A Brief History of Black Churches
The Free African Society was the first Black benevolent institution in the city of Philadelphia, formed in 1787 by Richard Allen and Absalom Jones (Marshall 378). Though a secular organization meant to aid the city’s Black population, the Free African Society’s founders were deeply religious. The spiritual attitudes of Allen and Jones and the charitable and political work they and the Society conducted-- such as petitioning for independent Black cemeteries and serving as nurses during the yellow fever epidemic of 1793-- paved the way for the formation of Black churches (Marshall 376-378, 382).
The “Our History” webpage of the Official Website of the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AMEC), summarizes the evolution of the AMEC, beginning with the Free African Society. In 1794, Bethel African Methodist Episcopal was founded with Richard Allen as the pastor. AME become an official Wesleyan denomination around 1815. By the 20th century, AME congregations had formed across the United States and abroad. The “Church Mission” page of the AMEC website declares the church’s Vision, which states, in part, to “engage in carrying out the spirit of the original Free African Society, out of which the AME Church evolved: that is, to seek out and save the lost, and to serve the needy”. Similarly, a Journal of Negro History (1945) article about Baptist pastor Reverend Walter Brooks calls his congregation a “striking example of how the Negro church has had to function as a substitute for meeting needs which among people otherwise circumstanced would be supplied by various agencies” (Journal of Negro History 460).