Online Content: Not Available / Subject: African American churches and Methodists / Place: Philadelphia (Pa.) - Philadelphia Area Archives Search Results

Start Over Online Content Not Available Subject African American churches Subject Methodists Place Philadelphia (Pa.)

Extent:: 50.0 linear feet
Abstract:: Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, located at 6th and Lombard Streets in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was established as Bethel Church in 1794 by Richard Allen (1760-1830). Allen was a former slave who purchased his freedom in 1783 and preached to African Americans in various Mid-Atlantic states until settling in Philadelphia in 1786, where he became a leader of the city's African American community. Bethel and other black Methodist congregations united in 1816 to organize the African Methodist Episcopal Church in America. Allen was appointed its first bishop and Bethel Church became Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, the mother church of the denomination. As of 2016, Mother Bethel remains a prominent and progressive congregation. Its current church building, dedicated in 1890, still sits on the land purchased by Allen in the 1790s, making it the oldest parcel of real estate in the United States continuously owned by African-Americans. The Mother Bethel...(see more)

Held at: Richard Allen Museum Archives [Contact Us]

Extent:: 100.0 linear feet
Abstract:: Tindley Temple United Methodist Church was founded in 1837 as the John Wesley Methodist Episcopal Church, and was later known as the Bainbridge Street Methodist Church and East Calvary Methodist Church before it was renamed after its influential pastor Charles A. Tindley in 1927. Charles Albert Tindley (1851-1933) became a pastor of the church in 1902 and vastly increased the size of the congregation during his ministry. He is nationally significant for his important role in the development of the African American gospel tradition. The Tindley Temple United Methodist Church records, circa 1900-2014, consist of membership records, church Trustee records, property and building-related documents, administrative papers, financial records, programs from church services and other events, recordings, photographs, and papers of and research on church reverends. Of note are a small amount of materials from Charles A. Tindley, including photographs of him and sermon outlines.

Held at: Charles Albert Tindley Institute [Contact Us]

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