[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 33 (Tuesday, March 22, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: March 22, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
         TRIBUTE TO MOTHER AFRICAN ZOAR UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

                                 ______


                        HON. THOMAS M. FOGLIETTA

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 22, 1994

  Mr. FOGLIETTA. Mr. Speaker, I rise on this occasion to pay tribute to 
the Mother African Zoar United Methodist Church in Philadelphia on the 
occasion of its 200th anniversary. This church has a rich and 
interesting history. Actually born as early as 1792, the church was 
formed when a group of African-Americans withdrew from Old St. George's 
Church in protest of patterns of discrimination, and was formally 
recognized in 1794.
  While withdrawing from Old St. George's, they refused to formally 
separate themselves from the Methodist Church, in recognition of the 
fact that it was the John Wesley Methodists who had come out against 
slavery, with John Wesley referring to it as ``the sum of all 
villainies.'' These early founders chose instead to stay with the 
church and help to improve it from within.
  When it first began, African Zoar occupied an abandoned butcher shop 
at 4th and Brown Streets, in Philadelphia, as its first place of 
worship. The church remained there for 89 years until 1883, when it 
moved to 12th and Melon Streets, where it remains to this day. Mother 
African Zoar United Methodist has enjoyed a long history of activism in 
the community. It served as a stop on the underground railroad during 
the time of its operation, and in 1838 held a public meeting at the 
church to solicit funds and increase membership for the Vigilant--
Fugitive Aid--Association and committee. In August of 1852, under the 
leadership of Levi Scott, African Zoar hosted the first convention of 
colored preachers and laymen, the first meeting of its kind among 
Africans called by the Methodist Episcopal Church in America. In 1864, 
a general conference was held in Philadelphia which led to the 
formation of two mission conferences of colored preachers. The 1920's 
brought the establishment of the Zoar Community Building and Loan 
Association, founded by Dr. W. Harry Barnes in 1924, and the first 
church community center under the guidance of Rev. John T. Fletcher in 
1926. The community center was home to the first Baby Well Clinic, 
under the direction of Dr. Barnes, and also served as the meeting place 
for the Armstrong Association--Urban League, and housed homemaking and 
sewing classes. In 1965, in order to further community development and 
progress, the Zoar Federal Credit Union was organized to provide loans 
for members and to encourage regular savings.
  To this day, Mother Zoar African United Methodist Church continues it 
its role of leadership in the community under the guidance of Rev. 
Ralph Blanks, one of the great clergy leaders in Philadelphia today. I 
join with the congregation of Mother African Zoar United Methodist 
Church and the rest of the Philadelphia community in celebrating the 
church's 200th year of service to God.

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