Ben Hill United Methodist Church is a United Methodist Church in the predominantly Black neighborhood of Ben Hill, Atlanta, in the US state of Georgia. It started in 1853 in a log cabin and was called "Wesley Chapel". The congregation moved to Ben Hill in 1926, and when in the 1960s that neighborhood become mostly Black, the church chose to accept that and integrate. By 1974 the church had become predominantly Black, with Cornelius Henderson as its first Black pastor, and the church grew--from 400 members in 1974 to 4,000 in 1986. Under his successor, Walter Kimbrough Sr., that membership increased to 6,000 by 1989, making Ben Hill UMC "reportedly the largest African American congregation of the United Methodist Church". [1] Its "spiritual awakening and phenomenal numerical growth" are ascribed to its incorporation of "African traditions of call and response" and a neo-Pentecostal style. [2]
The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelicalism. The present denomination was founded in 1968 in Dallas, Texas, by union of the Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church. The UMC traces its roots back to the revival movement of John and Charles Wesley in England, as well as the Great Awakening in the United States. As such, the church's theological orientation is decidedly Wesleyan. It embraces liturgical worship, holiness, and evangelical elements.
The Church of God in Christ (COGIC) is a Pentecostal–Holiness Christian denomination. COGIC is the largest Pentecostal denomination in the United States. Although an international and multiethnic religious organization, it has a predominately African-American membership in the United States. The international headquarters is in Memphis, Tennessee. The current presiding bishop is Bishop Charles Edward Blake Sr., who is the senior pastor of West Angeles Church of God In Christ.
The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the A.M.E. Church or AME, is a predominantly African-American Methodist denomination. It is the first independent Protestant denomination to be founded by black people. It was founded by the Rt. Rev. Richard Allen in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1816 from several black Methodist congregations in the mid-Atlantic area that wanted independence from white Methodists. It was among the first denominations in the United States to be founded on racial rather than theological distinctions and has persistently advocated for the civil and human rights of African Americans through social improvement, religious autonomy, and political engagement. Allen, a deacon in Methodist Episcopal Church, was consecrated its first bishop in 1816 by a conference of five churches from Philadelphia to Baltimore. The denomination then expanded west and south, particularly after the Civil War. By 1906, the AME had a membership of about 500,000, more than the combined total of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church in America and the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, making it the largest major African-American Methodist denomination.
The United American Free Will Baptist Church is the oldest national body of predominantly black Free Will Baptists in the United States.
The Fire Baptized Holiness Church of God of the Americas is a predominantly African-American Holiness-Pentecostal Christian denomination based in the United States. Originating when the African American members of the integrated Fire-Baptized Holiness Church withdrew to form their own organization, the church was founded at Greer, South Carolina in 1908.
Circuit rider clergy, in the earliest years of the United States, were clergy assigned to travel around specific geographic territories to minister to settlers and organize congregations. Circuit riders were clergy in the Methodist Episcopal Church and related denominations, although similar itinerant preachers could be found in other faiths as well, particularly among minority faith groups.
The term Black Church refers to the body of Christian congregations and denominations in the United States that minister predominantly to African-Americans, as well as their collective traditions and members. The term can also refer to individual congregations.
Ben Hill is a neighborhood in the southwestern part of Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Ben Hill is a predominantly black community with many black-owned businesses.
Boston University School of Theology (BUSTH) is the oldest theological seminary of American Methodism and the founding school of Boston University, the largest private research university in New England. It is one of thirteen theological schools maintained by the United Methodist Church. BUSTH is a member of the Boston Theological Institute consortium.
The Allen Temple AME Church in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, is the mother church of the Third Episcopal District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Founded in 1824, it is the oldest operating black church in Cincinnati and the largest church of the Third Episcopal District of the AME Church.
Religion of black Americans refers to the religious and spiritual practices of African Americans. Historians generally agree that the religious life of black Americans "forms the foundation of their community life." Before 1775 there was scattered evidence of organized religion among black people in the Thirteen Colonies. The Methodist and Baptist churches became much more active in the 1780s. Their growth was quite rapid for the next 150 years, until they covered a majority of the people.
Christianity in Omaha, Nebraska has been integral to the growth and development of the city since its founding in 1854. In addition to providing Christian religious and social leadership, individually and collectively the city's churches have also led a variety of political campaigns throughout the city's history.
The Big Bethel AME Church is the oldest African-American congregation in the Sweet Auburn neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia, and according to AME historical documents, it is the mother church of AME in North Georgia. It is located at 220 Auburn Avenue NE in the Sweet Auburn neighborhood. It is the "first" church on the North Atlanta District, in the Atlanta-North Georgia Annual Conference of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.
Saint Philip AME Church in Atlanta, Georgia is the largest congregation in the Sixth Episcopal district of the African Methodist Episcopal Church with over 5,000 members.
The Mother African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, also known as "Mother Zion", located at 140–148 West 137th Street between Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard and Lenox Avenue in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, is the oldest African-American church in New York City, and the "mother church" of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion conference.
Samuel Snowden was a 19th-century African-American abolitionist and pastor of the May Street Church, one of the first black Methodist churches in Boston, Massachusetts. Under Reverend Snowden's direction from 1818 to 1850, the May Street Church congregation supported the Underground Railroad; members included several prominent abolitionists, such as David Walker from North Carolina. Snowden was born into slavery in the South, but later reached the North and began his career as a pastor.
The history of Methodism in the United States dates back to the mid-18th century with the ministries of early Methodist preachers such as Laurence Coughlan and Robert Strawbridge. Following the American Revolution most of the Anglican clergy who had been in America came back to England. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, sent Thomas Coke to America where he and Francis Asbury founded the Methodist Episcopal Church, which was to later establish itself as the largest denomination in America during the 19th century.
The Greater Hood Memorial AME Zion Church was the first black church in Harlem, New York. It now receives notoriety as the "Oldest Continuing" church in Harlem. The church’s first house of worship was erected on East 117th Street, between 2nd and 3rd Avenues in 1843.
Jeffery Tribble is an ordained elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church and a professor of ministry with research interests in Practical Theology, Congregational Studies and Leadership, Ethnography, Evangelism and Church Planting, Black Church Studies, and Urban Church Ministry. Academics and professionals in these fields consider him a renowned thought leader. Tribble's experience in pastoral ministry allows for his work to bridge the gap between academic research and practical church leadership.
First United Methodist Church is a historic Methodist church in Shreveport, Louisiana, United States. Founded in 1845 as a congregation of the Methodist Episcopal Church, it moved to its current site in 1883 and built its current building in 1913. In the split in the denomination before the American Civil War, this congregation became a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. It later affiliated with The Methodist Church, before joining the United Methodist Church in 1967.
33°41′52″N84°30′37″W / 33.69780046277342°N 84.51033669502212°W Coordinates: 33°41′52″N84°30′37″W / 33.69780046277342°N 84.51033669502212°W