The Movement of Liberation in the African Methodist Episcopal Church

INTRODUCTION

The African Methodist Episcopal Church was founded on the Principle of Liberation. From its humble beginning on November, 1787 when Richard Allen and other Blacks were pulled off their knees while praying in St. George Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, up to the present day when African Methodists are at the forefront of the struggle for liberation.

In this thesis paper, I will deal with the Movement of Liberation in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. I will discuss the history of the Methodist Episcopal Church and their doctrine and treatment of Blacks living freely in the North and as slaves in the South. After dealing with the Methodist Episcopal Church, I will go into the division between whites and Blacks in the Methodist Episcopal Church. I will move on to discuss the rise of the African Methodist Episcopal Church and her quest for Liberation. In its quest for liberation, many of the Blacks used the Biblical theme of freedom as their driving force. I will also discuss the history of the Black Church in general to set the tone and to give a feeling of the atmosphere at the time of the emerging of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.

In this thesis paper, I will show how Blacks in our history used the Bible to prove that God is on the side of the oppressed and seeks their liberation; that racism is a sin and to practice racism is going against the will of God. The God of the Bible is against racism. This paper will also list some of the liberating messages of the Bible. I will show how the Movement of Liberation moved from one era to another; when the Movement of Liberation has been dealt with, I will tell of the many different ways in which we can move toward becoming more liberating.

To liberate means to set free from oppression; to be free from anything or anyone who is oppressing or trying to hold someone down or back. Liberation is the act of liberating. Liberation is when there is a movement that is seeking equal rights and equal status for a group. “Liberation is personal and social. It is particular and it is universal. Liberation, conceived as personal and social, particular and universal, can address all sorts and conditions of men”. Liberation is also seen as being free from suffering. William R. Jones stated, “If Black liberation is the goal of Black theology, Black suffering, in the final analysis, is its starting point. To regard liberation as the necessitate its opposite, suffering as oppression, is an aspect of the summarily. The precondition for Black liberation as the objective for Black theology is the prior affirmation of Black suffering as oppressive”.

Liberation theology is very important for our church. “Liberation has an inner and outer meaning for the development of Black Christian spirituality. Outwardly, it means exercising the power to throw off the economic, political, and ideological yoke of oppression. Inwardly, liberation means freedom from the internalization of oppression to arrive at a proper sense of self and right relation with God and the world. Persons are not sustained in liberation praxis by only crusading for social change, but through continuous events of inward liberation and reflection on ministry. Inward liberation is not only a prerequisite for social transformation; it preserves the revolutionary sense of purpose after social action and transformation”.

The Movement of Liberation in the African Methodist Episcopal Church was there at the beginning of its development and liberation is very much a part of us now. Our mission statement is a statement of liberation.

Doctrinal Affirmation of the African Methodist Episcopal Church

Section I The Mission and Purpose of the Church

“The mission of the African Methodist Episcopal Church is to minister to the spiritual, intellectual, physical and emotional, and environmental needs of all people by spreading Christ’s liberating gospel through word and deed. At every level of the connection and in every local church, the African Methodist Episcopal Church shall engage in carrying out the spirit of the original Free African Society, out of which the A.M.E. Church evolved; that is, to seek out and save the lost, and serve the needy through a continuing program of1) preaching the gospel, 2) feeding the hungry, 3) clothing the naked, 4) housing the homeless, 5) cheering the fallen, 6) providing jobs for the jobless, 7) administering to the needs of those in prisons, hospitals, nursing homes, asylums and mental institutions, senior citizens’ homes; caring for the sick, the shut-in, the mentally and socially disturbed, and 8)encouraging thrift and economic advancement”.