Richard Allen, the first bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, will be honored with a U.S. postage stamp commemorating his leadership of the historically black denomination founded 200 years ago.
The U.S. Postal Service called the preacher and activist “an inspiring figure whose life and work resonate profoundly in American history.”
The new stamp will be featured in a ceremony Tuesday (Feb. 2, 2016) at Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia. It becomes the 39th stamp in the Black Heritage series after more than 40,000 people petitioned the postal service for its creation.
The art for the stamp is a detail of Allen’s portrait from an 1876 print, “Bishops of the A.M.E. Church,” from the collection of the Library Company of Philadelphia.
He founded the AME Church after worship of blacks was restricted.
Allen started Bethel AME Church after watching officials of St. George’s Methodist Episcopal Church pull up his friend, clergyman Absalom Jones, who was praying on his knees.
“The unwillingness of the Methodists to accept the independent leadership of black preachers like Allen and the institution of segregated seating led Allen and Jones to found independent black churches,” said American religious historian Albert J. Raboteau. [from RNS article by Adelle Banks ]
http://www.religionnews.com/2016/02/01/ame-church-founder-honored-postage-stamp/
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