African Methodist Episcopal Zion Churches

The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church (AME Zion) has been at the forefront of efforts to improve the quality of life for African Americans. Worship services, as well as other church activities, highlight the church's role in social ministries, education, and the recognition of the leadership of women. The church founded by James Varick and other African Americans in 1796 prides itself on being the church of liberation. Zion Methodism has been in the forefront of involvement in the pressures that negatively influence the wholeness of the communities it serves. This church began as a way to better incorporate the power of the Holy Spirit and the dignity of the human spirit. We are the church that continues the work of Harriet Tubman, maintaining and enlarging her property in New York state. Zion's Bishop Walters was a part of the Niagara Movement, out of which the NAACP was born. Paul Robeson's father was an AME Zion pastor, while Frederick Douglass was an AME Zion local preach…