Historic Black Churches Divided on America 250 Celebrations
Black churches that once served as Underground Railroad stations are taking different approaches to America's 250th anniversary. Mother Bethel AME in Philadelphia joined the festivities, while St. James AME Zion in Ithaca chose to focus on critical reflection instead.
Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia rang bells and performed gospel songs on July 4, 2026, joining the city's America 250 celebrations. A few hundred miles away, St. James AME Zion Church in Ithaca, New York, stayed quiet. Its pastor planned sermons on racial history and human dignity instead.
Both churches were stops on the Underground Railroad. Both are watching their membership shrink. But they have reached different conclusions about what the nation's 250th birthday means for Black congregations.
Mother Bethel, the first autonomous Black church in America, welcomed visitors to its onsite museum and sent its choir to perform on local radio. Lead pastor Carolyn Cavaness said the church chose to participate because the heroes of Black history deserve to be named and honored. "They must be represented," she said, citing Richard Allen, Harriet Tubman, and Frederick Douglass.
Allen founded Mother Bethel in 1794 after white leaders at St. George's Methodist Church forced Black parishioners to sit apart from white worshippers. The church later became a key station in the Underground Railroad network that helped enslaved people reach freedom in the North and Canada.
Terrance King, pastor at St. James AME Zion in Ithaca, one of the last Underground Railroad stations, said his church would not join the celebrations. He plans to use his Sunday sermons to address the country's racial history and explore what it means to be made in the image of God.
Membership has fallen sharply at both churches. Mother Bethel once had 4,100 congregants at its peak in 1830. Today, about 250 people attend on a typical Sunday. St. Paul AME Church in Lexington, Kentucky, another Underground Railroad station, now sees 50 people on a good week, down from several hundred.
Church leaders point to multiple causes: more adults working Sundays, online streaming, gentrification pushing longtime members out of neighborhoods, and disagreements over social issues. Some churches have turned to farmers markets, legal aid fairs, and community events to stay connected and financially afloat.
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 revenue could face closures within two decades.
