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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 (1760–1831) - later elected and ordained first bishop in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1816 from calling together of five black congregations of the earlier established Methodist Episcopal Church on the East Coast / Middle-Atlantic states area in the first General Conference, 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, an previously ordained Deacon in the Methodist Episcopal Church, was elected by the gathered ministers and ordained / consecrated as its first bishop in 1816 by the first General Conference of the five churches - extending from the three in the Philadelphia area in Pennsylvania to one in Delaware and one in Maryland of Baltimore. The denomination then expanded west and through the South, particularly after the American Civil War (1861–1865). By 1906, the AME had a membership of about 500,000, more than the combined total of the two other predominantly Black American denominations - the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church in America and the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, making it the largest major African-American denomination of the Methodist traditions.
Joseph Crane Hartzell was an American Missionary Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church who served in the United States and in Africa.
Paul Elliott Martin was an American bishop of the Methodist Church and the United Methodist Church, elected in 1944. He also distinguished himself as a Methodist pastor and district superintendent, as well as by notable service to his denomination.
Charles Betts Galloway was an American bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, elected in 1886.
David Jerald Lawson was an American who gained notability as a pastor and university campus minister in the Methodist and United Methodist churches, as a district superintendent, annual conference official, and as a bishop of the United Methodist Church (UMC), elected in 1984. He also played a key role establishing and developing Africa University, which is the only UMC university on the continent.
Clement Daniel Rockey was a bishop of the Methodist Church, elected in 1941.
Leontine Turpeau Current Kelly was an American bishop of the United Methodist Church.
John Wesley Hardt was an American bishop of the United Methodist Church, elected in 1980. He also distinguished himself as a preacher and a pastor of Methodist Churches, as a district superintendent, and as an author and biographer.
Edsel Albert Ammons was an American bishop of the United Methodist Church, elected in 1976.
William McFerrin Stowe was a U.S. Bishop of the Methodist and United Methodist Churches, elected in 1964.
Leroy Charles Hodapp distinguished himself as a Methodist pastor, district superintendent, Annual Conference official, and bishop of the United Methodist Church (U.M.C.) who was elected in 1976.
Ernest Thomas Dixon Jr. was an American bishop of the United Methodist Church, elected in 1972. He was born in San Antonio, Texas.
An annual conference in Methodism is a regional body that governs much of the life of the "connectional church". Annual conferences are composed primarily of the clergy members and a lay member or members from each charge. Each conference is a geographical division. In general, the smaller states in the United States hold one conference each, while larger states often include two or more conferences. Several annual conferences are held in other nations as well.
Janice Riggle Huie is a bishop of the United Methodist Church, elected in 1996 by the South Central Jurisdictional Conference. She has served in the church's Arkansas Annual (regional) Conference, 1996–2004, and in the Texas Annual Conference from 2004 until the end of her time as a Bishop.
Prince Albert Taylor Jr. was an American bishop of The Methodist Church and the United Methodist Church, elected in 1956. When he died he held the distinction of the longest tenure of all living United Methodist Bishops at that time. Only one other Bishop remained from those elected in 1956: Bishop Ralph Edward Dodge. And as it happened, Bishop Dodge was but two days older than Bishop Taylor! No other Bishops elected before 1956 were alive in 2001. Bishop Taylor was also one of only three remaining African American Bishops elected by the Central Jurisdiction of The Methodist Church. The others were James Samuel Thomas and L. Scott Allen.
Lewis Bevel Jones III was a bishop of the United Methodist Church and Bishop in Residence at Emory University's Candler School of Theology.
William Clyde Martin was a bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, The Methodist Church and the United Methodist Church. He distinguished himself in military service during World War I as a Methodist pastor and held ecumenical ministries with the National Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches.
John Monroe Moore was a bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, elected in 1918.
John W. Gowdy was a Scottish American bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church and The Methodist Church, elected in 1930. He also distinguished himself as a missionary, an educator, and as a college and university president.
Eugene Maxwell Frank was an American bishop of the Methodist and United Methodist Churches, elected in 1956. He was notable for his passion for racial equality in the Church and beyond. He also distinguished himself as a pastor, as both the youngest Methodist bishop and as the most senior United Methodist bishop, and as the one person more than any other responsible for the establishment of the Saint Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, MO.
