African Methodist Episcopal Churches

African Methodist Episcopal worship is grounded in the traditions of John Wesley and Richard Allen, founder of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1797. Worship is African, liturgical, kerygmatic, charismatic, and democratic. Its special emphases are on preaching and participation, with focus on the altar call. Transplanted Africans in America, under the leadership of Richard Allen, shaped Wesleyan worship with the ardor of their African tradition. Like their African forebears, they worship with body, mind, and soul. The genius of the black church is worship. Worship is the heart of the black church. The black church was born out of the need to commune with God. African Methodism is a part of the larger Methodist tradition, and Richard Allen, founding the African Methodist Church in 1797, preserved many of the elements of the Wesleyan tradition. Thus one aspect of African Methodist worship is the liturgical. The Book of Discipline of the AME Church states that the order of se…