Our beginnings....
History of the A.M.E. Church
The AMEC grew out of the Free African Society(FAS) which Richard Allen, Absalom Jones, and others established in Philadelphia in 1787. The church was organized by African-American members of St. George's Methodist Episcopal Church. The incident that led to this was the removal of Absalom Jones (1746–1818) from St. George's by the trustees while he was in the act of prayer. The congregation supported the act of the trustees, and Allen and Jones led the African-American members out of St. George's as a body. Allen went on to form the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1793.
The Mission
The Mission of the African Methodist Episcopal Church is to minister to the spiritual, intellectual, physical, emotional, and environmental needs of all people by spreading Christ's liberating gospel through word and deed. At every level of the Connection and in every local church, the African Methodist Episcopal Church shall engage in carrying out the spirit of the original Free African Society, out of which the A.M.E. Church evolved: that is, to seek out and save the lost, and serve the needy through a continuing program of (1) preaching the gospel, (2) feeding the hungry, (3) clothing the naked, (4) housing the homeless, (5) cheering the fallen, (6) providing jobs for the jobless, (7) administering to the needs of those in prisons, hospitals, nursing homes, asylums and mental institutions, senior citizens' homes; caring for the sick, the shut-in, the mentally and socially disturbed, and (8) encouraging thrift and economic advancement.
From whence we came....
Bethel AMEC, Knoxville was birthed through a series of events. The early history describes a merger of the Independent Methodist Church and the AME Church into St. Paul AME Church, under the administration of Dr. John Aby. The dissolution of this merger prompted the building of a new church in 1911, at 505 Nelson Street, to be named Bethel AME Church.
The church thrived at that location until around 1962, while under the pastorate of Rev. Edward Jackson, the city's urban renewal plan was being implemented which would affect Bethel as well as other churches in this community. This plan included taking possession of the Nelson Street property as well as displacing many families and many African-American owned businesses in that area.
With God's divine guidance and direction, Bethel moved to its present location, 2460 Parkview Avenue, on the first Sunday in September, 1963.
...and the journey continues
Believing in God's divine favor on us to continue the good works started over 100 years ago,we have just re-located to our new home on top of a hill overlooking the great Smokey Mountains! We broke ground December 9, 2007 and held our first service on Sunday, August 9, 2009 at 3811 Boyds Bridge Pike.
