Allen, Richard
ALLEN, RICHARD (February 14, 1760–March 26, 1831), minister and businessperson, is regarded as the founder of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church—the first African American denomination. Although he is generally regarded as the first bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal denomination, in actuality he was the second bishop. Daniel Coker was elected before Allen but was more concerned about African missions, and therefore Allen was elected as Coker's replacement.
Allen was born a slave but gained his freedom around 1781 by working during his free hours as a woodcutter, bricklayer, and wagon driver. He converted to Methodism during his late teens, and following his emancipation he began preaching during his travels around Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania while working odd jobs to support himself. In 1785 Allen was frequently assigned by Francis Ashbury to fill preach, and he also accompanied Richard Whatcoat on the Baltimore circuit.
Allen moved to Philadelphia in 1786 and began to associate with Absalom Jones (1746–1818) and other free blacks at Saint George's Methodist Church. Allen and Jones started a prayer group among the free black population and organized the Free African Society in 1787 for the purpose of mutual aid, support, and ministry to widows, orphans, and the sick. This was the first African American society organized in the United States. Philadelphia had the largest free African American population in the country, and the Free African Society was one of the major public gathering places for black people.
The success of Jones and Allen's ministry and preaching precipitated a crisis at Saint George's—what to do with the increased number of black worshippers. The white church leaders attempted to resolved the issue by segregating black worshippers in the balcony. However, on a Sunday in November 1787, after Jones seated himself in one of the front pews of the balcony, he was instructed by one of the ushers to move further to the rear of the balcony. Jones refused, and a scuffle ensued as the ushers tried to forcibly remove Jones from his seat. Jones, Allen, and the other black worshippers left the sanctuary.
Jones and Allen subsequently led regular worship services in what was called the African Church, and by 1792 their group's members were raising funds to construct a church building. The worshippers differed, however, over the choice of denominational affiliation. Most of the members voted for affiliation with the Episcopal Church. Jones went with the majority and eventually became an Episcopal priest, but Allen went with the minority that favored Methodism.
Allen reclaimed an old blacksmith's shop and renovated it into a chapel for those who preferred the Methodist style of worship. Work on the church was delayed for several months, because much of the energies of members of the Free African Society were required to help minister among the sick and tend to the dead during the yellow fever epidemic that struck Philadelphia in 1793. Bishop Ashbury dedicated Allen's chapel as Bethel Church on July 29, 1794, twelve days after Jones's Saint Thomas African Episcopal Church was dedicated.
Because Bethel was a part of the Methodist system of government, and because Allen lacked ordination, the church was still subject to white control and influence. Even though Allen was Bethel's leader, the church had to cooperate with visiting white preachers assigned to its pulpit. Allen was ordained as a deacon in 1799, but this still restricted his authority to celebrate the Lord's Supper and perform the sacrament of baptism or weddings beyond his assignment or when the ruling white elder was absent.
A number of events arising out of the contestation for power led eventually to Allen's members securing congregational autonomy through the courts. On April 7, 1816, Allen presided over the first convention that created the African Methodist Episcopal Church. He was consecrated bishop on April 11, 1816, with Absalom Jones participating in the ceremony.
Although Allen and Jones had parted ways denominationally, they continued to work closely together in many other endeavors, such as the founding of Philadelphia's African Masonic Lodge in 1798, petitioning Congress and the state legislature to end slavery in 1800, and founding of the Society for the Suppression of Vice and Immorality in 1808. In 1812 they, along with James Forten, were asked by the Vigilance Committee to organize the black Philadelphia population to help with the city defenses, and they complied by recruiting 2,500 blacks into that effort. Allen and Jones also combined their forces to organize a convention held in Philadelphia in January 1817 to oppose the goals of the American Colonization Society that had been formed to promote the emigration of blacks to Liberia.
Bibliography
Allen, Richard. The Life, Experience, and Gospel Labors of the Rt. Rev. Richard Allen. Philadelphia, 1793; reprint, Philadelphia, 1888.
Campbell, James T. Songs of Zion: The African Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States and South Africa. New York, 1995.
George, Carol V. R. Segregated Sabbaths: Richard Allen and the Emergence of Independent Black Churches, 1760–1840. New York, 1973.
Murphy, Larry G., J. Gordon Melton, and Gary L. Ward, eds. Encyclopedia of African American Religions. New York, 1993.
Pinn, Ann H., and Anthony B. Pinn. Fortress Introduction to Black Church History. Minneapolis, Minn., 2002.
Richardson, Harry V. Dark Salvation: The Story of Methodism as It Developed among Blacks in America. Garden City, N.Y., 1976.
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