The Spencer Churches (less commonly called the Union Churches) are two African-American

Christian denominations A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

that resulted from a 1860s

schism A schism ( , , or, less commonly, ) is a division between people, usually belonging to an organization, movement, or religious denomination. The word is most frequently applied to a split in what had previously been a single religious body, suc ...

in the Union Church of Africans (also known as African Union Church). That denomination was founded by Peter Spencer, a freed slave, in

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington is the List of municipalities in Delaware, most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North America. It lie ...

in 1813.

History

The Union American Methodist Episcopal Church was formed in 1865. The following year, a church in Maryland joined the African Union Church, and it was renamed as the

African Union First Colored Methodist Protestant Church and Connection The African Union Methodist Protestant Church (AUMPC), abbreviated as A.U.M.P. Church, is a Methodist Religious denomination, denomination. It was chartered by Peter Spencer (religious leader), Peter Spencer (1782–1843) in Wilmington, Delaware, ...

, known as the A.U.M.P. Church.Russell, A.U.M.P. Church history, 1920
''Documenting the American South'', University of North Carolina In May 2012, these two denominations and three other black denominations (the

African Methodist Episcopal Church The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the AME Church or AME, is a Methodist denomination based in the United States. It adheres to Wesleyan theology, Wesleyan–Arminian theology and has a connexionalism, connexional polity. It ...

, African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, and Christian Methodist Episcopal Church) entered into

full communion Full communion is a communion or relationship of full agreement among different Christian denominations or Christian individuals that share certain essential principles of Christian theology. Views vary among denominations on exactly what constit ...

with each other and with the

United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant Christian denomination, denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was ...

, which had been predominantly white for much of the late 19th and 20th centuries. The churches had been negotiating such action for ten years, after the United Methodist Church had formally apologized for racial discrimination of the past. In the early 19th century, some African Americans had founded independent denominations in order to have full authority in their own churches. The AME Church was founded in Philadelphia, the AME Zion Church in New York, and the African Union Church in Wilmington. After the American Civil War, the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church was founded in the South as a black congregation. Before the American Civil War, the Methodist Episcopal Church had split into Northern and Southern denominations, dividing over the Northern churches' opposition to slavery. In the 20th century, those churches had reunited as the United Methodist Church. These five denominations agreed to "recognize each other’s churches, share sacraments, and affirm their clergy and ministries." (access url updated 16 June 2016)

References

{{Methodist-stub African-American history of Delaware Historically African-American Christian denominations History of Christianity in the United States History of Methodism in the United States Religious organizations established in 1813 Methodist denominations in North America Methodist denominations established in the 19th century 1813 establishments in the United States Wilmington, Delaware