The Denominational Leadership Health Initiative
Brief History of the CME Church
 |
Dr. Elnora P. Hamb, International President, The Women’s Missionary Council |
The Women's Missionary Council of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church is one of nine programmatic departments. The Council was founded in Nashville, Tennessee, in September 1918. The original title was the Women's Connectional Council of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1954, the name was changed to Women's Missionary Council of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church. The primary purpose at its inception was to primarily raise funds to assist Home missions. As the years passed, with continued growth and development, it was realized that this distinctive body of women rendered outstanding service in all phases of church work. As a result of this service, the Women's Missionary Council was received in 1942 as one of the departments of the general church with its President having the status of a General Officer. Dr. Elnora Palmer Hamb, serves as the ninth international president of the Council.
 |
Bishop Charles Phillips - One of the Organizers of the CME Church |
The Christian Methodist Episcopal Church was founded in Jackson, TN on December 16, 1870 by members of the Methodist Episcopal South, in the aftermath of the Civil War and the dire conditions of Reconstruction. The Colored Methodist Episcopal Church, or the CME Church as it is commonly called, came into existence as a result of the movement from slavery to freedom. During the years following the birth of Methodism, the denomination grew rapidly. The Methodist Episcopal Church South was an outgrowth of Wesley's Methodism. Some Blacks, converted to Christianity by slave masters and accepted the Methodist doctrine as it was. However, with the passage of time, the emancipation of Blacks from slavery created the desire by Blacks to have and control their own church. This desire led formerly enslaved persons who had been members of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, to start their own independent religious organization. The group was organized when several black ministers, with the full support of their white counterparts in the former Methodist Episcopal Church, South, met to form an organization that would allow them to establish and maintain their own polity, that is, to ordain their own bishops and ministers without the necessity of them being officially endorsed or appointed by the white-dominated body. They called this fellowship the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church, which it remained until
 |
Senior Bishop |
For more information on the history of the CME Church, Click here.