Portrait Of Richard Allen

Portrait Of Richard Allen

Richard Allen was an American slave who bought his freedom in 1786. He conducted prayer meetings for Black congregants St. George’s Methodist Episcopal Church for a while, but was unhappy with the restrictions that were placed on him there. He left St. George’s to found the first independent Black church in the United States. In 1799, he travelled to England and became the first African American to be officially ordained in the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The African Methodist Episcopal (AME) church was founded in 1816 with Richard Allen as first bishop.