Richard Allen

Once a slave, who paid for his freedom through working off his master's debt, Richard Allen became a fiery preacher and proponent for the free worship of African-Americans.  In 1799 he was officially ordained as the first black deacon of the Methodist Church, and opened the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the first fully independent black denomination in America.

As Richard sought God for a way to bring his people out of poverty and shame, God guided him through a process that made a tremendous difference in many lives - not only of the citizens of Philadelphia but also of many black heroes to come.  Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, and Biddy Mason all attended the AME church.

If we are lazy and idle, 

the enemies of freedom plead it as a cause 

why we ought not to be free, 

and that giving us our liberty would be an injury to us.  

By such conduct we strengthen the bands of oppression, 

and keep many in bondage.  

Will our friends excuse - will God pardon us - 

for the part we act in making strong the hands of the enemies of our color?

Richard Allen

(1760-1831)