LOVE IN ACTION – The AME Church – The Yellow Fever Epidemic

Recap – Today we continue in our Black History Month Series – Love in Action. We are looking to our founding as a denomination to understand what it means for us to follow Jesus’ teaching in an embodied way. We can look to our past for guidance in this moment. Last week we did the focus points for this month. How do we show Jesus our love - (1) How we treat others is the most tangible sign our love for God!!!! (2) Meet folks physical needs; (3) Meet folks social-spiritual needs; As we fact this moment we can look to our history to understand how we face it

Telling the Story – Focus on how our denomination has lived that since the beginning

--We looked at this movement of Methodism, and particularly its idea of love of God and love of neighbor operating in this simple unit of the class system/ small groups

--Richard Allen believes in it deeply – 1777 buys his own freedom, becomes preacher, founds Free African Society (FAS) w/ Absolom Jones

--Black Methodists face growing racism  1792 ejected from St. George’s

--Jones + FAS members decide – we’re out. Allen asks for their own church and is denied.

--August 1793 Yellow Fever outbreak starts w/ death of seamen

--Big debates about where fever comes from – is it environmental conditions or “low class

people” – solutions -- improve conditions in the City vs. get rid of immigrants

--Because of racism, white people believed that Black could not get yellow fever

--The FAS under Allen mobilizes folks to care for patients, learn best techniques of the time – they are agile because they are built as a movement rather than institution

--Finally the Methodist church responds to request and gives them their own church which eventually is incorporated into the AME Church in 1816

--Most white folk could/would not change their vision of Black people - Right after they were done serving there were assertions that they charged too much or stole things

Key Points

1. They saw showing up as a tangible way to demonstrate their faith! (Even w/racism)

2. The work they did grew their movement spiritually and numerically.

3. Because of their work they get the resources they need to grow into their own

denomination to continue building off of that (more to come in next sermon)

Questions –

1. As we look at this story from our past – where do you see parallels with the present moment? What is God speak to you/us from this history?

2. If the AME Church started as more of a movement than an institution – what does that mean for who we are called to be in this season?

3. We are called to embody Jesus love and to grow the Jesus movement. However past Christians have used “charitable work” a tool to convert and control vulnerable can we lean into Jesus’ command to meet people’s needs and grow the Jesus movement without slipping into dangerous evangelical tendencies?