Thomas Chapel

"Advancing His Ministry and Expanding His Church" 

WELCOME! 

Thomas Chapel A.M.E. Church is a home away from home. Come and rest from your struggles, renew your mind and be revived to walk the road less traveled.  If you want: 

• prayer,

• Biblical guidance,

• to unburden your heart,

• scriptural answers to questions about salvation,
  

• to settle into a church family, or

• just want to visit with us for one of our many activities,
  

take a moment to view our Services & Activities page and if you wish to get in touch with us, go to our 'Contact Us' page for travel information and/or to send an email to the co-pastors. 

Whatever you're going through, wherever you're at in life, know that "Surely the Lord's hand is not shortened that it cannot save, or His ear dull, that it cannot hear..."*, and we are here to help you find and hold on to His Truth in love.  It is our prayer that you find time to be still to hear His voice and be ready to follow His instructions, so that you may be blessed abundantly, now and forever.       *Isaiah 59:1

OUR MISSION

The mission of Thomas Chapel African Methodist Church is to minister to spiritual, intellectual, physical, emotional, and environmental needs of all people by spreading Christ's liberating gospel through word and deed.  At every level of the church, the boards and auxiliaries shall engage in carrying out the spirit of the original Free African Society, out of which the A.M.E. church evolved. 

Daily, we are on God's mission to seek out and save the lost, and serve the needy through a continuing program of: 

(1) preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ,

(2) feeding the hungry,

(3) clothing the naked,

(4) finding housing for the homeless,

(5) cheering the fallen,

(6) finding jobs for the jobless,

(7) administering to the needs of the sick and shut in; those in prisons, hospitals, nursing homes, asylums, mental institutions, senior citizens' homes,

(8) encouraging thrift and economic advancement, 

(9) providing opportunities for higher education for ministry in the service of Jesus Christ,

(10) providing teaching and resources for improved parenting skills, and, 

(11) educating our youth about their spiritual and natural history.

HISTORICAL NOTES OF

THE AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH

The African Methodist Episcopal Church (A.M.E.) is one of the largest Methodist denominations in the United States.  The church was founded by a group of Black Methodists, led by Richard Allen, who withdrew from Philadelphia's St. George Methodist Episcopal Church in November, 1787.  They were protesting the humiliation of segregation.

Richard Allen and his followers managed to buy an old blacksmith shop and moved it to a lot at the corner of Sixth and Lombard Streets in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  At that site, they established Bethel A.M.E. Church which stands today as one of the historic shrines of Philadelphia.  The name African Methodist Episcopal indicates the organizers as well as the organizational structure of our church being organized  by people of African descent and heritage.  It does not mean that our church was founded in Africa.  It does not mean that our church is for people of African descent only.  It simply means that those Americans who founded it were of African descent, and we proudly recognize this fact.  The word 'Methodist' identifies our church as a member of the family of Methodist churches.  Emphasis is upon preaching the gospel, simple and plain, which can be understood by all mankind, following an orderly system of rules and regulations.  The word 'Episcopal' refers to the form of government under which our church operates.  The episcopal form of government means that the chief executive and administrative officers of our denomination are our bishops.  Their authority as bishops is given to them by the General Conference.

The A.M.E. Church has never strayed from the course charted by Richard Allen, the founder and first active bishop of the Church.  For the last more than 200 years the A.M.E. Church as been in the business of promoting Christianity, first-class American Citizenship, and as an additional service to society promoting education.  The A.M.E. Church operates eleven institutions of higher education in the United States.  In addition to these educational institutions in the home fields, there are others widely distributed in the mission fields of Africa and South America. 

Today, the African Methodist Episcopal Church has 18 active bishops, 3 of them female, who preside over 18 Episcopal Districts.  More than a million members are scattered throughout the 50 states, Canada, South America, West Africa, the West Indies and India, with affiliates in Europe and China. 

Our church motto: "God, Our Father; Christ, Our Redeemer; and Man, Our Brother."

THANK YOU FOR VISITING OUR WEBSITE AND

MAY GOD RICHLY BLESS YOU IN YOUR CHRISTIAN JOURNEY!

Keep in touch with what's happening with the A.M.E.'s Tenth Episcopal District and the A.M.E. Connection at:

www.amec-10thdist.org/

amec-10thdist_org/ministries/

www.amec-10thdist.org/amec-10thdist_org/door/

www.wms-amec.org

www.ame-today.com/crosstalk/

Learn more about the African Methodist Episcopal church at: 

 www.ame-church.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

African_Methodist_Episcopal_Church

                 Copyright 2007.

Thomas Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Inc.

              All rights reserved.