The Pursuit of Justice & Equality at the Bethel AME Church - by Kathryn Kaslow

For 84 years, a small, unassuming building on Plum Street served as a center of Black activism in Westerville.

This building was the local African Methodist Episcopal (AME) church, whose roots can be traced back to Philadelphia almost 100 years earlier. The denomination grew out of the Free African Society (FAS), a religious mutual aid organization established in 1787 by Black ministers Richard Allen and Absalom Jones to support Philadelphia’s free Black population. As Allen and others began to experience increasing racial discrimination and segregation at their Methodist church due to the growing numbers of Black attendees, they decided to leave and start their own place of worship. In 1816, Allen’s congregation joined with other Black Methodists in Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey to establish the African Methodist Episcopal denomination.[1]

Others throughout the country were also drawn to the AME’s emphasis on racial justice. Westerville’s African-American population grew quickly in the years after the Civil War, and originally they worshipped in the town’s white churches. We do not know what their experiences were like in these congregations, but in the late 1870s, they started Bethel AME Church to be able to “worship in the fullest freedom.” The group initially met on the second story of a small building on State Street.[2] In 1881, James Birkhead, Jack Holliday, Squire Fouse, Levi Williams, and Joseph M. Williams (all church trustees) purchased the Plum Street property so their congregation could have its own permanent home.[3]

Until 1965, when Bethel’s membership had dramatically declined and the building was razed, the church hosted Sunday services, holiday celebrations, weddings, funerals, and socials. It was a place where Black Westerville residents came to rejoice, where they came to mourn, and where they came to pray about the things in life that were most important to them. Church members continued to explore themes of racial justice together, even performing an original play showing “the progress of the race from slavery until the present time.” Proceeds benefited the church.[4] They also took their convictions out into the wider community by becoming involved in local politics and advocating for equal rights for Black Americans.[5]

The importance of community, justice, and equality to Bethel AME members was perhaps best expressed in the minister’s message on the church’s 66th anniversary: “The Race issue is still a ‘thorn in the side’ of glorious America…Christian people of various races who cannot live together as members of a common Christian family on earth, certainly cannot expect to inherit the Kingdom of God. This is a fact the Church must face today. Let us make the Church a living example of the Brotherhood of Man, not just a monument to ‘unattainable’ ideals. The IMPORTANT thing now, is not so much what a religion is in theory, but what it proves itself to be by practice…We must make ‘Love thy neighbor’ a reality, not just a tenet.”[6]

-Kathryn Kaslow

1] Richard Allen, The Life, Experience, and Gospel Labours of the Rt. Rev. Richard Allen; To Which is Annexed, The Rise and Progress of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States of America (Philadelphia: Martin and Boden, 1833).

 [2] “Works Progress Administration Survey of State and Local Historical Records: 1936” (C107002), 1936, File on Churches: African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) (C107), Westerville History Museum.

 [3] “Deed of the African Methodist Episcopal Church on Plum Street” (C107003), January 4, 1881, File on Churches: African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) (C107), Westerville History Museum.

 [4] Untitled Public Opinion newspaper article (C107014), 12/15/1910, File on Churches: African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) (C107), Westerville History Museum.

 [5] Westerville History Museum, "Racism in Westerville History," Westerville Public Library, last modified January 23, 2023, https://westervillelibrary.org/racism-history.

 [6] “Sixty-Sixth Anniversary Celebration of Bethel A.M.E. Church” (C107004), 10/1/1944, File on Churches: African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) (C107), Westerville History Museum.

[1] Richard Allen, The Life, Experience, and Gospel Labours of the Rt. Rev. Richard Allen; To Which is Annexed, The Rise and Progress of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States of America (Philadelphia: Martin and Boden, 1833).

[2] “Works Progress Administration Survey of State and Local Historical Records: 1936” (C107002), 1936, File on Churches: African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) (C107), Westerville History Museum.

[3] “Deed of the African Methodist Episcopal Church on Plum Street” (C107003), January 4, 1881, File on Churches: African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) (C107), Westerville History Museum.

[4] Untitled Public Opinion newspaper article (C107014), 12/15/1910, File on Churches: African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) (C107), Westerville History Museum.

[5] Westerville History Museum, "Racism in Westerville History," Westerville Public Library, last modified January 23, 2023, https://westervillelibrary.org/racism-history.