The Legacy, Mission, & Purpose
The Legacy, Mission, & Purpose
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ESTABLISHMENT DATE OF JUNE 1987 FOR PROVIDENCE A.M.E
African Methodist Church - Philadelphia, PA. 1787
Est. Providence A.M.E - Lompoc, CA. 1987
Est. Saint Philip A.M.E - Santa Maria, CA. 1990
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The A.M.E. beliefs emphasize that Methodism does not prioritize doctrinal biases or pronouncements. The founding fathers of the family of Methodist bodies, including the A.M.E. (African Methodist Episcopal) Church, have never prioritized doctrinal biases or strict dogmas.
The founders of the various Methodist denominations emphasized the fundamental scriptural and spiritual truths that shape human life.
As A.M.E's, we adhere to the principles taught in the Judeo-Christian Bible basic scriptural inner and spiritual reality of man’s life.
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As African Methodist Episcopal's, we hold to the tenets taught in the Judaic-Christian Bible:
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1. There is one living and true God, the creator and sustainer of all things.
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2. The Godhead is united as three persons in one: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
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3. Jesus, the Son of God, is the Lord who brought together both divine and human natures. He gave his life for the sins of humanity.
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4. Jesus not only died for our sins, but he also rose from the dead, ascended into heaven, and will one day return to earth.
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5. We believe in the presence of the Holy Spirit, who works with the power and authority of God.
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6. Everything necessary for the salvation of people is found in the sixty-six books of the Bible.
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7. There is no division between the Old and New Testaments because Jesus Christ connects them as one complete message.
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8. Water baptism is a sign that sets believers in Christ apart from non-believers.
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9. True and authentic baptism brings about a spiritual change and happens only when the Holy Spirit makes a genuine impact on a willing heart.
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The Foundations of Our Faith: God, who is the highest expression of love, has given moral laws that set apart worshipers of the one true God from those who follow false gods and beliefs.
The Gospel teaches us the duties and responsibilities God asks of humanity, his creation.
As African Methodists, we recognize two divine revelations as proof of our love, loyalty, faith, and our special relationship with God.
The Ten Commandments in Verse:
1. Thou shalt have no other Gods but me.
2. Before no idol bow their knee.
3. Take not the name of God in vain
4. Nor dare the Sabbath-day profane
5. Give both thy parents honor due
6. Take heed that thou no murder do
7. Abstain from words and deeds unclean
B. Nor steal tho’ thou art poor and mean
9. Nor make a willful lie, nor love it
l0.What is thy neighbor’s dare nor cove
The Articles of Faith
I (we) believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ his only begotten son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary suffered under Pontius Pilate; was crucified, dead and buried. On the third day, He arose from the dead, he ascended to heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I (we) believe in the Church universal, the communion of Saints, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.-Amen.
The A.M.E. Legacy The birthing of the A.M.E. church was due, not merely to social protest: It is also the specific response of an oppressed people, and based upon their understanding of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
The A.M.E. church was born at a time greatly akin to the plight of our people in today’s society. The great urge and passion of the people at that time was to satisfy the theological and social needs of enslaved people. The interest was more redemptive than doctrinal. The actions and events during the period of the 1780s do not diminish but witness to the salvation history and its emphasis on liberation and reconciliation as proclaimed by the Old Testament prophets and fulfilled in Jesus by his consistent action on behalf of the disinherited and the disadvantaged.
Of great significance, in the A.M.E. legacy, was the decision of the founding fathers to accept the socio-religious philosophy of John Wesley and the Methodist Episcopal Church. The Episcopal form of church government was of foremost importance to a people who had been restricted under slavery from governing themselves. Likewise, the Methodist emphasis on education had particular appeal to people deprived of formal education.
The adherence and application of the tenets of Jesus, the principles of John Wesley, and the insights of Richard Allen have contributed to establishing the “Genius of African Methodism.”
The A.M.E. Mission
Because of the legacy provided by Richard Allen and the early society of free persons of African descent, the A.M.E. church of the 21st century must remember, first of all, that we are the family of Christ. As Christ’s family members, we must be conscious of bearing a close resemblance to the living gift of God. This means that we, as distinctive “hearers and doers of the Word of God”, are to be living expressions of the faith (Christianity) that excludes no one.
It is from the inclusiveness of our Christ-centered social consciousness (affirmed in our motto: “God our Father, Christ our Redeemer, Man our Brother”), that we must engage humankind.
The Church of African Methodism must not forsake the inheritance from that earlier society of free people of African heritage; the heritage of the Church of “A liberating and reconciling people.”
To carry this heritage forth as our mission for the 21st century it is altogether fitting that our church be in the very center of action for peace and equality and a striving of justice for all men. This precept is the essential heart of the Christian faith. Our church must continue to identify with the poor and the oppressed peoples of this earth. ‘We must give higher visibility to the A.M.E. legacy of self-help, self-reliance, self-development, and self-identity as viable tools for reclaiming victory in the struggle for human dignity in the face of Satan’s attempts to dehumanize the fiber of our society.
The A.M.E. Purpose ​
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The mission of the African Methodist Episcopal Church is to minister to the spiritual, intellectual, physical, and emotional needs of all people, by spreading Christ’s liberating Gospel through word and deed. Each local church of the African Methodist Episcopal Church shall be engaged in carrying out the spirit of the original society of free Africans, out of which the A.M.E. Church evolved.
The Purpose of the A.M.E. Church, put in line with Christ’s directive in Luke 19, is to “seek out and have the lost” and serve the needy through a continuing program of:
1. Preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ
2. Feeding the Hungry
3. Clothing the Naked ‘r
4. Housing the Homeless
5. Cheering the fallen
6. Providing jobs for the jobless
7. Administering to the needs of those in prisons, hospitals, nursing homes, asylums and mental institutions, orphan’s and senior citizen’s homes
8. Encouraging thrift as a means of elevating the economic station and condition of the families and community served by the local church
9. Establishing means for meeting the educational needs of membership and community
The active participation of each member is required to fulfill the purpose of the church.