Question: How many clergy did the denomination that the Thomas Chapel A.M.E. Zion Church belongs to begin with?

Context paragraphs:
Mount Carmel A.M.E. Zion Campground: Mount Carmel A.M.E. Zion Church & Campground is a historic African Methodist Episcopal Zion church camp in Heath Springs, South Carolina, Lancaster County, South Carolina.  It was established in 1866 and consists of a complex of approximately 55 small “cabins” or “tents” and the brick church of Mt. Carmel A.M.E. Zion Church is located in the general form of a rectangle.  Mount Carmel A.M.E Zion Church Campmeeting starts every year on the first Wednesday in September, and last for 4–5 days.  An “arbor,” or open-air structure, is located in the center of the complex, where music, gospel singing, praise and worship, preaching and teachings are held.  People come to worship, fellowship, network, and eat food from as far as New York City, NY to Orlando, FL.  There is also a section on the grounds for vendors.  The majority of the cabins are small frame, some are two story cabins for larger families made from concrete block and wooden structures.  Also on the property is the church cemetery.

Butler Chapel A.M.E. Zion Church (Tuskegee, Alabama): Butler Chapel A.M.E. Zion Church (Tuskegee, Alabama)

Harriet Tubman National Historical Park: Harriet Tubman National Historical Park is a United States historical park in Auburn and Fleming, New York, associated with the life of Harriet Tubman.  It comprises three properties: the Harriet Tubman Home for the Aged, in Auburn; the nearby Harriet Tubman Residence (just across the city/town line in Fleming); and the Thompson A.M.E. Zion Church in Auburn.  They are located at 180 and 182 South Street, and 33 Parker Street, respectively.  The Zion Church unit is administered by the U.S. National Park Service (NPS), while the South Street properties, including a historic barn and a visitor center, are jointly managed and operated by both the NPS and the Harriet Tubman Home, Inc.  The A.M.E. Zion Church also works with the NPS in park operations.  The Harriet Tubman Grave in nearby Fort Hill Cemetery is not park of the park.

Butler Chapel A.M.E. Zion Church (Greenville, Alabama): Butler Chapel A.M.E. Zion Church (Greenville, Alabama)

Durham Memorial A.M.E. Zion Church: Durham Memorial A.M.E. Zion Church, formerly known as St. Luke's A.M.E. Zion Church until the late 1950s, is a historic African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church located at Buffalo in Erie County, New York.  It is a brick church constructed in 1920.  It is the oldest surviving church associated with the Buffalo A.M.E. Zion congregations.

Center Street A.M.E. Zion Church: Center Street A.M.E. Zion Church is a historic African Methodist Episcopal Zion church located on S. Center Street in Statesville, Iredell County, North Carolina.  It was built in 1903, and is a one-story, three bay by seven bay, Late Gothic Revival style brick building.  It has a steep gable roof sheathed in pressed tin and features two corner entrance towers of unequal height and a large, pointed arch stained glass window.

Goler Metropolitan AME Zion Church: Goler Metropolitan AME Zion Church, originally known as East Fourth Street Baptist Church, is a historic African Methodist Episcopal Zion church located at 1435 E. Fourth Street in Winston-Salem, Forsyth County, North Carolina.  It was built in 1924, and is a front-gabled brick church with two prominent domed towers and flanking one-story hipped-roof wings in the Classical Revival style.  The front facade features a prominent pedimented porch supported by stuccoed Doric order columns and Ionic order pilasters.  The interior is based on the Akron Plan.  The building was acquired by an African-American congregation split from the Goler Memorial African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in 1942.  The congregation changed their name to Goler Metropolitan A.M.E. Zion Church in 1953.

Grace A.M.E. Zion Church: Grace A.M.E. Zion Church is a historic African Methodist Episcopal Zion church located at 219-223 S. Brevard Street in Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.  It was built in 1901-1902, and is a Gothic Revival style brick church.  The front facade features two crenellated entry towers of unequal height with matching Gothic arched entrances.  It is one of the oldest of the remaining African American churches associated with Charlotte’s historic black districts.

Thomas Chapel A.M.E. Zion Church: Thomas Chapel A.M.E. Zion Church is a historic African Methodist Episcopal church located at Black Mountain, Buncombe County, North Carolina.  It was built in 1922 by descendents of freed slaves, and is a one-story, frame building with Gothic Revival design influences.  It is sheathed in weatherboard and features a tall, pyramidal-roof bell tower.

African Methodist Episcopal Church: The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the A.M.E. Church, is a predominantly African-American Methodist denomination based in the United States.  It is the first independent Protestant denomination to be founded by black people .  It was founded by the Rt.  Rev. Richard Allen in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1816 from several black Methodist congregations in the mid-Atlantic area that wanted independence from white Methodists.  Allen was consecrated its first bishop in 1816.  It began with eight clergy and five churches, and by 1846 had grown to 176 clergy, 296 churches, and 17,375 members.  The 20,000 members in 1856 were located primarily in the North.  AME national membership (including probationers and preachers) jumped from 70,000 in 1866 to 207,000 in 1876.

Supporting paragraphs: Thomas Chapel A.M.E. Zion Church African Methodist Episcopal Church
Answer: eight