Marcus Garvey praised AME Church

BY Devon Dick

I WAS privileged to have been asked by The African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church to give the Centenary Lecture during the Jamaica conference of the 16th Episcopal District Meeting which was held last Saturday. The topic was 'Race, Class and Church Identity: A stymied existence (The Limitations of the work of Missions and Socio-political Consciousness in the AME in Jamaica, 1912-2012)'. The topic was indicative that the church is conscious of its activist role as it seeks to grow the church.

In 1912, the AME church was established in Jamaica but was only incorporated by an Act of Parliament in 1969. The AME church is not to be confused with AME Zion, which was incorporated in Jamaica in 1917 and which is more Afrocentric in its worship and outlook.

The AME Church locates her roots in the family of Methodist churches. The AME Church is Episcopal, meaning that the chief executive and administrative officers of the denomination are bishops. Their responsibilities are to oversee the affairs of the church, including ordaining deacons and elders and organising mission. The term 'African' means that the church was organised by people of African descent but it does not mean the church was founded in Africa.

Church origins

Richard Allen, the founder and first bishop, formed the AME Church when, in 1787, he and other Christians left the St Georges Methodist Episcopal Church in response to racism experienced there and began a movement in Philadelphia, USA. Allen and Jones were preachers but to African congregations only. In addition, persons of African origin were made to sit in a separate gallery.

In a search of the Gleaner archives for the 100 years of AME's existence in Jamaica, it was discovered that Marcus Garvey, now National Hero, praised Allen profusely. There was a function to honour Allen who had died in 1831. The Gleaner journalist reporting on the event said that the treat was Garvey's address. He spoke "with his characteristic eloquence and philosophical treatment of his subject". Garvey lamented that there were few things the Negroes could boast about as innovators but Allen was a pioneer in religion. In the 1930s, there were 1,000 AME churches all over the USA, Africa, Central and South America and the West Indies. Garvey felt the youth of the country should know more about Allen and be inspired by him. Allen was born into slavery but he mastered his environment and used his God-given talents to challenge the status quo and racism within the church ('Honour Memory of AME Founder', The Gleaner, February 14, 1935). Allen allowed people of African descent to have self-respect, dignity and the freedom to worship God and to participate fully in the building of God's kingdom.

Church statement

More Jamaicans need to appreciate the rich history of the AME church. That church, like the Native Baptists of Jamaica in 1837, and the Native Wesleyan Methodist of the same era, and the New Testament Church of God in England in 1953, which were all formed in reaction to racial prejudice in the Church, has left an example. It is a statement that the Church can successfully challenge the status quo. It is a statement also that persons of African origin can manage church and society.

Furthermore, the AME church was politically astute. In 1986, the AME praised both the Government for trying its best and the People's National Party as a model opposition party. They also bemoaned the declining health services. What would the AME say about the Jamaica Labour Party and People's National Party today?

The AME and the wider church community need to challenge any issue of prejudice within and without the Church that maintains that people of African origin are inferior, and to continue expressing political opinions on the state of the nation.

Devon Dick is pastor of the Boulevard Baptist Church in St Andrew. Comments to columns@gleanerjm.com