Our History | Bethel A.M.E Church

The founding of the African Methodist Episcopal Church

The AMEC grew out of the Free African Society (FAS) which Richard Allen, Absalom Jones, and others established in Philadelphia in 1787. When officials at St. George’s MEC pulled blacks off their knees while praying, FAS members discovered just how far American Methodists would go to enforce racial discrimination against African Americans. Hence, these members of St. George’s made plans to transform their mutual aid society into an African congregation. Although most wanted to affiliate with the Protestant Episcopal Church, Allen led a small group who resolved to remain Methodists. In 1794 Bethel AME was dedicated with Allen as pastor. To establish Bethel’s independence from interfering white Methodists, Allen, a former Delaware slave, successfully sued in the Pennsylvania courts in 1807 and 1815 for the right of his congregation to exist as an independent institution. Because black Methodists in other middle Atlantic communities encountered racism and desired religious autonomy, Allen called them to meet in Philadelphia to form a new Wesleyan denomination, the AME.

Today, the African Methodist Episcopal Church has membership in twenty Episcopal Districts in thirty-nine countries on five continents. The work of the Church is administered by twenty-one active bishops, and nine General Officers who manage the departments of the Church.

Dennis C. Dickerson
Retired General Officer

The Founding of Bethel AME San Antonio

In 1889 a few members from St. James A.M.E. Church came together to establish a church on the East Side of San Antonio. A small frame church was built that same year. The church was later rebuilt at the current location and the corner stone was laid on November 21, 1915. The Right Reverend Charles Spencer Smith was Bishop of Texas at that time. Bethel was built at a cost of $3,000 and was paid for in five years. The first parsonage was built one year later.

The Pastors who have faithfully served Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church through the years include Reverends Dee Claybrooks, C. E. Holmes, H.L. Handley, D.J. Hill, J.N. Lynn, D.S. Moten, A.D. Miller, R. W. Mason, I.D. Cooper, I. Russell, H.P. Evans, F.T. Moten, J.B. Butler, J.W. McDade, J.R. M. Lee, M.C. McKenna, P.D. Sadler, C. Harold Stepteau, L.C. Wade, R.C. Walker, H.G. Johnson, A.W. Harvey, H.F. Cooper, T.L. Sanders, J. Francis Baker, A.R. Nelson, Lorenzo E. Ausbie, Dr. I.C. Gordon, Richard Tankerson, Rev. Dr. Sarah F. Davis, Tiate Carson,

Rev. Dr. W. Raymond Bryant, Dr. Juan N. Tolliver, and current Dr. Melvin D. Wilson, Jr.