Macedonia A.M.E. Church (1811) Flushing, Queens, NY

*MACEDONIA A.M.E. CHURCH OF FLUSHING QUEEN, NEW YORK. AFRIAN AMERIANS IN FLUSHING, NEW YORK (1802) FLUSHING QUEEN NEW YORK (c. FLUSHING QUEEN HISTORICAL SOCIETY

The African Methodist Society, forerunner of the present Macedonia Church, was founded in 1811, becoming the third religious organization in Flushing, Queens, New York.  In the same year, the members purchased a part of a lower

farm on which a building would be erected for religious services.  Missionaries were sent from Philadelphia to establish the first A.M.E. Mission in New York in 1818.  The Reverend Henry Hearden was sent to New York to head this Mott Street mission, which was located on what is now Mott Street in New York City.  In 1821, the Rev. Hearden was sent to Macedonia, becoming the first A.M.E. minister to serve there.

The years between 1821 through 1831 saw a group of various ministers aid in the continued growth of Macedonia.  In 1844, Reverend Joseph Quinn was consecrated a bishop. In 1837, the first church edifice was built on approximately the same location as that of the present church.  In the years before the Civil War, members of the congregation and its pastor Edward Africanus were active in the early struggle for African-American civil rights. It is also believed that the church served as a station on the Underground Railroad, which transported slaves to safe havens.

In 1996, Reverend Nicholas Genevieve Tweed joined Macedonia African Methodist Episcopal Church, after three years of serving the Allen Chapel in Hartford, Connecticut. His goal for the church is that it maintains its commitment to social justice and economic development.

(SOURCE: MACEDONIA AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH)