Absalom Jones, portrait by Raphaelle Peale, from Wikimedia Commons
Old St. George’s Church, photo by Beyond My Ken for Wikimedia Commons
St. George’s Methodist Church in Philadelphia is, according to its website, “the oldest house of Methodist worship in continuous use in America.” It was at St. George’s Church that one of John Wesley’s first missionaries to America “made the first public statement in America” of Methodist doctrine and tenets. It was at St. George’s Church that Bishop Francis Asbury preached his first sermon on American soil in 1771.
And, in the way that the history of white and Black persons in this country is inextricably intertwined, it was at St. George’s Church in 1784 that Absalom Jones and Richard Allen, two Black men who had been born into slavery, became the first two Black men to be licensed as preachers in the Methodist Church. Although Jones and Allen were licensed to preach to Black worshipers, white worshipers undoubtedly also heard them. Black worshipers in Philadelphia found a spiritual home at St. George’s Church in the 1780s, worshiping alongside white worshipers. Because Pennsylvania legally abolished slavery in 1780, freeing all slaves born thereafter in the state, it became a haven for formerly enslaved persons who had bought their freedom or escaped from their masters, and living there meant freedom for their children. Jones and Allen became leaders of the Black worshipers there, and the number of Black persons attending the church continued to increase under their leadership.
But on a Sunday in 1791 or 1792, as the Black worshipers arrived at church for services, they were approached by white congregants and asked to sit in the church’s balcony. Prior to that time, everyone worshiped together in the nave. Jones and Allen, and apparently most or all of the other Black worshipers, left the church, never to return.
Black worshipers left the church, never to return.
The walkout became a historic moment in the life of St. George’s Church – and in the lives of Black Christians in the United States.
Whatever disappointment they may have felt after the attempt to segregate them at St. George’s Church, the Black worshipers continued to meet independently in a rented space, but even that was fraught with concern about whether the owner of the space would continue to rent to an unaffiliated group. They needed to organize as an official church. But as the Black worshipers had already discovered at St. George’s Church when they had been asked to sit in a balcony, freedom did not include the ability to determine their own fate within established White denominations.
Jones apparently sought out Bishop William White, the first presiding bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America (now The Episcopal Church), asking how the Black worshipers might become part of that new denomination. The new Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States was a direct descendant of the Church of England, which colonizers brought to this soil when they settled here.
At the core of Jones’ request was that they be received as an organized body of worshipers with control over their own church affairs.
At the core of Jones’ request was that they be received as an organized body of worshipers with control over their own church affairs. After the experience at St. George’s Church, the decision of Jones and the others to trust Bishop White and the new Protestant Episcopal Church was both a courageous and risky one. The Black worshipers might fare no better with the Episcopal Church than they had with the Methodist Church. Though the Revolutionary War had meant a clear break from the Church of England and Britain’s continued participation in the slave trade, members of this new American Episcopal Church included slave owners.
But Bishop William White, a staunch supporter of the American revolutionaries, was indeed no ordinary cleric of his time, and his commitment to the religious and educational life in his community may have been a draw to Jones and those who had once gathered at St. George’s Church. White helped author the new Episcopal Church’s first constitution and advocated for the representation of lay persons in church leadership. But more than his work with The Episcopal Church, White made a name for himself in the Philadelphia area as a supporter of education and of the marginalized and outcast. In addition to serving as chaplain to the Continental Congress and as a trustee of the University of Pennsylvania, White is credited with having founded Philadelphia’s Magdalen Society, which helped young women forge new beginnings after turning away from prostitution.
The Diocese of Pennsylvania welcomed the new church – the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas – in 1794.
White supported Jones’ proposal, and the Diocese of Pennsylvania welcomed the new church – the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas – as a congregation in 1794. In 1795, Jones made history again, when he became the first Black man to be ordained as an Episcopal deacon; he became the first Black man ordained as an Episcopal priest in 1802, at age 56.
Absalom Jones trusted the fate of a group of Black worshipers to the new Protestant Episcopal Church.
Absalom Jones trusted the fate of a group of Black worshipers to the new Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America. Bishop William White proved that Jones’ trust was not misplaced.
Interestingly, the fact that Bishop White ordained not only Absalom Jones but also William Levington, a Black man who was ordained at the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas, is scarcely mentioned in Bishop White’s biographical accounts. It is easy to speculate that his decision to ordain the two Black men was enormously controversial, considering the fact that both were ordained as slavery continued in this country.
Although Richard Allen and Absalom Jones remained friends and colleagues, Allen continued his commitment to Methodism (He was one of the first Black men to be ordained in the Methodist Church.) In 1816 founded the first national black Christian denomination, the African Methodist Episcopal Church, after bringing suit in the Pennsylvania court system for the right to establish an independent Methodist church.
The Episcopal Church celebrates Absalom Jones on February 13th of each year.
The Episcopal Church celebrates the life and ministry of Absalom Jones as preacher, priest, and committed supporter of the abolitionist movement on February 13th of each year. But no commemoration of Absalom Jones would be complete without acknowledging his history as a leader and preacher at St. George’s Methodist Church, and the courageous support of Bishop William White and The Episcopal Church. The history of both the Methodist and Episcopal Churches is shaped by Absalom Jones, and his story is shaped by both denominations. Jones labored and fought for justice, and he set an example of commitment and perseverance for us all.
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