The African Methodist Episcopal Church, often abbreviated as the AME Church, is a predominantly African American denomination of Methodist Christianity in the United States. It was founded by the Rev. Richard Allen and others in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1816 as the first independent Protestant denomination founded by black people in North America.
The AME Church arose out of the Free African Society, which Allen, Absalom Jones, and other free black men established in Philadelphia in 1787. The church was a response to racial discrimination and segregation that blacks faced in the Methodist Episcopal Church. They were restricted to galleries and could not pray at the altar with whites. Black men were ordained as ministers, but they could not lead congregations that included white members. In addition, blacks were made to sit in segregated seating during worship services.
The Free African Society provided fellowship for the few free blacks in the city. Allen, Jones and others increasingly felt limited by the rules imposed upon them by the white church leaders. They decided to leave St. George’s Methodist Church to establish the Free African Society in 1787. The group founded the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1793. They adopted the doctrines and form of government of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In general the theology of the church can be described as orthodox, Arminian, and firmly rooted in the theology of John Wesley.
The African Methodist Episcopal denomination was officially formed in 1816, when several black Methodist congregations in the mid-Atlantic area came together under the leadership of Rev. Richard Allen. He was elected the first bishop of the AME Church. The church grew rapidly with Allen consecrating new bishops namely, Morris Brown (1822), Edward Waters (1825), and A.W. Wayman(1827), for the newly formed dioceses. The church became active in the abolitionist movement and consequently the Underground Railroad.
The AME Church operates under an episcopal form of church government. This means it is governed by bishops rather than elders. The denomination leaders are bishops of the church. Episcopal governance is hierarchical in structure with bishops supervising regional networks of churches known as Annual Conferences. The denomination allows ordination of women as ordained ministers. Two of the early bishops of the church were women—Sarah Ann Hughes who served briefly as the denomination’s fourth bishop and Sarah Ann Gill who served in the 1870s and early 1880s as its eleventh bishop.
As of 2021, the AME Church claims approximately 2.5 million members worldwide, with 7,000 ministers, and 11,000 congregations. Since 2000, the AME Church has added 582,000 members, opened 1,567 new churches, and added 1,891 ministers. During that same time period, the church has spent over $319 million to educate its children, young adults, and adults.
The motto of the AME Church is: “God Our Father, Christ Our Redeemer, Man Our Brother.” Their mission statement is: “To minister to the spiritual, intellectual, physical, emotional, and environmental needs of all people by spreading Christ’s liberating gospel through word and deed.” At every level of the Connection and in every local church, the African Methodist Episcopal Church shall engage in carrying out the spirit of the original Free African Society, out of which the AME Church evolved: that is, to seek out and save the lost, and serve the needy.
The Bible verse that undergirds the mission is Matthew 25:35-40. Here Jesus declares that we must feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick, befriend the imprisoned, and welcome the stranger. In fact, he states that in so much as we minister to the least of these, we do it unto him. This passage is at the heart of the AME Church’s mission.
The AME Church is a member of the National Council of Churches of Christ and the World Methodist Council. The church upholds the doctrines of apostolic succession and episcopal governance of ordained deacons and elders. In summary, the key doctrines and principles of faith that AME members uphold are:
- The Trinity – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
- The Virgin Birth and Divinity of Jesus Christ
- The Vicarious Atonement of Jesus Christ
- The Resurrection of Jesus Christ
- The Second Coming of Jesus Christ
- Divine Inspiration of the Scriptures
- The New Birth Through Christ
- Respect for Human Life
- The Church as a Fellowship of Believers
- Importance of Evangelism and Missions
In terms of church governance, the AME Church has an episcopal form of church government. The denomination is led by bishops who are elected and consecrated by other bishops. Local churches are pastored by ordained elders appointed by a bishop. There are bishops over Annual Conferences which are collections of local churches in a geographical area.
The General Conference is the supreme body of the AME Church and is composed of the Bishops, ex-officio presidents, according to the rank of election, and an equal number of ministerial and lay delegates, each elected by each of the Annual Conferences and the electoral colleges of the Annual Conferences. Other major judicatory bodies are the Council of Bishops and Judicial Council (Supreme Court).
The AME Church is divided into 20 Episcopal Districts, each headed by an active Bishop, as assigned by the General Conference. Each Episcopal District has an Annual Conference and contains local churches clustered by towns, cities and rural communities. The Annual Conference is the administrative unit and governance body within the Episcopal District that serves the needs of local churches under its jurisdiction.
The chief executive and administrative officers of the Episcopal District are the Presiding Elder and Episcopal Supervisor who are appointed by the Bishop. Local churches are pastored by ordained ministers who are appointed by the Bishop. Elders are assisted by stewards, trustees, and other leaders elected by the local congregations.
With its beginnings in Philadelphia, the AME Church is particularly strong in the current mid-Atlantic, Southern and some areas of the Midwest regions of the United States, especially Baltimore, Maryland; Washington, D.C.; and Cincinnati, Ohio. The national headquarters is located in Washington, D.C. In recent years the AME Church has experienced significant growth on the continent of Africa, where it has a partnership with the Methodist Church Ghana.
The AME Church has been one of the forerunners of education within the African American community. For decades, the AME Church operated thousands of schools. That tradition continues through Wilberforce University, Allen University, Morris Brown College, Paul Quinn College, and several community colleges, junior colleges, seminary extension schools, and various centers of education owned and operated by its congregations.
The church has a long history of political activism, with prominent abolitionist bishop Richard Allen, the founder and first bishop of the AME church. The AME Church is a member of the National Coalition of Black Church Women. The AME Church has condemned North Carolina’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage and civil unions. In October 2008, at its convention in St. Louis, the denomination included lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals in its nondiscrimination policy.
The AME motto, “God Our Father, Christ Our Redeemer, Holy Spirit Our Comforter, Humankind Our Family”, reflects the basic beliefs of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. The Church maintains a long tradition of ordaining women and men based upon their gifts and call from God. The roots of the AME Church go back to 1787 when Richard Allen, then a slave, was pulled off his knees while praying at St. George’s Methodist Church in Philadelphia. That was the last straw for Allen. In 1787 he left to help form the Free African Society with Absalom Jones. Over time, they recognized the need for a black church to give their people a voice. Richard Allen founded the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the first African American denomination in the western world.
Today, the African Methodist Episcopal Church celebrates the rich heritage of spirituality and justice embodied by Allen, its founder and first bishop. Whatever the challenge, the AME Church is still at the forefront of meeting the spiritual, intellectual and social needs of our time. At every level of the Connection and in every local church, the African Methodist Episcopal Church shall engage in carrying out the spirit of the original Free African Society, which culminated in the organizing of the African Methodist Episcopal Church: to seek out and save the lost and to serve the needy.
The key aspects that define the AME Church are:
- A predominantly African-American denomination.
- Formed in 1816 due to racial discrimination within the broader Methodist church.
- Based on Wesleyan doctrine with an episcopal system of church governance.
- Leadership includes Bishops, Elders, Ministers, and Stewards.
- Divided into Annual Conferences headed by Bishops.
- headquarters in Washington, D.C.
- Has over 2.5 million members globally.
- Operates schools and promotes education.
- Advocates for social justice and equality.
- Ordains both women and men.
In summary, the AME church has a long and pioneering history among African-American Christians in America. It split from the Methodist church to form an independent denomination that addressed issues of racism and injustice. The church upholds Wesleyan theology and is active in education, ministry, and advocacy for social change. It continues to be an influential force among black churches in America today.