In 1787, a church sprung forth out of a difficult situation. Free blacks, colloquially known by whites as “Africans,” sought to worship with their white counterparts.
A young, 27-year-old black man led a group of discouraged black members to form a new congregation. That young man’s name was Richard Allen.
In the midst of a “Christian” church, some of the members of the St. George Methodist Episcopal Church did not treat the “Africans” as their Christian brothers. Instead, they subjected them to humiliation and indignities as the black congregants tried to worship God. Racial discrimination and disparity ran rampant in the church and went unchallenged by the church’s leadership.
Blacks were relegated to the “gallery.” When Allen, Absalom Jones and prominent black church member William White knelt to pray elsewhere, they were physically removed and advised to pray in the “designated” areas for blacks.
Jones protested this indignity and uttered these now prophetic words: “Wait until the prayer is over, and I will get up and trouble you no more.”
These blacks would later on form the African Free Society to protest segregation in the church and other inequities. Absalom Jones would become one of the primary leaders in the Free African Society.
Allen was born a slave to Benjamin Chew of Philadelphia on February 14, 1760. His parents and four children were sold into slavery in Delaware, leaving him with his brother.
After becoming a Christian, Allen and his brother attended classes with the Methodist Society, which taught in the style of the Methodist church. Many whites complained that slaves learning religion would make them bad servants. Therefore, Allen and his brother worked hard to complete all of their field work, so that no one could call them lazy.
Allen’s master allowed them to hold meetings at his house, and he converted to Christianity as well. After his conversion, Allen’s master felt that it was wrong to own slaves and allowed Allen and his brother to purchase their freedom for $2,000 in continental money. Allen purchased their freedom in 1783.
An extremely practical man, Allen felt that Methodism, with its emphasis on the simple and plain gospel, would appeal to the most unlearned of blacks. Allen also felt that the separation from the white church was necessary for blacks to have opportunities for self-expression and fuller involvement in their worship and in society in general.
To ensure that spiritual development would flourish among members, Allen felt the need to supplement worship with education. Allen organized night school classes, which emphasized the church’s philosophy of self-help, a tradition that continues to flourish in the African Methodist Episcopal church today.
Many blacks who started the A.M.E. Church were poor and illiterate. Under Allen’s leadership, the group was able to purchase an old blacksmith shop in Philadelphia. In 1791, this building was known as the Blacksmith Shop Meeting House. Several small pews and a crude pulpit, which have been preserved in a museum to this day, were fashioned to facilitate the services.
Allen then moved the church to the corner of Sixth and Lombard streets in Philadelphia. This church became Bethel A.M.E. Church, which is also called “Mother” Bethel. In 1816, Allen was ordained as the A.M.E.’s first bishop.
The enduring symbol of the A.M.E. Church is the anvil, prominently displayed on its banner. It signifies the strength and dignity forged in the church that was formed in a blacksmith shop, but was relentless in its pursuit for freedom at all levels of human existence.
