It is generally thought that African religious origins are only found in South American and the Caribbean, but they are also seen in North America. African American religious traditions in North America preserve the zeal of African derived religions and are combined with social activism.

There are four pillars of Afro-Christian Traditions that are at the core of early African based worship. They are preaching, prayer, testimony, and music. Preaching is open to both men and women because of the important role of women play in African derived religions. Prayer focuses on Jesus as a friend, especially in times of distress. Testimony helps to maintain the church’s therapeutic role in the community, and allows the congregation to share with one another and look to God for affirmation together. Last but not least, music allows the leaders and the congregation to come together in worship and is also the most prominent role of women in the church.

During the Antebellum Era, African Americans began to convert to Christianity. In the North, freed blacks established the African Methodist Episcopal Church and African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. In the South, post emancipation blacks formed the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church. These religions were established in a response to racial discrimination against African Americans. Many other denominations of Christianity and other religions have formed and have a large following today. We have studied many of these religions in our Religious Traditions of the African Diaspora class at The College of New Jersey. The following is a summary of our findings.

The African Methodist Episcopal Church

The African Methodist Episcopal Church began in 1787 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by Richard Allen, a freed slave. The movement’s was in response to racial discrimination and its purpose was to organize a church separate from the white church. African Americans needed an opportunity to express themselves in the worship community and in society as a whole. In 1816, all of the followers united and formed the African Methodist Episcopal Church with Richard Allen as their first Bishop. The church is also responsible for currently operating eleven institutes of higher education.

The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church

The ideas behind this movement began to form in New York City in 1765 with a very small following. This movement was also in response to racial discrimination. In 1769 the church was established in New York City at the John’s Street Church. The church is very similar to the AME Church, but the title of denomination, "Zion," was added in 1848, being the name of the Mother Church in New York City.

Father Divine

Father Divine began the Peace Mission Movement in 1919. Father Divine bought hotels, which he entitled Peace Missions Heavens, and he provided food, shelter, a job, and a reformed life for his followers. According to the tenets of the religion, Father Divine is the messiah and his coming fulfills the prophecies of the New and Old Testament. He preaches that America is the birthplace of God, and the movement boast of churches throughout the Unites States as well as in Australia and Switzerland. The movement has followers of all racial backgrounds, achieving its goal to promote equality.

The Black Baptist Church

In 1788 when Andrew Bryan, a former slave, organized one of the earliest Black Baptist churches in North America. Bryan began preaching while a slave in Chatham County, Georgia. In 1788, he purchased his freedom and formed a congregation chartered under the name of First Bryan Baptist Church. In 1832, a dispute over doctrine split the church into two congregations, the First Bryan Baptist Church and the First African Baptist Church. The church serves as a social, cultural, political, and family center for the black community. The members enter in covenant with one another as one body in Christ and walk with one another in Christianly love. 

Black Catholic Churches

The Imani Temple Catholic Church

The Imani Temple was begun by Archbishop George Stallings, Jr. in 1990 because he felt that the orthodox Catholic Church was not adequately inclusive for African Americans. It is modeled after the Catholic Church, although it broke away from the orthodox Catholic Church claiming that it was racist. The Imani Temple allows for the ordination of women and gives optional celibacy for priests, unlike the orthodox Catholic Church. Archbishop Stallings was excommunicated from the Catholic Church. 

The Church of God in Christ (COGIC)

COGIC was founded and organized by Elder Charles Harrison Mason. In 1895, Mason met with Elders CP Jones, JE Jeter, and WS Pleasant to revive Pentecostal ministry. There was a joint revival in 1896 and many other revivals attracted even more attention to the movement. Like other Christian denominations, they believe in the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, but they also believe in prayer having the ability to physically heal the human body. The First National Tabernacle Temple was built in 1925 and destroyed by fire in 1936. Mason Temple was built in Memphis, Tennessee during World War II and was the largest convention hall owned by any black religious group in America.

Black Presbyterian Churches

The Black Presbyterian Churches began with slavery. In the early 19^th century there were efforts to convert Southern slaves and free Northern slaves to Presbyterianism. In 1807, John Gloucester (ex-slave) organized the first African American Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Other churches were also started in New York, New Jersey, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. The Presbyterian efforts were less successful in the South than those of the Methodists and Baptists because Presbyterians supported the notion of slavery. The Presbyterian Church has established schools for African Americans in the South such as Lincoln Universityand Stillman College.

Nation of Islam

Elijah Poole (Muhammad) was the founder of the Nation of Islam. He believed that Allah (God) appeared to him in 1930 in the form of Wallace D. Fard. Through "Fard" Elijah was taught the Secret Wisdom of the Reality of God. This included knowledge about the founders of civilization on Earth and the Universal Order of Things. The Nation of Islam differs from traditional Islam in that Elijah focused on black oppression and equated Satan and evil with the white race. In the 1950’s Muhammad appointed Malcolm X the national spokesman for the Nation. In 1964 Malcolm X left the Nation of Islam, converted to traditional Islam, and was later assassinated because of his rejection of radical black supremacy. The current leader is Louis Farrakhan.

*For more detailed information on these topics, please reference the power point presentations completed by our class*

The African Methodist Episcopal and the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Churches and Father Divine
The Black Baptist and IMANI TEMPLE Catholic Churches
The Church of God in Christ (COGIC), Black Presbyterian Churches, and the Nation of Islam

http://www.ame-church.org/
This is a source of information on the African Methodist Episcopal Church. It gave a history of the church, how it was founded, who founded it, as well as the reasons for the establishment of the church. It also provides information on what the church is doing currently and information about the current leaders.

http://www.libertynet.org/iha/tour/_bethel.html
This is an excellent site found for the African Methodist Episcopal Church. This gave an extremely detailed history of Richard Allen’s involvement in creating the AME Church. It also gives information on the reasons behind the start of the church.

http://www.amezion.org/
This site was most helpful in finding information on the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. It gives a brief history of the origins, provides links to other sites, and explains the aims of the church. Really, it can provide almost anything you need if you search through the table of contents.

http://www.americanreligion.org/cultwtch/frdivine.html
This site labels the Peace Mission Movement as a cult and provides a great deal of information about Father Divine’s life and the birth of his movement.

http://www.cogic.org
This site provides information on the history and beliefs of the Church of God in Christ. It also gives information on the current leaders, and has lots of nice pictures. This site gives links to other pages; however, the strange set up of the page makes it hard to maneuver around.

http://www.pcusa.org
This is a very useful site for the Black Presbyterian Church. It provides information on the people, their beliefs, current news, the statement of faith, and also links to other pages.

http://www.noi.org
This gives great information on the Nation of Islam. It gives a history of the Nation of Islam, an historical look at Elijah Muhammad, and a sketch of Louis Farrakhan.

http://www.churchsurf.com/churches/category.htm
This site is very large and confusing. You would be better off with a narrower search for a particular church than using this site to find a denomination.

http://www.divinelove.org
This site does not provide easy-access information on Father Divine or the Peace Mission Movement. It provides many links to areas of interest surrounding Father Divine, but the other links suggested on this page are really much more accessible for research on the topic in general.

Links for the African Methodist Episcopal Church:
http://www.ame-church.org/
http://www.libertynet.org/iha/tour/_bethel.html

Links for the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church:
http://www.amezion.org/
http://www.amezion.org/docstand.htm

Links for Father Divine:
http://www.libertynet.org/
http://www.americanreligion.org

Links for the Church of God in Christ:
http://www.cogic.org

Links for the Black Presbyterian Church:
http://www.pcanet.org
http://www.pcusa.org
http://www.asiweb.com/churches/
http://www.churchsurf.com/churches/category.htm

Links for the Nation of Islam:
http://www.noi.org/
http://encarta.msn.com/encartahome.asp?br=0&vs=x99&z=1&pg=2&ti=0343A000&view=contents
http://www.watchman.org/cultindx.htm#N

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