First African Presbyterian Church, the nation’s oldest African American Presbyterian Church, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was founded in 1807 by former Tennessee slave John Gloucester. This church is the fourth of the first five African American churches founded in the city of Philadelphia. After gaining … Read MoreFirst African Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1807- )
Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church (Bethel A.M.E.), Baltimore lays claim to the designation as the oldest independent continuously operating African American church in the state of Maryland tracing its origins back to 1785 when a group of African Americans met at the Strawberry Alley meetinghouse. This is one of … Read MoreBethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Baltimore, Maryland (1785- )
Mount Olive Missionary Baptist Church in Nashville, Tennessee is one of three churches that evolved out of Nashville’s historic First Colored Baptist Church (1865-1891). It traces its origins back to black members of First Baptist Church who first met to hold prayer services in 1835. … Read MoreMount Olive Missionary Baptist Church (1835- )
Historic Pleasant Green Missionary Baptist Church, located in downtown Lexington, Kentucky has the oldest African American active congregation west of the Alleghany Mountains. Historic Pleasant Green Missionary Baptist Church was originally founded as part of First African Baptist Church in 1790 by a slave preacher … Read MoreHistoric Pleasant Green Missionary Baptist Church (1790- )
Bethel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church is the oldest continuously operating black church in Portland, Oregon. It was founded by 20 people in 1889 in the home of Phillip Jenkins and organized under its current name. Its first pastor was Reverend S.S. Freeman who was … Read MoreBethel African Methodist Episcopal Church (1889- )
“Image Ownership: Public Domain” Ezion-Mount Carmel United Methodist Church, formerly known as Ezion Methodist Episcopal Church and Mount Carmel Methodist Episcopal Church, has the distinction of being the oldest continuously operating black church in the state of Delaware. Ezion Methodist Episcopal Church was created by … Read MoreEzion-Mount Carmel United Methodist Church, Wilmington, Delaware (1789- )
Mt. Pisgah African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME) in Elsinboro, New Jersey, is the oldest African American church in the state. It is also the oldest continuously operating Black church in the United States. The church was officially founded in 1754 by Rueben Cuff, the son … Read MoreMt. Pisgah African Methodist Episcopal Church, Elsinboro, New Jersey (1754- )
First Missionary Baptist Church in Little Rock, Arkansas is the oldest black church in the state. It was founded by Reverend Wilson Brown, a self-taught slave minister, in 1845. Brown had attended the predominantly white church Missionary Baptist in Little Rock but felt led by … Read MoreFirst Missionary Baptist Church, Little Rock Arkansas (1845- )
“Image Ownership: 25or6to4 (CC BY-SA 4.0)” St. John African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church in Topeka, Kansas was officially organized in 1877 when it was chartered by Reverend John M. Wilkerson of the Missouri African Methodist Episcopal Conference. In 1868, nine years before the charter, however, … Read MoreSt. John African Methodist Episcopal Church, Topeka, Kansas (1868- )
First Baptist Church in St. Louis, founded as First African Baptist Church, is the oldest continuously operating black church in Missouri. The precursor to the church was founded by John Peck and James Welch, two white Baptist missionaries sent west in 1817 by the Baptist … Read MoreFirst Baptist Church, St. Louis, Missouri (1817- )
