In the first decade of the American nation, a former slave turned itinerant minister by the name of Richard Allen found himself preaching to a growing number of blacks in Philadelphia. He came to both a religious and organizational revelation. \u201cI saw the necessity,\u201d\u009d he later wrote, \u201cof erecting a place of worship for the colored people.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n
Allen\u2019s inspiration ultimately took the forms of Bethel African Church, founded in 1794, and the African Methodist Episcopal denomination, established in 1799. As much as it can be dated to anything, the emergence of a formal African-American Christianity can be dated to Allen\u2019s twin creations.<\/p>\n
Over more than two centuries since then, the Black Church has become a proper noun, a fixture, a seeming monolith in American society. Its presence is as prevalent as film clips of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivering the \u201cI Have a Dream\u201d\u009d speech and contestants on \u201cAmerican Idol\u201d\u009d indulging in the gospel style of melisma.<\/p>\n