Formerly Enslaved Man Founds First AME Church After Walkout Protest
In a pivotal moment for American religious history, Richard Allen, a formerly enslaved man and Methodist preacher, founded the Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church in Philadelphia following a racially charged conflict at a predominantly white congregation. This establishment marks the first AME church in the nation and stands on the oldest parcel of land in the United States continuously owned by African Americans.
Allen, born into enslavement in 1760 to the household of Benjamin Chew, eventually purchased his freedom in 1780 for $2,000 after reaching an agreement with his owner. A devout Methodist, he began preaching at St. George’s Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia, where his sermons attracted a growing number of Black congregants. However, as the Black membership increased, racial tensions within the church escalated, leading the white leadership to enforce segregation policies.
The breaking point occurred during a Sunday service in late 1791 or 1792. Allen, along with associate Absalom Jones and other Black members, was directed to sit in a newly constructed gallery. As the service began, the group knelt in prayer in an area the white trustees deemed restricted. According to historical accounts, a trustee attempted to physically pull Jones off his knees, demanding he move immediately. Jones requested to finish his prayer, but the trustee refused. In response to this indignity, the entire group of Black worshippers stood up and walked out of the church in a unified act of protest, never to return.
While popular retellings often describe Allen as being “thrown out,” historians clarify that the event was a dignified, coordinated walkout initiated by the Black congregants themselves. Furthermore, while Allen and Jones were united in their departure from St. George’s, they later diverged in their denominational choices. Jones went on to found the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas, maintaining ties to the Episcopal hierarchy, whereas Allen remained committed to Methodist doctrine but sought total independence from white ecclesiastical control.
Following the walkout, Allen purchased a former blacksmith shop and relocated it to a plot of land at Sixth and Lombard Streets. This structure became the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, dedicated in 1794. In 1816, Allen united distinct Black Methodist congregations from the region to form the African Methodist Episcopal Church denomination, becoming its first bishop. Today, Mother Bethel AME Church remains a functioning congregation and a testament to Allen’s fight for religious autonomy and racial equality.
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