The African Methodist Episcopal Zion (A.M.E. Zion) Church

The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church was established in 1796 in New York City by James Varick, Abraham Thompson, William Miller and others. The church was an outgrowth of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and was necessitated because of discrimination and denial of religious liberty.

The founders of the church determined that this denomination would dedicate itself to the liberation of the human spirit. The early society was known as the "Freedom Church." Spiritual, social, and economic emancipation were the hallmarks of their faith. Among its members were Varick, Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass and Soujourner Truth, to name a few.

This organization now encompasses 3,000 churches and it has an active membership of 1.5 million. The church has founded and contributed to the support of a number of institutions of higher learning -Livingstone College (with its affiliate, Hood Theological Seminary); Lomax Hannon Junior College in Alabama; Clinton Junior College in South Carolina; Dinwiddy Institute in Virginia; and African Methodist Episcopal Zion Junior College in Monrovia, Liberia, West Africa - and maintains missions here and abroad.

The Star of Zion, the church's newspaper, is published biweekly. The organization and structure of the church is discovered in the interpretation of its name:

AFRICAN denotes that the church would be led by the sons and daughters of Africa. The promotion of equality and parity among the human family would be their goal.

METHODIST John and Charles Wesley, the founders of Methodism, emphasized the need for order and consistency in personal and public professions of faith.

EPISCOPAL The denomination is supervised by Bishops who are elected by the general church. The jurisdictions of these Bishops comprise an international connection.

At present, the A.M.E. Zion Church is operative on five continents. ZION - The term most frequently used in the Bible to describe the church of God. Zion was added to the name in 1848 to distinguish this denomination from other African Methodist bodies. The Ministry Objective of the A.M.E. Zion Church is to "Hallow the Past, Consecrate the Present, Have Faith in the Future, and above all Protect the Heritage."