THEY WERE NO LONGER WELCOME in their own church—this was now clear. It was a Sunday morning in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The African American members of St. George's Methodist Church weren't doing anything wrong—just worshiping, like everyone else. But in the middle of prayer a white church member told the black members they were sitting in the wrong seats. They were to move immediately to a new area designated for blacks. By the time prayer was over about 42 black members had walked out of St. George's en masse and never returned.
Tradition has it that this walkout occurred in 1787, though some have reason to think it was a few years later. This was a time when the dust from the American Revolutionary War was just beginning to settle, and incidents of racial discrimination were becoming more common. Still, it's at least somewhat ironic that, of all places, this happened in philadelphia—the City of Brotherly Love, the "cradle of freedom." The first city to have a society of people devoted to the abolition of slavery. Segregation between whites and free blacks was escalating, and now not even houses of worship were free from racism.
THE RACIAL TENSION at St. George's would give rise to a major religious movement. It was the beginning of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) denomination. Rev. Richard Allen led the band of reformers, and together they dedicated a new church, During the time when the "underground railroad," was active—from about 1830 to 1865—the church they founded became a refuge for escaping slaves, a type of "north star" for freedom-seekers. Although it's in a different building from the original, Mother Bethel, as the church is now known, has remained a symbol of spiritual triumph and racial equality for more than two centuries.
