A Short Account of the Rise and Progress of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in America/Chapter 5
CHAPTER V.
Commencement of withdrawing from our white brethren.
On Sunday night the 16th of July, 1820, the Elder, William M. Stilwell, who had the charge of Zion and Asbury Churches, came to the Rose Street Academy, a little before the conclusion of Divine Worship, and when the service was ended he informed the official brethren, as many as were present, that he and several hundred of his (white) brethren had that day withdrawn from the Methodist Episcopal Church, in consequence of some resolutions of their preachers in Conference, which they thought were improper measures for preachers of the Gospel to resort to, and which would be injurious to the temporal concerns of the church—the chief resolution was to petition the Legislature of the State of New York for a special Act of Incorporation, in order to give the preachers more power over the Trustees, in regard particularly to the temporalities of the churches under their government in this State. This information was somewhat alarming; for the Trustees and the other official members of our church had been several times threatened and spoken to unkindly by Elders having charge of the circuit and of our church, which had already caused considerable dissatisfaction in the minds of the official brethren, and now to hear of this special Act of Incorporation, as aforesaid, they were roused to a consideration of what would be for the best interest of our Zion Church, and some of them imbibed a belief that the time had arrived when we might loosen Zion Church from under the government of the white Bishops and Conference. The following Tuesday, the 18th instant, the Trustees were notified to meet the Presiding Elder, at the residence of Peter Williams, in Liberty Street—they went accordingly, and Abraham Thompson, the oldest preacher and Deacon in our church, accompanied them to the place appointed, where they found the presiding Elder, Peter P. Sandford, Aaron Hunt, Joshua Souls and Thomas Mason. There were several questions and answers interchanged; the presiding Elder informed the Trustees that William M. Stilwell had withdrawn from the Methodist Episcopal Church, and therefore had no further charge of our church, and that he wished to know what our church intended to do. The Trustees told him that they would consult on the case, and give him an answer as soon as possible. The Preachers of Zion Church being unpleasantly exercised in mind about a resolution of the white Methodist Preachers in one of their Conferences, relative to a Local Preachers' Conference, they had previously appointed a meeting, and had requested our Trustees to meet them and council each party in regard to what they had heard, and the appointed time happened to be on the night of the same day that the Trustees met the aforesaid Preachers at Peter Williams', in Liberty Street; they accordingly met together at the residence of James Varick, in Orange Street, in order to see what was best to be done. After considerable consultation, they resolved to appoint Abraham Thompson, James Varick, John Dungy and George Collins a committee, to call on Doctor Phoebus, an old Elder of the Methodist Episcopal Church, (who was said to be neutral in the case of the division) and William M. Stilwell, to gain some further information on the subject, and to obtain from William M. Stilwell a copy of the resolution of the last General Conference, which had caused the schism in the white Methodist Church. They also agreed to request a meeting of all the official members of Zion Church, at the Rose Street Academy, the following Friday night, at which time they hoped to come to a final decision among the official brethren.
On Friday night, July 21st, 1820, the official members met together in the Rose Street Academy, according to request, and after due deliberation they agreed upon the following:—
Whereas, a very grievous schism has taken place m the Methodist Episcopal Church in this city, in consequence of a resolution of the last General Conference, and that resolution acted upon by the annual Conference of the New-York District, the substance of which is (as we are informed) that a memorial shall be drawn up, subscribers obtained by the Preachers, and the same to be presented to the Legislature of the State of New-York, at their next sitting, praying for a special Act of Incorporation, to suit the peculiarities of the Methodist Discipline, so that the Preachers may have more authority to exercise their functions in the church than they now have ; and whereas, it is reported that, should the Legislature deem it expedient to grant the request of the memorialists and enact the said special Act of Incorporation, it will very materially change the present manner of conducting the temporal concerns of the said church; (as the Trustees or Stewards to be appointed according to the contemplated mode, will hold the property of the Society in trust for the Preachers in Conference instead of, or more than for the members of the Society) and whereas, in consequence of the aforementioned schism, a very different explanation is given relative to the contents of the said memorial, and fearing that the said report is true, and that our church property will be involved in the same difficulties should the contemplated Act of Incorporation be obtained, having no desire to transfer our church property to the Methodist Preachers in Conference; therefore, we have Resolved—
1. That we cannot fairly understand the intention of the said Preachers, in praying the Legislature for a special Act of Incorporation, and having some reason to fear that the above mentioned report is correct, we are much dissatisfied and do highly disapprove of the said memorial.
2. That in consequence of the dissatisfaction and doubt existing on our minds, relative to the intended special Act of Incorporation, and to the conduct of the Preachers in Conference requiring such an Act, we decline receiving any further services from them as respects our church government. 3. That George Collins, Tobias Hawkins and William Brown be a committee appointed to inform the presiding Elder of the District, or the ruling Elder in the city of New-York, of the above resolutions.
4. That we request William M. Stilwell to continue his services with us for the remainder of the year.
5. That we recommend the above to the members of our Society.
They also agreed to call a meeting of the whole Society, male and female, which they did on the next Wednesday night, the 26th inst.; of the members crowded the Rose Street Academy and unanimously sanctioned the foregoing resolutions.
The Trustees being informed that they could not hold meetings in the Circus any longer, were now obliged to turn their attention towards going home and holding meetings within the walls of the new building, which were at this time a little more than half up and the floor beams laid, so that by laying down planks on the beams and making temporary seats, some hundreds might be accommodated. Thither we repaired on Sunday morning, July 30th, and William M. Stilwell preached within the new walls of Zion Church for the first time. It began to rain soon after the text was taken and continued during Divine service; nevertheless there were but few went away; those who had umbrellas stood it out with apparent composure. The weather cleared up time enough to hold meeting in the afternoon, when Abraham Thompson preached and James Varick closed the meeting. We had a comfortable time; and John Dungy preached in the evening, commencing at half past 6 o'clock; so that the third meeting concluded before candle-light.
Thus the Trustees endeavoured to accommodate the Society and other attendants on Divine worship with us, and on week nights we continued to occupy the Rose Street Academy. While the Trustees were thus struggling under three difficulties, (which were the withdrawing from the white church, the efforts of Bishop Allen to take the advantage of our necessity, and the uneasiness of some of our members,) to keep matters together in the best way they could, they were informed that some of our Preachers were inclined to join Bishop Allen's connexion and had called a meeting to consult about it. This so early an apparent change in the minds of the Preachers, together with a notice they had received from Enoch George, Bishop of the white Methodist church, upon the case of our withdrawing from them, sickened the hearts of some (if not all) of the Trustees ; but they took courage and went on, looking unto the great Head of the Church for his gracious aid.
The Preachers accordingly held their meeting at the residence of William Miller, in Mulberry Street, and, after some consultation, they resolved to request a meeting of all the official members of our Church.
The official members, therefore, came together in the Rose Street Academy, on Friday night, August 11th, 1820, and the Preachers informed them that they hadheld a meeting for the purpose of considering the present state of our Church, and that there were two grand questions put and answered at that meeting, viz.—Shall we join Bishop Alien? Answer, No. Shall we return to the white people? Answer, No—and that they therefore determined to consult with the rest of their official brethren, upon the subject of establishing a firm church government of our own, by ordinations, &c. After several of the brethren had given their opinions, it being late, the meeting was adjourned to the following Tuesday night.
On Saturday morning, the 12th inst., Tobias Hawkins, William Brown and Thomas Jenkins, three of the Trustees, called upon Bishop George, at Morris Carter's, in Church Street, according to notice, where they held about two hours' conversation with the Bishop and some Elders of the white church; after which they parted with apparent friendship, the Bishop requesting only that the Trustees would grant Joshua Souls the privilege of explaining to our Society, the true state of the business in regard to the schism which had taken place in the white church, in order to clear the Preachers from some censure attached to them; which request the Trustees told him they would mention to the rest of their brethren, as they, being but three, were too small a number to decide upon it.
On Tuesday night, August 15th, the official members met according to adjournment, at William Brown's, in Leonard Street. Abraham Thompson was appointed Chairman and Charles Anderson, Secretary; at which meeting William Miller was present, as the representative of the Asbury Church, and acknowledged his willingness to acquiesce with whatever the official members of Zion Church should determine upon for the spiritual government of the Church.
After considerable talk, they resolved that William Miller, Thomas Jenkins and Lowther Bruce be a committee appointed, to inquire of Bishop Hobart, of the Protestant Church in this city, whether he would assist to ordain one of our Deacons to the order of Elder. Some of the brethren (Abraham Thompson in particular,) were much displeased about requesting aid from a white Bishop in preference to Bishop Allen, who was yet in the city. The reason for so doing was mentioned, viz., that our brethren thought he had acted very unfriendly in coming to this city to establish a separate Society, while we were in union with him, which would tend to divide families and friends, and thereby cause very unpleasant feelings. It was then said that he was disposed to be friendly, and wished to have a meeting with some of our Trustees and Preachers; whereupon, they resolved that Tobias Hawkins, William Brown, Thomas Jenkins, George Collins and Charles Tredwell, five Trustees; also, Abraham Thompson, William Miller, Christopher Rush and James Varick, four Preachers, should be a committee appointed to sit with him, hoping that some amicable terms of reconciliation might be adopted. On Thursday night, August 17th, the committee met with the Bishop, at William Brown's, in Leonard Street, and after some conversation with the old man, they found that the interview only served to let them know that he "was not a child, that he knew his business," (as he said,) and that he had no intention to assist in ordination, except we put ourselves under his charge.
Thus we discovered that what was said of the Bishop's disposition to be friendly, and his desire to have an interview with some of our official brethren, must have flowed from selfish motives on his part, designed, very probably, to take the advantage of the unsettled state of the church affairs at this critical moment; for, during this time, those Preachers who were attached to his connexion in this city, were going on to make proselytes of all they could, both of individuals and of churches, and with the influence of the aforesaid George White and other mismanagement, they obtained the consent of the African Church at Brooklyn to unite with them, and were proceeding on- ward.
On Sunday, August 20th, 1820, the sacrament of the Lord's Supper was administered for the first time within the walls of the new Church, by William M. Stilwell.
On Friday night, September 1st, 1820, the official members met together in the Rose Street Academy, for the purpose of receiving the reports of those committees, which were appointed to make inquiry relative to ordination, and to have an interview with Bishop Allen—Abraham Thompson, Chairman; Charles Anderson, Secretary. Abraham Thompson was requested to give in the report of the committee sent to Bishop Allen. He then stated that Bishop Allen refused to assist in ordaining Elders for our church, and that he could not do any thing for us in that respect, except we agree to put our church under the government of his Conference. Thus ended all further interview with him on that subject, and which, by the by, proved to be a sad disappointment to Father Thompson, who had been heretofore endeavouring to hold up the old man as a proper source for the organization of our church in preference to a white man.
William Miller reported, in behalf of the committee sent to Bishop Hobart, that he called on Rev. Thomas Lyel, the Presbyter of Christ Church, in Ann (now Anthony) Street, who informed him that he thought there would be no difficulty in obtaining ordination, but that Bishop Hobart was out of town, and he promised to speak to him upon the subject when he returned to the city. William Miller further stated, that Rev. Thomas Lyel also informed him that William M. Stilwell would be a very suitable person for us to apply unto for ordination, he being the Presbyter of the Methodist Church newly formed, and which he thought would be a much easier way to obtain the desired end. Several of the official brethren, in the interval of our meetings, having had an interview with William M. Stilwell, in order to gain some information in regard to church government, and had got their minds fully satisfied that ordination could be easily obtained from that source, they made known what information they had gathered on the subject, which seemed to afford much satisfaction to the brethren present, especially to Abraham Thompson, who appeared now to be more reconciled and stayed in his mind.
As matters now began to wear an aspect of regularity, uniformity and reconciliation, George Collins embraced the apparent favourable opportunity and mentioned to the brethren present, that he thought, from present appearances, it would be best to commence preparing for our organization, so that the business might be brought on in a regular and agreeable manner; whereupon, they resolved to appoint a committee of five persons, viz., James Varick, George Collins, Charles Anderson, Christopher Rush and William Miller, to form a Discipline for our Church, by a selection from the Discipline of our white brethren, that is, of the Methodist Episcopal Church in America. After some conversation which took place, relative to the necessity of our Preachers exerting themselves to give the necessary assistance to such of our African brethren elsewhere, who may require it, and some observations in regard to the Brooklyn Church, the brethren retired with much more satisfaction than they had done from several former meetings.
The weather being very favourable the building progressed smartly, so that on Monday, September 4th, 1820, they commenced shingling the roof. The committee appointed to form a Discipline, met on Monday evening, September 4th, at the residence of William Miller, in Mulberry Street, but did not do much. They determined on the title, viz., "The Doctrines and Discipline of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in America;" they also resolved to call to their assistance John Dungy and Abraham Thompson, and to meet the following Wednesday night, at the same place. They hoped that Father Thompson would be better satisfied, by his being on the committee to form or select the Discipline, as he seemed to be yet somewhat wavering; and they also requested George Collins to draw up a preamble for the said Discipline.
At a regular monthly meeting of the Trustees, held at William Brown's, on Tuesday night, September 5th, they were found to be rather disunited. Some were inclined to unite with Richard Allen, and the others for establishing a church government of our own, and a letter was read, which was sent to them by Richard Allen, directed to William Brown, advising them to agree upon joining his connexion; but there was very little said about it notwithstanding.
The Discipline committee resumed their operation ac- cording to adjournment. They inspected the preamble, drawn up by George Collins, according to their request, and adopted it; they then proceeded to make the necessary selections for that purpose, and on Tuesday night, September 26th, 1820, they completed their selections and left the manuscript with George Collins, to be arranged in a regular manner and prepared for the printer.
The case of our Church being at this time in a very precarious state, in regard particularly to the want of Elders in the Church, it became essentially necessary that something must be done to relieve her from that religious pressure; whereupon, a meeting of all the official members of the Church was held in the Rose Street Academy, on Wednesday night, September 13th, at which time the Elder, William M. Stilwell, informed the brethren that he called them together to consult about the propriety and necessity of electing an Elder, and read to them several extracts from books, written by Methodist Preachers, to prove the validity of such proceedings in cases of necessity. He also advised them to pursue or adopt the plan, as it would be a case of real necessity with them, being an African Methodist Church without an Elder, and he not having a sufficient number of Elders connected with him at present to perform ordination. A vote was then taken, in order to know whether the official brethren approved of the measure and were ready to act upon it; which was carried in favour of being ready. They then proceeded to nominate Abraham Thompson and James Varick, to be recommended to the Society as persons to be elected to the office of Elders in the Church.
Bishop William McKendree having arrived in the city, and being desirous to see some of the official members of our Church, nine of them, viz., Abraham Thompson, Leven Smith, John Dungy, Christopher Rush, Timothy Eatto, Samuel Bird, Tobias Hawkins, William Brown, and George Collins called on him, on Sunday, September 24th, 1820, immediately after Divine service in the afternoon, at his lodgings (he being unwell) at the residence of Joshua Souls, where they had a mutual conversation on the subject of our withdrawing from our white brethren. The Bishop said that he desired to see them, in order to know what they wanted him to do for them. They told him what they wanted, what they had done, and how far they were willing to go, in order to be in union with or governed by the white Bishops and Conference, and asked him whether he could ordain Elders for them. He said that he was limited in his office and could not at the present, but advised them to wait until the sitting of the ensuing annual Conference, and have the case brought regularly before that body, so that, if they should agree on the subject, our Preachers might be ordained by him. Our brethren then informed him that such was the state of their spiritual affairs they could not wait until that time, but would be obliged to proceed and elect Elders as was contemplated, and gave him to understand that they probably would wait the result of the said Conference relative to ordination.
On Sunday afternoon, October 1st, 1820, being the time appointed to elect the two brethren who were nominated on the 13th of September last for that purpose, the members of the Society, both male and female, were requested to tarry after the dismission of the congregation, for special business; and after the Elder, William M. Stilwell, had given a satisfactory explanation of the purpose for which the members of the Society were detained, Abraham Thompson was offered, and all who were in favour of his being elected were requested to hold up their right hand, which was done in a very solemn manner by a large majority (if not by the whole body); then James Varick was offered, and was in the same manner solemnly elected. These two brethren, being thus elected, were considered as having full power to exercise the peculiar functions of Elders in the Church with us, or any society of coloured people in connexion with us, until an opportunity offered to ordain them by the hands of proper authority. The whole process was conducted with much apparent solemnity and satisfaction.
On Tuesday night, October 3d, the Trustees attended their regular monthly meeting, only one being absent, viz., Thomas Jenkins. All seemed calm and pleasant at this meeting. The building still progressed; the floor laid but the seats not fixed.