The origins of this church can be traced to the
John Street Methodist Church of
New York City. Following acts of overt discrimination in New York (such as black parishioners being forced to leave worship), many black Christians left to form their own churches. The first church founded by the AME Zion Church was built in 1800 and was named
Zion; one of the founders was
William Hamilton, a prominent orator and
abolitionist. These early
black churches still belonged to the
Methodist Episcopal Church denomination, although the congregations were independent. During the
Great Awakening, the Methodists and
Baptists had welcomed free blacks and slaves to their congregations and as preachers. The fledgling Zion church grew, and multiple churches developed from the original congregation. These churches were attended by black congregants but ministered to by white
ordained Methodist ministers. In 1820, six of these churches met to ordain
James Varick as an elder, and in 1821 he was made the first General Superintendent of the AME Zion Church. A debate raged within the white-dominated Methodist church over accepting black ministers. This debate ended on July 30, 1822, when Varick was ordained as the first bishop of the AME Zion church, a newly independent denomination. The total membership in 1866 was about 42,000. Two years later, it claimed 164,000 members, as it sent missionaries to the South after the American Civil War to plant new churches with the newly emancipated
freedmen. The AME Zion Church had been part of the
abolitionist movement and became known as the "Freedom Church", because it was associated with the period after emancipation of the slaves. Black churches were integral in helping build communities and develop leadership among the freedmen in the South. Later they played an increasingly powerful role in the
civil rights movement of the mid-20th century. The AME Zion Church remained smaller than the
African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, a denomination started in Philadelphia in the early 19th century, because some of its ministers lacked the authority to perform marriages, and many of its ministers avoided political roles. Its finances were weak, and in general its leadership was not as strong as that of the AME Church. However, it was the leader among all Protestant denominations in ordaining women and giving them powerful roles in the church. An influential leader bishop was
James Walker Hood (1831–1918) of
North Carolina. He not only created and fostered his network of AME Zion churches in North Carolina, but he also was the grand master for the entire South of the
Prince Hall Freemasonry, a secular black fraternal organization that strengthened the political and economic forces inside the black community.
Hood Theological Seminary in
Salisbury, North Carolina, is named in Hood's honor. The Methodist
Holiness movement came to the AME Zion Church, with
Julia A. J. Foote among others preaching the doctrine of
entire sanctification throughout pulpits of the connexion. Foote was the first woman ordained as a
deacon within the connexion in 1894 and "in 1899, was ordained—the second female
elder in her denomination." In 1924
Cameron Chesterfield Alleyne became the church's first resident bishop in Africa. ==Organization==