Though historically a black church and the first independent Protestant denomination to be founded by Black people,[6] the African Methodist Episcopal Church welcomes and has members of all ethnicities.
The AME Church was founded by Richard Allen (1760–1831) in 1816 when he called together five African American congregations of the previously established Methodist Episcopal Church with the hope of escaping the discrimination that was commonplace in society, including some churches.
It was among the first denominations in the United States to be founded for this reason (rather than for theological distinctions). Allen, a previously ordained deacon in the Methodist Episcopal Church, was elected by the gathered ministers and ordained as its first bishop in 1816 by the first General Conference of the five churches—extending from the three in the Philadelphia area in Pennsylvania to ones in Delaware and Baltimore, Maryland. The denomination then expanded west and through the South, particularly after the American Civil War (1861–1865). By 1906, the AME had a membership of about half a million, more than the combined predominantly black American denominations—the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church in America and the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, making it the largest major African-American denomination of the Methodist tradition.
AFRICAN
The word “African” means that the Church was organized by people of African descent and heritage. In 1816 the Church was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and although its members are predominantly of African descent, the doors of the A.M.E. Church are open to all people of all nations regardless or race, color, class or creed.
METHODIST
The Church’s roots are of the family of “Methodist” churches. Methodism provides an orderly system of rules and regulations and places emphasis on a plain and simple gospel.
EPISCOPAL
“Episcopal” refers to the form of government under which the Church operates. The chief executive and administrative officers of the A.M.E. denomination are the bishops of the Church.
The AME Church currently has 20 districts, each with its own bishop: 13 are based in the United States, mostly in the South, while seven are based in Africa. The global membership of the AME is around 2.5 million members, and it remains one of the largest Methodist denominations in the world.
With approximately 6,000 congregations and 2.5 million members in 41 countries on 5 continents (North & South America, Africa, Europe and Asia), the African Methodist Episcopal Church is a global denomination. The 5th Episcopal District encompasses 15 states in the U.S. west of the Mississippi (Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming), and is one of 20 Episcopal Districts worldwide. With hundreds of churches and thousands of members, the 5th Episcopal District of the A.M.E. Church is a vibrant connection of Christians who share a rich and deep history and heritage. With its roots running back to 1787, the A.M.E. Church is the first independent black denomination founded in the Western hemisphere.
The mission of the African Methodist Episcopal Church 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 the A.M.E. Church shall engage in carrying out the spirit of the original Free African Society, out of which the A.M.E. Church evolved; which is to bring souls to Christ and salvation, and serve the needy through a continuing program of:
- preaching the gospel
- feeding the hungry
- clothing the naked
- housing the homeless
- cheering the fallen
- providing jobs for the jobless
- administering to the needs of those in prisons, hospitals, nursing homes, asylums and mental institutions, senior citizens’ homes;
- caring for the sick, the shut-in, the mentally and socially disturbed, and encouraging thrift and economic advancement.