Founders

The A.M.E. Church credits four men as being instrumental to their foundation: Richard Allen, William Paul Quinn, Daniel A. Payne, and Henry M. Turner. A group of black Methodists founded their own church, called Bethel. Despite this, the church was still considered part of the Methodist church for quite sometime.

Richard Allen

The shift began in 1799 when a Methodist bishop ordained Richard Allen to be the minister of the church. Rev. Allen sued the state of Pennsylvania twice in the early 1800s to liberate Bethel from the authority of the white Methodist church. The success of his suit in 1815 is what lead to the eventual formation of the A.M.E. church. Rev. Allen became Bishop Allen of the A.M.E. Church and was consecrated as such by the same man who ordained him.[1][2]

William Paul Quinn

William Quinn served as the fourth Bishop of the A.M.E. church and is known for establishing churches in the midwest before the civil war. Like the other founders, he was involved in the abolitionist movement and had ties to the Underground Railroad. However, unlike the other founders, Bishop Quinn was from India. His journey in Christianity started with the Quakers, whom he joined in 1806. He became a Methodist only 2 years later and was ordained a minister in 1812. Bishop Quinn helped found the A.M.E. church in 1816. His role was spreading the church in slave states such as Missouri and Kentucky through his work with the Underground Railroad. In 1872, an A.M.E. Church in Texas founded Paul Quinn College, honoring him in the name.[7][8]

Daniel A. Payne

Daniel Payne also served as bishop for the church 1853 and was also president of Wilberforce University—the first private historically black university in the U.S., which was founded by the A.M.E. Church in 1856. His appointment as president of the university made him the first black president of a university in the U.S. Born in Charleston, SC in 1811 as a free black man, he learned several trades and by the age of 18 had opened a school for black children. Unfortunately his school was shut down due to discriminatory legislation, which forced him North. After completing seminary through the Lutheran Church, Bishop Payne became either the first or second—sources conflict—black minister to be ordained by the Lutheran Church in 1839. By 1841, however he had become A.M.E. and was involved with their fight to help free fugitive slaves. Rev. Payne wrote the first history of the A.M.E. church during his time as historian. Bishop Payne led the push to convert newly freed black people in the South to the A.M.E. church during the civil war which greatly expanded the church.[3][4][5][6]

Henry M. Turner

Henry M. Turner is credited with taking the A.M.E Church international. His ministry introduced the church to Liberia, Sierra Leone, and South Africa.

Beliefs

The core beliefs of the A.M.E. Church are closely aligned with that of the Methodist Church since the split was not doctrinal but racial. The A.M.E. Church holds to the Apostles’ Creed and the 25 Articles of Faith.

Apostles’ Creed

Belief Statement

In general, the Apostles’ Creed proclaims basic beliefs in Christianity, including God the Father and Jesus as the son of God. Here it is explicitly noted that Jesus was born of a virgin, was crucified, died and rose from the dead on the third day. The first section of the creed focuses on how Jesus came to be (re: conceived by the Holy Spirit—alluding to His position as God), what He did (re: suffer, die, rise from the dead), and what He is doing now (re: sitting at the right hand of God preparing for judgment). The second part is a summary of beliefs not necessarily covered in the first part. These include belief in the Holy Spirit, a universal church, communion of the saints, forgiveness of sins, resurrection for our human bodies, and enteral life.

Personally, I find it interesting that the Holy spirit is mentioned separate form God and Jesus. To me it would make more sense to say “I believe in God the Father … and in the Holy Spirt, and in Jesus Christ the Father’s only Son…” at which point you would be mentioning belief in all persons of the Godhead at the same time. Since the churches who believe in the Apostles’ Creed tend to be Trinitarian churches, I would think that would have been their line of thinking.

Another interesting point I find in the Apostles’ Creed is calling out Mary and Pontius Pilate by name. Mary is clearly mentioned to affirm belief in the virgin birth but Catholicism has an interesting view of Mary that I think is subtly highlighted in the Apostles’ Creed. Since their belief is not explicitly stated Protestant churches using the Apostles’ Creed likely left the wording and capitalization as is. Mentioning Pontius Pilate by name, though, makes me scratch my head. Why is it necessary to point out Pilate by name? Moreover, Pilate knew Messiah was innocent and was willing to let Him go, it was actually His own people that called for His death (Matthew 27).

Differences Between the Original

The Apostles’ Creed I found on the A.M.E. website differs from the original Catholic statement.[9][10] The A.M.E. version seems to be a mix of the traditional (re: Catholic) and ecumenical versions listed on the United Methodist website.[11] It is self explanatory that they would change the statement of belief from being in the “holy catholic Church” to “the Church Universal” since both the United Methodist Church and the A.M.E. Church are protestant denominations that see themselves separate from the Catholic church. Of course it is worth nothing that catholic means universal so in a way they are still saying the same thing. The larger difference is in where Jesus was during his death. According to the Catholic church He went to hell—the A.M.E. church leaves out this part. This likely reflects a difference of beliefs tied in to what happened during Jesus’ period of death, the concept of hell, and the afterlife in general.

25 Articles of Faith

All 25 points are listed on their website,[9] so I will not go over the ones that are “universal” among Christians. Rather, I will highlight the ones that are contested in other denominations or vary in terms of specifics. (I have listed the number of the corresponding statement at the beginning of each point below.)

• 1️⃣ The first statement of belief is in the Trinity, which is popular in Christianity but is not universal. It is common for Trinitarian churches to believe non-Trinitarian churches are not Christian, however the Bible does not explicitly confirm (or deny) the Trinity. I touched on this in The Trinity Doctrine.
• 5️⃣ Another statement of belief that is popular, but not universal, is their declaration of which books they consider canon scripture. The A.M.E. Church believes in the standard 66 books of the Bible most Protestant churches cite as canon. There is no specific statement on their view of the Apocrypha, but we can see that they do not consider it to be canon.
• 6️⃣ The A.M.E. Church separates the law of Moses in to rites, ceremonies, and moral law, stating that Christians are not bound to the rites or ceremonies (presumably things like Passover, sacrifice, and circumcision) but are bound to the moral law, described as the commandments. There is no specification however of what exactly falls under commandment versus rite or ceremony—the A.M.E. Church does not keep the Biblical Sabbath and in my experience does not treat Sunday with the same “solemnness” as the Bible describes Sabbath, despite this being part of the 10 Commandments. Presumably they are counting Sabbath among the ceremonial law.
• This seems like a topic I should do a post on…
  7️⃣ The concept of “Original Sin” is vaguely present in most denominations though many don’t use this phrasing and there are slight nuances in how a Protestant would describe this versus a Catholic. In the early days of the faith, there was a dispute between Augustine and Pelagius on the origin of sin. Augustine argued that we inherited sin from Adam, while Pelagius argued that we cannot/do not inherit sin from other people.[12] The phrasing used by the A.M.E. Church actually confuses me on what they believe. Their statement is: “Original sin standeth not in the following of Adam (as the Pelagians do vainly talk) but it is the corruption of the nature of every man, that naturally is engendered of the offspring of Adam, whereby man is very far gone from original righteousness, and of his own nature inclined to evil, and that continually.” It sounds like they are agreeing with Pelagius that sin isn’t inherited from Adam, however they say the Pelagians “vainly talk” which implies they don’t align with Pelagius… It’s worded funny, but in my experience the A.M.E. Church believes humans are born with a sinful nature that goes back to Adam’s sin in The Garden, however we are not responsible for Adam’s sin—meaning God is not going to punish me for what Adam chose to do.
• 8️⃣ Free will is a bit of a hot topic in Christianity. The A.M.E. Church says “we have no power to do good works, pleasant and acceptable to God, without the grace of God.” My assumption is that they are saying we have the freedom to choose to surrender to God or not, but we cannot choose to do good. That’s what the statement sounds like to me, and unfortunately I have no memory of A.M.E. sermons on the topic to draw from.
• 1️⃣1️⃣ Supererogation is a term I had never heard of prior to reading the beliefs of the A.M.E. Church. It is defined as doing more than is asked for or required—above and beyond the call of duty, if you will. Research lead me to an article that suggests this concept was used by the Catholic Church to write off certain actions as preferences of God but not required of believers. The A.M.E. Church rejects this belief (though I might argue they—along with most Protestant churches—hold this belief subconsciously in how they interpret scripture and what is or isn’t relevant to believers today).
• 1️⃣4️⃣ The A.M.E. Church rejects the concept of Purgatory.
• 1️⃣5️⃣ The A.M.E. Church specifically calls out the need for public worship to be done in the language of the people. This is mainly in opposition to the Catholic practice of keeping the Bible and service in Latin regardless of the language of the congregation. I think this statement is common across Protestants but I point it out for historical context as well as in opposition to Churches that lean heavy on the practice of “tongues.”
• 1️⃣7️⃣ The A.M.E. Church specifically says they baptize “young children.” I, having been “christened” in an A.M.E. Church as an infant, would say they believe in baptizing babies. Some may argue a difference between “christening” and “baptism,” however my Methodist and A.M.E. family members saw me as baptized due to the ceremony. There are several churches who practice infant baptism and several churches who reject infant baptism. I believe that baptism is a choice that has to be made by the person going under the water and thus do not believe in infant baptism (though can see an arguement for baby dedications based on scriptures such as 1 Samuel 1, where babies are promised to God's service).
• 1️⃣8️⃣ Transubstantiation is a Catholic belief that the bread and wine of communion are transformed into the actual body and blood of Christ. The A.M.E. Church rejects this belief and states that communion is spiritual and by faith, not to be worshipped.
• 2️⃣1️⃣ The A.M.E. Church permits pastors to marry—this is common in most Protestant denominations, but I point it out as there are a few denominations outside of Catholicism who also forbid clergy from marrying.
• 2️⃣3️⃣ The A.M.E. Church actually makes a statement on the position of the United States—I’ve never seen a church discuss government in its statement of belief. The statement basically proclaims a right to the authority of the constitution and declares members of the church are to respect the powers that be. There is a part that says “all just governments,” implying room to go against the government if it is not just, though that is not explicitly mentioned.
• 2️⃣5️⃣ Some denominations refuse oaths; the A.M.E. Church states that swearing such as when on trial and required to do so for the bringing out of justice is permissible. They reject “vain” or “rash” swearing.

Sons of Allen

The Sons of Allen is a group within the A.M.E. Church meant to connect men and help grow and faciliate their relationship with God. They were created specifically to tackle a wide range of issues that effect black men in the United States.[18] While the A.M.E. Church is predominately black, anyone can join, so I would assume there are non-black men who participate in this group as well (I have not seen anything to confirm or deny this assumption).

A.M.E. Zion

There is also an A.M.E. Zion Church, a separate denomination from the A.M.E. Church. Both denominations have roots in the split of black believers from the Methodist Church in the late 1700s. The A.M.E. Church was founded by members in Philadelphia while the A.M.E. Zion Church was founded in New York City. The founders of the A.M.E. Zion Church were James Varick, Abraham Thompson, June Scott, and William Miller, along with other members of the church they attended.[15]

Like the A.M.E. Church, the A.M.E. Zion Church was very active in the abolitionist movement. Notable members of the church were Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, and Frederick Douglass.[15]

I didn't find a lot of information on the founders of the A.M.E. Zion Church the way I did for the A.M.E. Church founders. Nonetheless, below is the information I did find.

James Varick

James Varick was born in New York and was the son of a free black man and an enslaved black woman. He was able to gain freedom and learn the shoemakers' trade. He eventually became a minister at the Methodist church in New York where be became the first black minister of the church. After his appointment as a minister, racial tension broke out in the church. This led to a group of black parishoners leaving to start their own church, which would become the A.M.E. Zion church. He led the charge of merging several other black churches in the Northeast that had formed under similar circumstances under the denomination of A.M.E. Zion.[17]

In addition to his work with the church, James Varick worked tirelessly with the abolitionist movement.[17]

William Miller

Although I did not find much information on William Miller, I can attest that this William Miller is different from the William Miller that founded the Millerite movement

Controversy

If you mention the A.M.E. Church around some, they will be quick to link the church to Prince Hall Free Masonry and declare it corrupt. Richard Allen, a founder of the A.M.E. Church, as well as James Walker Hood, an influential bishop of the A.M.E. Zion Church, were in fact Prince Hall Masons.[14][16] This is a much larger discussion and strays from the purpose of this article. Perhaps after I discuss all that I would like to about denominational differences, I may circle back to this topic.

Disclaimer

For many denominations in this series I will only have information from research (always listed at the end of the post) or experiences with people who profess to be of that faith. This denomination, however, I have personal experience with. I was actually christened at an A.M.E. church in my home town, attended a few services there, and participated in a community service out reach programs through their church in my teen years. I have not ever considered myself A.M.E. (I was christened there because at the time black people didn’t go to the United Methodist Church in my hometown), but feel it right to disclose that I have attended A.M.E. services which may affect how I view the denomination and interpret the research I've found.

References and Footnotes

1. “Our History”. AME Church; visited July 2023
2. https://www.britannica.com/topic/African-Methodist-Episcopal-Church
3. Kayomi Wada. “DANIEL ALEXANDER PAYNE (1811-1893)”. BlackPast. November 2008
4. https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/wilberforce-university-1856/
5. Bernard E. Powers, Jr. “**Payne, Daniel Alexander”.** SC Encyclopedia. June 20, 2016
6. “Daniel Payne”. PBS; visited July 2023
7. Candace Staten. “WILLIAM PAUL QUINN (1788-1873)”. BlackPast. June 30, 2014
8. “Bishop William Paul Quinn”. Indiana Historical Bureau; visited July 2023
9. “Our Beliefs”. AME Church; visited December 2023
10. “Apostles’ Creed”. United States Conference of Catholic Bishops; visited December 2023
11. “Apostles’ Creed”. United Methodist Church; visited December 2023
12. R.C. Sproul. “The Pelagian Controversy . Ligonier. September 14, 2022; visited December 2023
13. Trianosky, Gregory Velazco Y. “Supererogation”. Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 1998; visited December 2023
14. David L Gray. “Freemasonry and Black Americans: the Prince Hall Sect”. One Peter Five. March 30, 2022
15. "The Origin of the A.M.E. Zion Church". Wesleyan University; visited November 2024
16. "African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church". Wikipedia; visited November 2024
17. Rachel Gallaher. "James Varick". BlackPast.org. June 30, 2008; visited November 2024
18. "About Us". The Sons of Allen of the AME Church; visited November 2024