St. James A.M.E. Church | |
 St. James A.M.E. Church, July 2014 | |
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| Location | 516 North St., Cape Girardeau, Missouri |
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| Coordinates | 37°18′34″N89°31′26″W / 37.30944°N 89.52389°W Coordinates: 37°18′34″N89°31′26″W / 37.30944°N 89.52389°W |
| Area | Less than 1 acre (0.40 ha) |
| Built | 1875, 1892 |
| Architectural style | center steeple church |
| NRHP reference # | 13001085 [1] |
| Added to NRHP | January 15, 2014 |
St. James A.M.E. Church, also known as the St. James Chapel AME Church and St. James Chapel, is a historic African Methodist Episcopal congregation in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. It is noted for its historic church, a one-story, stucco-covered brick building with a rectangular plan and a front facing gable built in 1875.
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 AME currently has 20 districts, each with its own bishop: 13 are based in the United States, mostly in the South, while seven are based in Africa. The global membership of the AME is around 2.5 million and it remains one of the largest Methodist denominations in the world.
Cape Girardeau is a city in Cape Girardeau county in the U.S. state of Missouri. It is located approximately 115 miles (185 km) southeast of St. Louis and 175 miles (282 km) north of Memphis. As of the 2018 United States Census Bureau estimates, the city's population was 39,853, making it the 17th-largest city in Missouri, and the largest city in Southeast Missouri. An emerging college town, it is the home of Southeast Missouri State University.
A church building or church house, often simply called a church, is a building used for Christian religious activities, particularly for Christian worship services. The term is often used by Christians to refer to the physical buildings where they worship, but it is sometimes used to refer to buildings of other religions. In traditional Christian architecture, the church is often arranged in the shape of a Christian cross. When viewed from plan view the longest part of a cross is represented by the aisle and the junction of the cross is located at the altar area.
The church features a central square tower added in 1892, with wide overhanging boxed eaves, a centered round window, and a pyramidal roof It sits on a raised basement dug in 1926. It is one of two remaining urban African-American churches in Cape Girardeau constructed during the Reconstruction Era. [2] :7 It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014. [1]
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance. A property listed in the National Register, or located within a National Register Historic District, may qualify for tax incentives derived from the total value of expenses incurred in preserving the property.
