(RNS) More than two centuries after racial divisions sparked the birth of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the black and white congregations at the center of the split will worship together for the first time in late October in Philadelphia.
In the late 1700s, lay preacher Richard Allen and other members walked out of Historic St. George’s United Methodist Church and started their own congregation, Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church. They had been forced to worship in segregated seating at St. George’s and racial tensions were increasing within the congregation.
On Oct. 25, the two congregations will meet for a joint Sunday worship service for the first time since their split, though they have previously held ceremonial exchanges.
“The incidents that pulled us apart so many years ago do not have to be as powerful as the things that brought the first black and white Methodists together,” said the Rev. Alfred Day, pastor of Historic St. George’s United Methodist Church, in an announcement. “The experience of God’s Spirit is breaking down barriers instead of erecting them.”
The Rev. Mark Kelly Tyler, pastor of Mother Bethel AME, said it is “tragic” that some of the divisions that split the congregations remain in today’s society.
“This worship service is not just about remembering what happened, but we gather in the hope that one day such a service will not even be newsworthy because we have overcome issues of racism, sexism, classism, and all other -isms that separate us from one another and God.”
The reunion is part of celebrations of the 240th anniversary of St. George’s and the 250th birthday of Allen, who became the first bishop of the AME Church.