British Methodist Episcopal Church | |
---|---|
Denomination | Protestant |
Administration | |
Parish | Ontario |
Diocese | African Methodist Episcopal Church |
Province | Canada |
The British Methodist Episcopal Church (BMEC) is a Protestant church in Canada that has its roots in the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AMEC) of the United States.
The AMEC had been formed in 1816 when a number of black congregations banded together under the leadership of Richard Allen, and by the mid-1850s it had seven conferences in the United States. AMEC preachers began to work in Upper Canada in 1834, and a conference was formed in 1840.
In 1850, the Fugitive Slave Act was passed in the United States causing some ex-slave AMEC preachers in the United Canadas to be fearful of attending conferences in the U.S.
Reverend Benjamin Stewart of Chatham, Ontario proposed that the AME churches in the United Canadas separate from the U.S. association and form their own church. At an AME conference the new church was named the British Methodist Episcopal Church in appreciation of finding a safe haven from slavery in British North America. In Philadelphia in 1856, Stewart's proposal was adopted and the new church association was founded. Reverend Augustus R. Green, later BME Bishop Green (though he is reported as being thrown out of the Church when he and colleagues later challenged Nazrey, whereupon they began the Independent Methodist Episcopal Church [1] ), publisher and editor of the True Royalist and Weekly Intelligencer was also a part of this movement. [2]
Its first bishop was Reverend Willis Nazrey of Virginia. When Nazrey died in 1875, Richard Randolph Disney was chosen as his successor, and he was ordained by an AMEC bishop that year. His administrative area consisted of Ontario, Nova Scotia, Bermuda, the West Indies, and British Guiana (Guyana).
By the end of the 1870s the BMEC had 56 congregations with about 3,100 members, most of its members being in the Danish West Indies and British Guiana. However, the mission work outside Canada stretched the church's funds, and in 1880 Disney negotiated a reunion with the AMEC, which was ratified at a BMEC convention held at Hamilton in June 1881. A referendum of members showed that although a majority in Ontario was opposed, 86 per cent of the membership was in favour. Disney was accepted as an AMEC bishop and was assigned to its Tenth Episcopal District, a region embracing his former territory and some of the AMEC churches in Canada that had not joined the BMEC.
A majority of the Ontario churches and preachers, led by the Reverend Walter Hawkins of Chatham, sought to re-establish the BMEC. This group feared the loss of their distinctive identity, and may have been concerned that the opinions of Ontario members had been overwhelmed by those of the Caribbean groups.
In 1886 this group held an ecclesiastical council at Chatham, at which it was claimed that Disney had defected to the AMEC. At a subsequent general conference that year the BMEC was reconstituted. The conference deposed Disney, agreeing to "erase his name and ignore his authority, and cancel his official relationship as bishop." The reconstituted BMEC elected Hawkins as its general superintendent, avoiding the title of bishop for several years.
Disney continued with what was left of his AMEC district until 1888, when he was transferred to Arkansas and Mississippi.
By 1898 the BMEC had 27 preaching points and 25 preachers, the AMEC 130 churches in Canada. The two denominations continue their separate work to this day.
The BME church has seen a major decline in membership over the years, resulting in many closures. In 1985, the BME church in Woodstock, Ontario, Hawkins Chapel, shut its doors and was converted into a single-family home. [3] The BME church of Collingwood followed a similar fate in 1990. [4] In 2003, the North Buxton congregation broke with the church - choosing to operate as an independent community church instead. [5] The most recent church to close its doors was in Guelph in 2011. The former BME building was put up for sale, and purchased by the Guelph Black Heritage Society in 2012. [6]
Although now closed, other BME churches existed in Stratford, Fort Erie, Queen's Bush, Puce (Lakeshore), Simcoe, Ingersoll, Dresden, and Harrow. [7] These churches would have formed the centre of a sizable black community in these towns. [8]
Two BME churches have been designated National Historic Sites of Canada due to their roles in welcoming Underground Railroad refugees to the United Canadas and their historic importance to the Black community in the Niagara region: one in Niagara Falls, Ontario, named in honour of Robert Nathaniel Dett, [9] [10] and the Salem Chapel, British Methodist Episcopal Church in St. Catharines, due to its association with Harriet Tubman. [11] [12]
As of 2018, fewer than 9 churches remain in operation, with churches operating in the following cities:
Brantford [13] Bishops
See alsoRelated Research ArticlesMethodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity which derive their doctrine of practice and belief from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother Charles Wesley were also significant early leaders in the movement. They were named Methodists for "the methodical way in which they carried out their Christian faith". Methodism originated as a revival movement within the 18th-century Church of England and became a separate denomination after Wesley's death. The movement spread throughout the British Empire, the United States, and beyond because of vigorous missionary work, today claiming approximately 80 million adherents worldwide. The Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) was the oldest and largest Methodist denomination in the United States from its founding in 1784 until 1939. 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He opened his first AME church in 1794 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the A.M.E. Church or AME, is a predominantly African-American Methodist denomination. It adheres to Wesleyan-Arminian theology and has a connexional polity. The African Methodist Episcopal Church is the first independent Protestant denomination to be founded by black people, though it welcomes and has members of all ethnicities. It was founded by the Rt. Rev. Richard Allen in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1816 from several black Methodist congregations in the mid-Atlantic area who wanted to escape the discrimination that was commonplace in society. It was among the first denominations in the United States to be founded for this reason, rather than for theological distinctions, and has persistently advocated for the civil and human rights of African Americans through social improvement, religious autonomy, and political engagement, while always being open to people of all racial backgrounds. Allen, a deacon in the 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. Charles Inglis was an Irish clergyman who was consecrated the first Anglican bishop in North America, although technically of the Diocese of Nova Scotia. The Evangelical Church or Evangelical Association, also known as the Albright Brethren, was a "body of American Christians chiefly of German descent", Arminian in doctrine and theology; in its form of church government, Methodist Episcopal. The black church is the faith and 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 "black church" can also refer to individual congregations. Amherstburg Freedom Museum, previously known as 'the North American Black Historical Museum', is located in Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada. It is a community-based, non-profit museum that tells the story of African-Canadians' history and contributions. Founded in 1975 by local residents, it preserves and presents artifacts of African-Canadians, many of whose ancestors had entered Canada as refugees from United States slavery. 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The church is a valued historical site due to its design, and its important associations with abolitionist activity. 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. Charles Spencer Smith (1852–1923) was a Methodist minister and afterwards bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church as well as an Alabama state legislator. He wrote numerous pamphlets during his lifetime, as well as a history of the AME Church and Glimpses of Africa (1895) chronicling his 1894 trip to the African continent. Richard Amos Ball was a British Methodist Episcopal Church (BMEC) minister in Canada. Morris Brown was one of the founders of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and its second presiding bishop. He founded Emanuel AME Church in his native Charleston, South Carolina. It was implicated in the slave uprising planned by Denmark Vesey, also of this church, and after that was suppressed, Brown was imprisoned for nearly a year. He was never convicted of any crime. Rev. Addie Aylestock (1909–1998) was a Canadian minister in the British Methodist Episcopal Church, the first woman minister to be ordained in that church, and the first black woman to be ordained in Canada. References
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