African Methodist Episcopal Church

Picture this.

Philadelphia, 1787. A Black man and former slave who later became a Methodist preacher named Richard Allen is kneeling in prayer at St. George’s Methodist Episcopal Church. In the middle of that prayer, a trustee taps him on the shoulder and tells him he’s in the wrong pew. He needs to move to the segregated gallery. Now. Before he even finishes praying.

When he refused to interrupt his prayer, he was physically pulled off his knees. Allen got up. And he never sat down in that pew again. What could have been the end of a painful story became the beginning of the Free African Society, a mutual-aid organization that cared for the physical and spiritual needs of Philadelphia’s Black community.

A few decades later, in 1816, Allen brought together several independent Black Methodist congregations to form what became the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), the first fully independent Black denomination in American history.

Today, the AME Church has more than 2.7 million members and roughly 7,130 congregations across the United States, Canada, the UK, the Caribbean, and Africa, spanning 20 episcopal districts, 13 in the United States and 7 across the African continent. It’s one of the founding member churches of the World Methodist Council, and it’s never let go of the mission Allen started with: preaching the gospel and ministering to the social, spiritual, and physical development of all people.

We’re praying for the AME Church this week. Not just because they have a rich history (though they do). Not just because of the size of their reach (though that’s remarkable too). But because their story is a reminder that even in the midst of injustice, God can use people who are willing and surrendered to His purpose.

World Methodist Evangelism has a longstanding relationship with the African Methodist Episcopal Church. We are grateful for Bishop Erica D. Crawford – Presiding Prelate of the Eighth Episcopal District of the AME Church – who serves on the WME Board of Directors; for Rev. Dr. Marcellus Norris – Executive Director of the Department of Church Growth and Development of the AME Church – who is part of our FLAME community, and has taught with our team in the United States and Cuba; and for Rev. Dr. Bianca Canley-Mays – Director of Communications for the Office of the Treasurer of the AME Church – who we are privileged to have as part of our team as well.