African Methodist Episcopal Church

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African Methodist Episcopal Church (commonly referred to as AME Church) is a Christian church in the Methodist tradition, the majority of which are African American . It is not to be confused with the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church (AMEZ) or the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church (CME).

history

The Church emerged from the Free African Society (FAS), which was founded by the former slave Richard Allen together with some others in 1787 in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania . Because they did not want to accept the discrimination against African-Americans in the Methodist churches, they founded the Bethel AME in 1794 with Allen as pastor. After he had legally enforced the independence of his congregation in 1807 and 1815, he founded the AME Church in 1816 as an association of other Afro-American congregations and became their first bishop. The Church first spread to the northeast coast and the Midwest, but also had parishes in the southern states and on the west coast before the mid-19th century. After the American Civil War , it grew particularly strongly in the former Confederate States. From 1891 she founded branches in Liberia , Sierra Leone and South Africa. Currently (2015) it has parishes in 39 countries on five continents.

On June 17, 2015, an attack took place in the Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston , South Carolina , killing nine people, including the parish pastor and politician Clementa Pinckney .

Commitment and structure

The AME Church does not differ in teaching from other Methodist churches. The basis of their creed is the Apostles' Creed and the twenty-five articles , which are also recognized in the United Methodist Church . As with the mainstream of American Methodism, the constitution of the AME Church is strongly episcopal . The current 20 bishops, who are elected for life by the general conference, lead their districts together with an annual conference, which is composed equally of clergy and elected lay people. Since the general conference only meets every four years, the council of bishops also has a crucial role.

The ordination of women is practiced in the AME.

Ecumenism

The African Methodist Episcopal Church is a member of the World Council of Methodist Churches and the World Council of Churches .

The AME has suspended its membership in Churches Uniting in Christ since 2009.

Bishops

  • Richard Franklin Norris
  • Adam Jefferson Richardson, Jr.
  • Cornal Garnett Henning, Sr.
  • John Richard Bryant
  • Theodore Larry Kirkland
  • William Phillips DeVeaux, Sr.
  • Preston Warren Williams, II
  • Carolyn Tyler Guidry
  • James Levert Davis
  • Gregory Gerald McKinley Ingram
  • McKinley Young
  • Samuel Lawrence Green, Sr.
  • Vashti Murphy McKenzie
  • David Rwhynica Daniels, Jr.
  • Wilfred Messiah
  • Sarah Frances Davis
  • Paul Jones Kawimbe
  • E. Earl McCloud, Jr.
  • Jeffrey N. Leath
  • Julius H. McAlister, Sr.
  • Clement W. Fugh
  • John F. White, Sr. Office of Ecumenical Affairs
  • Elvin Fernandez

Former bishops

  • John Hurst Adams
  • Richard Allen Hildebrand
  • Frederick Hilborn Talbot
  • Hamil Hartford Brookins
  • Vinton Randolph Anderson
  • Frederick Calhoun James
  • Frank Curtis Cummings
  • Philip Robert Counsin, Sr
  • Henry Allen Belin, Jr.
  • Richard Allen Chappelle, Sr.
  • Robert Vaughn Webster
  • Zedekiah Lazett Grady

See also

literature

  • The book of worship of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Dr. Johnny Barbour Jr., Nashville TN 2005.
  • James H. Cone: God Our Father, Christ Our Redeemer, Man Our Brother: A Theological Interpretation of the AME Church. In: AME Church Review . Volume CVI, No. 341, 1991, p. 25.
  • The Doctrine and Discipline of the African Methodist Episcopal Church 2000-2004. AMEC Sunday School Union, Nashville TN 2001.
  • Howard D. Gregg: History of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. The Black Church in Action. African Methodist Episcopal Church, Nashville TN 1980.
  • Samuel S. Hill, Charles H. Lippy (Eds.): Encyclopedia of Religion in the South. 2nd edition revised, updated and expanded. Mercer University Press, Macon GA 2005, ISBN 0-86554-758-0 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Hannoversche Allgemeine from June 19, 2015