The Genesis of the Black Church:
Mother Bethel AME, Phila PA
Mother Bethel is the first church of the African Methodist Episcopal denomination. The church was founded by Richard Allen in 1794 and became one the first independent black congregations in America. Bishop Allen began the church out of protest of African-Americans being relegated to a colored section of the white church. He later sued the Pennsylvania courts for the right to have a congregation separate from the white St. George's Methodist congregation. Mother Bethel is built on the oldest piece of land to be continuously owned by African-Americans in the country.
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