Historic Black Churches Divide Over America 250 Celebrations
Black churches across the country took different approaches to America's 250th anniversary. Mother Bethel AME in Philadelphia rang bells and honored founders like Richard Allen and Harriet Tubman. Other congregations, including St. James AME Zion in Ithaca, New York, chose to skip the festivities and focus on racial justice instead.
Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia joined America's 250th anniversary celebrations on July 4, 2026. The congregation, the first AME church in the country and a former Underground Railroad station, welcomed visitors, rang bells, and performed gospel music on a local radio station.
One congregant designed a three-foot fiberglass bell bearing an illustration of a ship from the transatlantic slave trade. The bell carries the names of founder Richard Allen, Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, and the 53 pastors who have led the church.
"One could make the argument that you shouldn't participate at all in light of where we are in this country," said lead pastor Carolyn Cavaness. "But then those heroes, those heroines, their names deserved to be called."
Not all Black churches agreed. Terrance King, pastor at St. James AME Zion Church in Ithaca, New York, one of the last Underground Railroad stations, said his church would not join the celebrations. Instead, he planned to use his Sunday sermons to address the country's racial history and what it means to be made in the image of God.
The divide reflects a broader tension in the Black church. Experts say many congregations are choosing to focus on reversing steep membership declines rather than planning anniversary events. At Mother Bethel, attendance has dropped from a peak of 4,100 in 1830 to about 250 people each Sunday.
St. Paul AME Church in Lexington, Kentucky, another Underground Railroad station, opened its hidden room and secret passageways to tours. But its Sunday attendance has fallen from a few hundred to about 50 on a good week.
Church leaders point to several reasons for the decline. More adults work on Sundays or attend children's sports events. Some stream services online. Others left because their congregations do not affirm same-sex marriage. Gentrification has pushed longtime members out of their neighborhoods.
Jamal-Dominique Hopkins, director of the Black Church Studies Program at Baylor University, said churches that do not find creative ways to attract members and boost revenue could face closures in the next two decades.
Despite the challenges, all three churches remain open and active in their communities. St. James recently helped establish a local NAACP chapter and hosted a Juneteenth gospel concert. Mother Bethel runs regular farmers' markets. St. Paul hosted a fair for families of incarcerated people.
