Ministry News

Churches Celebrate 250th Birthday, Observe Reconciliation Efforts

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Tuesday, 16 February 2010 13:55

It was more than two centuries ago that Richard Allen walked out of St. George United Methodist Church because he was not allowed to pray at the altar designated for "whites only." He later founded Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) church, and on Sunday, members from both churches marked the 250th anniversary of Allen's birth with a special worship service.

Blacks like Allen during slavery were segregated to the balcony for prayer and worship but on Feb. 14, congregants from St. George filed into Mother Bethel AME in Philadelphia, sat side-by-side and sang the words of the old spiritual, “Oh Happy Day.”

"Richard Allen understood the importance of being who he was, and staying connected to Jesus Christ," said Richard Franklin Norris Sr., a presiding bishop in AME. "There is no other foundation. That is Richard Allen's influence, and that influence still lives on."

Allen was born on a slave plantation in 1760. Though his parents and younger siblings were sold away, 20-year-old Allen purchased his freedom for $2,000 and went on to organize the Free African Society. He worked on the Underground Railroad and became an advocate for racial equality.

But Allen will be most remembered as the founding pastor of Mother Bethel AME Church, which later spawned the 3 million-member African Methodist Episcopal denomination, with some 6,200 churches around the world.

Amid testimonies, shouts of praise and noticeable pride, Mayor Michael Nutter told worshippers he was grateful for Allen's contributions to reconciliation "Bishop Allen believed God is God all the time, and God is God of everyone," he said.

The mayor thanked Allen for "walking out of church, so that I may walk into the mayor's office," Philly.com reported. "You secured my freedom, and the freedom of many others, when you secured your own. For that, we should all be grateful," he added.

Both congregations met in October for a special racial reconciliation service, and said Sunday's service is proof of the change occurring in people's hearts.

"It's like we've come full circle," Alice Menyweather, 65, told a reporter. "It's kind of choking to see where we've come from as a church. And now, we're together. It just gives me goose bumps."

Allen's descendants concluded the worship service by lighting the Bishop Allen Candle and placing a wreath on his tomb located on the church's property.

[philly.com, 2/15/10]