As a child I was sprinkled into the denomination of the African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E) church. In 1979 I was privileged to hear several radio gospel lessons presented by the Duluth Church of Christ. The radio program was called, “Let The Bible Speak” and hosted by brother Charles Pledge, who then served as the local preacher. I came to realize that what I was practicing as a Methodist and what the Bible taught, as presented on the radio program, did not agree. Therefore, I had to make a decision about my future and my relationship to God. Will I leave behind the religion of my youth for truths or remain behind hoping it really wouldn’t matter in the end? 

     The experiences and deeds of Richard Allen, founder of the AME Church, are moving and inspiring. As a black man, he recognized the value of every soul to God and that there should be no respect of persons among men. Armed with what he knew, he set out to change at least this one aspect of the denomination of the Wesley brothers. Yet he did not go far enough to restore the church built by Jesus on Pentecost. Before I state the reasons why I left the Methodist Church, we should examine the history of these two denominations.

DISCUSSION

  I. BRIEF HISTORY OF THE ANGLICAN CHURCH (CHURCH OF
     ENGLAND)

    A. The first certain historical note about the
        Church of England, also called the Established or Anglican Church, dates
        from A.D. 314, when three British Bishops attended the Council of
        Arles.

    B. From 664 until the reign of Henry VIII, England recognized the pope’s
         spiritual authority. 

    C. King Henry VIII wished to obtain a divorce from Queen Catherine of
         Aragon for not producing a male heir. The Pope would not grant it. 

    D. In 1534 the King proclaimed himself Supreme Head of the Church of
         England and began its separate existence from Rome.

    E. It claims to teach and uphold the doctrines of the apostles and to be a
        branch of the one universal Church of Christ. 

    F. Its doctrines are stated in the Book of Common Prayer. They include the
        Apostle’s and Nicene creeds, the historic sacraments, and the apostolic
        ministry of bishops, priests, and deacons. The church includes both
        Roman Catholic and Protestant teachings.

    G. The Anglican Communion includes the Church of Wales, the Church of
         Ireland, the Episcopal Church in Scotland, the Anglican Church in
         Canada, and the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States.  
         (Sources: The World Book Encyclopedia, copyright 1966, Volume 3,
         and www.cofe.anglican.org).

  II. BRIEF HISTORY OF THE METHODIST CHURCH.

    A. Methodists are members of a Protestant denomination, which grew out
         of the preaching and organizing of John Wesley. 

    B. John (1703-1791) and Charles (1707-1788) Wesley were born into the
        large family of Samuel Wesley, Rector of Epworth in Lincolnshire, and
        his wife Susanna. John Wesley was an ordained minister of the Church of
        England. 

    C. In 1729, John Wesley, his brother Charles, George Whitfield, and other
         students organized the Holy Club at Oxford University, a small group of
         students who met for Bible study and prayer. 

    D. Their attempt to lead a Christian life through method (discipline) led
         more worldly fellow students to deride their methodical schedules of
         spiritual exercises and charitable duties and call them Methodists. 

    E. Between 1735 and 1738, John Wesley went as a chaplain on a mission
         to the colony of Georgia. For 10 years, John Wesley tried unsuccessfully
         to find religious satisfaction by following strictly the rules and ordinances
         of the Church of England. 

    F. After long searching, Wesley was given “saving faith” on May 24, 1738,
        during a Moravian meeting in Aldersgate Street, London.  John wrote in
        his diary “my heart was strangely warmed,” as he listened to a reading of
        Martin Luther’s preface to the Epistle to Romans. 

    G. Wesley’s belief that salvation is free to all men, not to just a selected few
         and that God’s grace is equal to every need, appealed to many persons.
         Wesley preached a number of years in England, Ireland, and Scotland. 

    H. He formed the societies that eventually became known as the Methodist
         Church. He trained, appointed, and supervised lay preachers and
         organized them into a conference in 1744. 

    I. In later life, Wesley realized that the Methodists could not work in the
       framework of the Church of England. Wesley did not intend to create a
       new church apart from the Anglican Church. But the evangelistic vigor of
       his preaching, his doctrinal emphasis, and the rigorous discipline he urged
       made him unwelcome in Anglican pulpits. He then made formal provision
       for the society to carry on as an independent church. 

    J. The assurance of the free grace of God was the experience of the early
        Methodists, emphasizing within human freewill the need for holy living as
        an outcome of faith leading towards 'Christian perfection'
        (www.methodist.org, and The World Book Encyclopedia, copyright
        1966, Volumes 13 and 20).
 

  III. BRIEF HISTORY OF THE AFRICAN METHODIST CHURCH
        (A.M.E.).
 

    A. The African Methodist Episcopal Church (A.M.E.)
        was founded by Richard Allen (1760-1831), and is an offspring of the
        Methodist, which was founded by John Wesley in England and America
        in the eighteenth century. 
 
 

    B. The Church is African because its founders were African. It advocates
        human dignity and religious freedom for all people. The Church is
        Methodist because its founders considered the Methodist doctrine, with
        its orderly form of worship, to be well suited to the needs of the
        African-American people. The Church is Episcopal because it is
        governed by a council of bishops.

    C. Wesley ordained Dr. Thomas Coke, an Anglican priest, and sent him to
        organize the Church in America. Dr. Coke arrived and called a General
        Conference in Baltimore, Maryland in December 1784.

    D. Richard Allen, founder of the American Methodist Episcopal Church,
         was present as an observer only, and was not a delegate or a voter.
         Methodism grew as the Methodist riders went from point to point, from
         settlement to settlement and from plantation to plantation.

    E. The AME Church is unique in that it is the first major religious
        denomination in the Western world that had its origin over sociological
        rather than theological beliefs and differences. The immediate cause of
        the organization of the A.M.E. Church was the fact that members of the
        St. George's Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia Pennsylvania in
        1787 segregated its colored members from its white communicants. The
        Blacks were sent to the gallery of the Church, to use the venerable
        Richard Allen's own words. 

    F. One Sunday as the Africans, as they were called, knelt to pray outside of
        their segregated area they were actually pulled from their knees and told
        to go to a place which had been designated for them. This added insult to
        injury and upon completing their prayer, they went out and formed the
        Free African Society, and from this Society came two groups: The
        Episcopalians and the Methodists. 

    G. The leader of the Methodist group was Richard Allen. Richard Allen
         desired to implement his conception of freedom of worship and desired
          to be rid of the humiliation of segregation, especially in church.

    H. Richard Allen learned that other groups were suffering under the same
         conditions. After study and consultation, five churches came together in
         a General Convention, which met in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, April
         9-11, 1816, and formed the African Methodist Episcopal Church. The
         name African Methodist came naturally, as Negroes at that time were
         called Africans and they followed the teaching of the Methodist Church
         as founded by John Wesley. The young Church accepted the Methodist
         doctrine and Discipline almost in its entirety (www.bethelameannarbor.
         org).

Now that we have seen in brief the history of the two denominations, I would like to explain why I left the Methodist Church.

  IV. I LEFT THE METHODIST CHURCH BECAUSE:

    A. It was founded by the wrong person.  In Matthew 16:18 and I
        Corinthians 3:11, we are told the true Church is built by and founded on
        Jesus the Christ, the Son of the living God. It was built on the fact that he
        is the Son of God. No man can or should assume so much power and
        authority. Richard Allen founded the AME church (Jesus or Richard
        Allen?).

    B. It was founded in the wrong place. In Acts 1:4 and Acts 2:5, the
        disciples were waiting in the city of Jerusalem. The church was
        established in that very city according to Acts 2:47. The AME church
        was established in Philadelphia (Jerusalem or Philadelphia?).

    C. It was founded at the wrong time. In Acts 2:1, we are told the disciples
        were together on the first Pentecost following the resurrection of Jesus,
        approximately the year AD 29. The AME church was founded on April
        11, 1816 (AD 29 or April 11, 1816?).

    D. It does not wear the right name. In Romans 16:16, one of the many
        descriptive names worn by God’s people is “Churches of Christ.” This
        name is beautiful in its relation to the groom, because the church is the
        bride of Christ. Denominational names do not honor Jesus who is the
        groom (Church of Christ or AME?).

    E. Its followers do not wear the right names. In Acts 11:26 and I Peter
        4:16, we are told that followers of Christ would wear the name
        “Christian.” The name means to belong to, to follow, and to be of Christ.
        When men add unauthorized handles to the name Christian, it leaves the
        world confused about whom we are to follow (Christian or Methodist?).

    F. It does not follow the New Testament plan of Salvation. In Mark
        16:15-16, Jesus commanded the apostles to go and preach the good
        news of salvation to every creature. Then He said those who believe the
        message concerning Him and will submit to baptism will be saved, but
        those who do not believe will be damned. Every convert in the New
        Testament followed this pattern for conversion. Compare Acts 2:38;
        3:19; 8:12,35-38; 10:44-48; 16:14-15,30-34; 22:16; etc. We learn
        therefore that God’s plan to save man includes hearing, believing,
        repentance, confession, and baptism for the remission of sins. The AME
        Discipline book, 1976 edition, page 24, section 9, titled, “Of the
        Justification of Man,” states, “We are accounted righteous before God
        only for the merit of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ by faith, and not
        for our own works and deserving; wherefore, that we are justified by
        faith only is a most wholesome doctrine and very full of comfort.”  
        Therefore the doctrine taught by Methodist might make you a Methodist
        but it won’t make you a Christian. James wrote in James 2:24, “Ye see
        then how that by works a man is justified and not by faith only” (New
        Testament or AME Discipline?).

    G. I left because it contradicts Jesus’ teaching on unity. In John 17: 20-21,
         Jesus prayed that all His followers might be one to the end that the world
         might believe that the Father had sent Him. The unity of all believers is
         taught in several other places in the New Testament. Paul taught in I
         Corinthians 1:10-13 that there should be no divisions among God’s
         people. Paul also taught in Ephesians 4:1-6 that we must strive to keep
         the unity of the Spirit. But Methodism with all the other “isms” in religion
         says unity can be sacrificed to allow each man and woman to find peace
         in their own way (Methodism or Unity?).

    H. I left because it teaches the baptism of infants. When Jesus gave the
         great commission recorded in Matthew 28:19-20, He told the apostles
         to go and teach all nations, before baptizing them. In Acts 8:30, Philip
         asked the Eunuch whether he understood what he was reading. The
         Eunuch replied he needed guidance. It is God’s plan that all subjects for
         baptism first be taught. In the AME Discipline, page 157, under section
        1, titled, “Baptism,” we read, “Baptism is not only a sign of profession
        and mark of difference whereby Christians are distinguished from others
        that are not baptized, but it is also a sign of regeneration or the new birth.
        The baptism of young children is to be retained in the church” (New
        Testament vs. AME Discipline?).

    I. I left because it was the right thing to do. James 4:17 teaches that the
       nature of truth demands one change when finding it. In Proverbs 4:23, we
       are told to buy the truth and sell it not. In Acts 23:1-4, we learn from the
       life of the apostle Paul that sincerity alone will not save.  And in Proverbs
       14:12, we are taught by the wise man that the ways of man can indeed
       lead to death. Therefore the only sure, safe, reliable guide is the word of
       God and not the creeds, disciplines and manuals of men.

CONCLUSION

     There are many other doctrinal reasons why I left the Methodist Church. We must have authority for all that we do in religion and be prepared to answer for what we believe in a loving spirit. All Christians should welcome and invite questions regarding the faith once delivered (Colossians 3:17; I Peter 3:15; Jude 3). In a book titled, Letters To A Young Methodist Preacher, by Ashley S. Johnson, written 1897, on page 9, he writes the following words: “What is true of your creed is true of every other creed. Each creed is born of a factional spirit and marks the bounds of a party or sect. Sects are built on creeds. The creed and the sect go hand in hand, and they must live or die together.” 

     I would like to think that if Richard Allen had a little more time and could hear this lesson, he would be persuaded to renounce anything man-made in religion. But you have this point in time to change your relationship to God.