Richard Allen
- Lived
- 1760–1831
- Era
- Modern
- Where
- Philadelphia
- Tradition
- Methodist / Wesleyan
The first independent Black denomination in the United States
Born enslaved in Philadelphia, he converted at seventeen, convinced his owner that slaveholding was wrong, and bought his own freedom. He preached as a Methodist until he and others were pulled from their knees during prayer at St George's church in Philadelphia for sitting in the wrong place.
Why it matters
They walked out, and Allen founded Bethel church and then, in 1816, the African Methodist Episcopal Church — the first denomination in the United States founded by Black people, and one of the largest today. He and Absalom Jones organised Black Philadelphians to nurse the sick through the yellow fever epidemic of 1793, and then had to publish a rebuttal when the city's press accused them of profiteering.
In the record
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1730–1840 AD Revival
The Great Awakenings
Came out of it, and founded the first Black denomination in the United States
All the figures, from the apostolic age to the present, or the timeline they stand in.