to slave parents on Feb. 14, 1760, Allen spent part of his childhood on an estate in Germantown belonging to Benjamin Chew. At various times in his career, Chew served as Pennsylvania's attorney general and chief justice.
As a child, Allen may very well have seen John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Dr. Benjamin Rush, and George Washington, as well as other patriots, all stopped by the estate to pay Chew a visit. Though his time in Germantown may have exposed Allen to greatness, he didn't stay there long. While still young, Chew sold Allen, his parents, and three other children to a man named Stockley, who owned a farm near Dover. Some years later, Stockley sold Allen's mother and several of his brothers and sisters, but retained Allen for his farm. It was at this farm where Allen became increasingly interested in religion.
In 1777, during the second year of the Revolution, Allen, then 17, converted to Methodism, a comparatively new Protestant denomination that had sprung up around 1729. The faith, which stressed personal religious experience rather than formal membership in an institution, fit Allen's tastes perfectly.
Allen, possessing a winning personality, converted Stockley to Methodism. Stockley, possibly motivated by conscience, religion, and financial difficulties, made Allen and his brother an offer they couldn't refuse-freedom-- if they could earn a large sum of money. Freedom didn't come cheap. Working long and hard, Allen ultimately acquired his freedom in 1786.
At age 22, Allen was permitted to preach. In 1784, at the first general conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Baltimore, Allen was viewed as a serious and talented candidate for the new religion's ministry.
Allen developed quite a reputation as an itinerant preacher, and for six years of his life he traveled through Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, preaching to fellow African Americans and sometimes to racially mixed gatherings.
When, at the age of 26, he came to Philadelphia, his eloquent sermons drew many African Americans to St. George Methodist Episcopal Church. On occasion, Allen was asked to preach to its congregation, which he gladly did, and would often conduct prayer meetings.
It was an incident that took place in November 1787 at St. George that brought to Allen's mind the need to establish an African American Church. Allen, along with two other African Americans, William White and Absalom Jones, went to services when another minister was preaching.
The pews on the main floor where they generally sat were occupied, and a sexton pointed the three to the gallery where they arrived just as the elder announced, "Let us pray." Naturally, they knelt to pray. A church trustee began shouting at them, "You must get up... You must not kneel here."
When the elder had called for prayer, the three African Americans immediately stopped in their tracks, and momentarily took seats in the central pews that were reserved for whites. They had intended to make their way to the pews reserved for them along the walls as soon as the prayer was over. The trustee's harsh command had, understandably, startled Allen as well as Jones. "Wait until prayer is over," Allen pleaded, but the trustee, calling for assistance, proceeded to haul Jones up. The incident grew uglier still, and when the prayer ended, Allen and other African Americans, whose hard labor and money had helped provide the church's new gallery and furnishings, walked out of the church determined to establish one of their own.
Allen's next step was to organize the Free African Society. During the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793, Allen and Jones volunteered the services of society members to nurse the sick and bury the dead. Rush and Philadelphia Mayor Matthew Clarkson lauded the Society for its invaluable charitable work.
Allen's crowning achievement was the establishment of the African Methodist Church, which was popularly called "Bethel," in accordance with the prayer offered at the dedication by the Methodist Elder John Dickens, who proclaimed that the church "might be a bethel to the gathering in of souls."
he church, which came to be called Mother Bethel, is still at 419 S. Sixth St. in Philadelphia. The church provided schools in Philadelphia for African American children and adults and also offered sanctuary for runaway slaves.
These were only a few of many services aimed at assisting African Americans in both Philadelphia and the ever-expanding nation.
In 1816, 16 African American congregations organized the African Methodist Episcopal Church as the first national denomination of its kind and chose Allen as its first bishop. Allen died in Philadelphia on March 26, 1831.
It should also be noted that Allen was an ardent American patriot. As a slave, he had transported salt for Washington's army during the Revolution. Later, during the War of 1812, he helped recruit 2,500 African Americans who assisted in preparing the city's defenses at Gray's Ferry.
©CountyPressOnline.com 2003
But that's a story for another time.
Check out the church on 6th St. I did the last time I was back visiting family in Philly. The church's organ is one fine musical instrument.