Philadelphia Congregations Started By Founders Of U.S Black Church Movement Unite For Joint Service

Nov. 17, 2011 - PRLog -- Philadelphia, PA: WHEN DISCRIMINATION FORCED RICHARD ALLEN AND ABSALOM JONES TO WALK OUT OF ST. GEORGE’S UNITED METHODIST CHURCH IN 1787, they eventually  went their separate ways and started what has become known as the Black Church Movement in America.  Bishop Allen started Mother Bethel AME Church which still sits on the oldest parcel of land continuously owned by African Americans at the corner of South 6th and Lombard Streets in Philadelphia. Absalom Jones started the first African American Episcopal Church - St. Thomas, also in Philadelphia. Now the two will unite, for the first time during a Sunday morning worship service, THIS Sunday November 20, 2011 at 10am. Mother Bethel members will travel to The African Episcopal Church at St. Thomas located at 6361 Lancaster Avenue in Philadelphia for their 219th church anniversary. The combined worship service is part of the weekend observances of the 15th Annual Liberation Sunday Celebration marked every third Sunday in November.  The festivities are led by members of the Richard Allen Foundtion, under the direction of Mother Ernestine Henning, Supervisor of Missions for the AME Church's Third Episcopal District.  The celebration kicks off with a Youth Forum on Saturday November 19th at 10am at Mother Bethel AME Church located at 419 South 6th Street in Philadelphia.  Rev. Dr. William Green, pastor of Phillips Temple CME church in Philadelphia, will lead the teens in a discussion on The Role of Youth in the Social and Economic Empowerment of the Black Community.  On the same day at 6pm, the celebration moves to Delaware to Mother Union American Methodist Episcopal Church located at 701 East 5th Street in Wilmington. During a ceremony dubbed "The Pageantry of Black Churches" the Richard Allen Foundation will pay tribute to Union AME Founder Peter Spencer, an activist and contemporary of Richard Allen and Absalom Jones.  The weekend culminates with the historic combined worship service between Mother Bethel and African Episcopal Church at St. Thomas. The event is hosted by Father Martini Shaw and Mother Bethel's pastor, Rev. Mark Kelly Tyler, will deliver the morning message. The pastors of Wesley AME Zion and Holsey Temple CME Church will also be on the program.  For more information on the combined worship service contact (215) 925-0616. All media inquiries should be directed to Leslie Patterson Tyler of Tyler Made Productions at (609) 247-2632 or via email at Leslie@TylerMadePR.com.

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