Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church (1817) Lancaster, PA.

Africans in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, desired a church of their own where they could worship God and carry out the mission of the African Methodist Episcopal denomination.  In June 1817, James Clendenin and others solicited support from people at the St. James Episcopal and Trinity Lutheran churches.  In Lancaster as in many other places, African Americans were not freely permitted to establish institutions without the intervention of the ruling class. Upon establishment, Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church immediately became a beacon in the community, giving hope and refuge to free African Americans of Lancaster while providing safe haven to enslaved African Americans fleeing a despotic system by way of the Underground Railroad.

SOURCE: BETHEL AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL