[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 52 (Tuesday, April 1, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E636]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         CELEBRATING THE 125TH ANNIVERSARY OF BETHEL AME CHURCH

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JIM GERLACH

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, April 1, 2003

  Mr. GERLACH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the Bethel African 
Methodist Episcopal Church of Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania during its 125th 
anniversary celebration. Bethel AME is the oldest black church on the 
original Main Line, a suburb of Philadelphia.
  Local minister John Hooper began Bethel AME in his home on Conestoga 
Road in 1878. He was joined by Mr. George Barrick, who continued the 
mission after Hooper died in 1880.
  During the 1880s, Bethel AME petitioned the Philadelphia AME 
Conference for a pastor. The first permanent pastor, Reverend J.B. 
Hill, came to the congregation in 1888.
  Although the Church now had a full-time pastor, it lacked a fixed 
place of worship. Too poor to purchase land for a church, congregants 
moved from place to place, worshipping wherever they could. Eventually 
Mr. Barrick and Mr. Samuel Curtis purchased a lot on Merion Avenue in 
Bryn Mawr. Residents of Bryn Mawr, both white and African-American, 
raised four thousand dollars to construct the church, which was 
finished in 1889. A parsonage and parish house were added later. They 
have since been converted to a fellowship hall for use by the entire 
Church community.
  Currently under the leadership of Rev. Dr. Isiah H. Woods, Bethel AME 
Church is an important part of the Main Line community. The founding 
and development of the Church illustrate for us all what can be 
accomplished when people work together for a higher purpose. I 
encourage my colleagues to join me in saluting Bethel AME on reaching 
this milestone.

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