Key points:
- Philadelphia renamed the street in front of Mother Bethel AME Church as Bishop Richard Allen Way, honoring the formerly enslaved Methodist preacher who founded the denomination in 1816.
- United Methodists reflected on the racism that drove Allen and other Black worshippers from Historic St. George’s United Methodist Church.
- They emphasized the importance of acknowledging past injustices while working toward reconciliation.
United Methodists joined in a historic tribute to the former slave who founded the African Methodist Episcopal Church, as Philadelphia’s mayor renamed a street in honor of Bishop Richard Allen.
The Oct. 7 celebration began at Historic St. George’s United Methodist Church, where Allen (1760-1831) was a licensed preacher serving the church’s growing Black membership — that is, until racial segregation prompted him and others to depart in 1787.
Celebrants then marched together about a mile to Mother Bethel AME Church, where Allen led the planting of a new church in 1794. It is also where he launched the first independent Black denomination in the United States in 1816.
Members of both denominations gathered with others in front of Mother Bethel, the oldest property in the U.S. continuously owned by African Americans, to witness the city’s naming of the street it faces as Bishop Richard Allen Way. Some participants dressed in 18th-century costumes to welcome guests, and one recited a speech drawn from Allen’s biography.
“As a resurrection people, we hold both lament and affirmation for this day,” said United Methodist Bishop Cynthia Moore-Koikoi, who leads the Eastern Pennsylvania and Greater New Jersey Episcopal Area. She and others lamented the racism that forced Black members to leave St. George’s and then to leave the former Methodist Episcopal Church due to frequent interference in their new church’s affairs.
Allen, ordained a Methodist minister in 1799, found similar struggles among other Black Methodist churches across the region. He worked with them to organize the African Methodist Episcopal denomination and became its first bishop.
Methodist history in Philadelphia
In 1787, Richard Allen and Absalom Jones started the Free African Society, an important mutual aid organization to serve Black free and enslaved residents. When they left Historic St. George’s over racial segregation, Jones established St. Thomas Protestant Episcopal Church, the first Black Episcopal church in America.
Allen established Mother Bethel because of his strong commitment to the Methodist doctrine and practice of faith promoted by founder John Wesley.
While most Black members left St. George’s in 1787, some initially remained. But 18 of them left in 1794 and began to worship in their homes. In 1796, they built African Zoar Methodist Episcopal Church (now United Methodist).
Today Mother African Zoar, which gave birth to seven other churches, and Historic St. George’s, the world’s oldest Methodist Church building in continuous use, are the two oldest United Methodist congregations in the city.
“We celebrate that we serve a God who is about the business of revelation and redemption,” said Moore-Koikoi, who opened the celebration with greetings and closed it with a prayer and benediction.
“‘Learn from your mistakes, forgive yourself, and then do better,’” she imagined Allen saying to the gathering. “So, this is an historic day when we get to see the city of Philadelphia do better.”
Bishop Samuel Lawrence Green Sr., leader of the AME Church’s First Episcopal District, based in Philadelphia, used the new street name to extol its namesake’s exemplary character.
“Bishop Richard Allen’s way is the way of freedom,” he said to applause. “It is the way of protest against inequality, against injustice, against hate, racism, sexism and any other ‘ism’ that does not elevate and promote love, unity and happiness among all people.”
Mayor Cherelle Parker, Philadelphia’s 100th and first woman mayor, also addressed the gathering, noting Allen’s historic value to the city where the nation was born 250 years ago. She commended the Rev. Carolyn Cavaness, Mother Bethel’s pastor, for lobbying city leaders to name the street in Allen’s honor. Cavaness, who also spoke, became the iconic church’s first woman pastor in 2024.
The mayor stressed the significance of preserving and protecting Black history from attempts to erase it. She called for ensuring that future generations appreciate Richard Allen’s contributions to the city.
Afterward, Yvonne Studevan, Allen’s great-great-great-great granddaughter, expressed appreciation on behalf of descendants from three generations who attended the celebration. She then unveiled the new 6th and Lombard Street sign with the bishop’s name appended, prompting a standing ovation.
“Coming together for this great tribute is part of a growing relationship, as we seek to overcome sins of the past and move forward into the future,” said the Rev. William Wilson Sr., St. George’s pastor, in a later interview.
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He acknowledged lingering resentment felt by many Mother Bethel members for two centuries and recalled The Great Gathering in October 2009 when the two churches joined in a “reunification service.” It was their first time together since the historic “walk out” led by Allen and fellow minister Absalom Jones.
“Today’s celebration allows us to realize that we are now closer than we have ever been,” Wilson said, “and we can continue to move closer in harmony with God and with one another as we seek to fulfill the common mission of Mother Bethel and Historic St. George’s: to be in mission to the city of Philadelphia.”
Besides their two churches’ popular history museums, both pastors also share a good working relationship, Wilson said. “Pastor Carolyn (Cavaness) and I sat down and talked when she first came to town. I want us to share more involvement between our two churches. I think we can do more together.”
Coleman is a longtime United Methodist communicator.
News media contact: Julie Dwyer, news editor, newdesk@umnews.org. To read more United Methodist news, subscribe to the free UM News Digest.
