Posted 9:10 pm Saturday, June 25, 2011
Ebenezer African Methodist Episcopal Celebrates 138 Years
By REBECCA HOEFFNER
Staff Writer
Staff Writer
A modest-sized church sits on West Queen Street in Tyler. The tan brick doesn't boast the story of Ebenezer African Methodist Episcopal Church, but the people there do.
The church will celebrate its 138th anniversary Sunday, and is the only congregation left in Tyler of one of the oldest Methodist bodies in the world.
"(The African Methodist Episcopal Church) has a rich history," said Mavis Muse, wife of pastor Mittie Muse. "We tell the story of the founder to our children."
The African Methodist Episcopal Church was founded in 1814 by Richard Allen in Philadelphia, according to the Handbook of Denominations in the United States.
"Allen regularly attended St. George's Methodist Church, where African-Americans were generally welcomed but were segregated from whites," the handbook reads. "In 1787 Absalom Jones, who later became the first African-American Episcopal priest, was kneeling in prayer when white trustees physically removed him to the back of the church.
"When the congregational leadership supported this discrimination, Allen and Jones led the black members out of the congregation."
The Muses have been leading the 125-member congregation for seven years.
"It's home," Muse said. "It's a pretty progressive congregation. They believe in economical development."
Over its 138-year history, the church has built its low-cost summer childcare program and home rental units, Muse said.
Youth who attend the summer camp also said they enjoy worshiping through praise dancing, stepping and choir on Sundays. Educating youth is one of Muse's priorities, he said.
As he pointed out the different symbols in the stained-glass windows throughout the sanctuary, he said he makes a point of the kids knowing what they stand for.
"Otherwise it's just something they see on someone's car, and they have no idea what it means," he said.
The background wall of the stage in the sanctuary boasts a large mural of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane.
"It's representative of the great horror He had to go through to set us free," Muse said. "That was a big night in church history."
Like most pastors, Muse has a vision for the future of the church. He hopes to be able to build a family life center that can be used by youth and the elderly to give them a safe place for recreation and hobbies, he said.
According to the African Methodist Episcopal larger church website, "The word African means that the church was organized by people of African descent and heritage. It does not mean that the church was founded in Africa, or that it was for persons of African descent only.
"The church's roots are of the family of Methodist churches. Methodism provides an orderly system of rules and regulations and places emphasis on a plain and simple gospel. Episcopal refers to the form of government under which the church operates. The chief executive and administrative officers of the African Methodist Episcopal denomination are the Bishops of the church."
