They began worshipping elsewhere, and Allen officially formed the AME Church in 1816. The AMEZ Church was started in 1796 by James Varick, an African-American licensed to preach by the Methodist Episcopal Church, who left John Street Church in New York because of its segregated seating. The CME Church was organized after the Civil War to give former slave members of the Methodist Episcopal Church South their own denomination. Time has been set aside at the United Methodist Church's 2000 General Conference in Cleveland for the act of repentance. It also is a theme for the March 1999 meeting of the Conference of Methodist Bishops, Robbins said.
Tension exists around such areas as lack of cooperation and lack of outreach at the local level.
Over and over, he added, the bishops emphasized they were tired of words and wanted to see some effect of reconciliation within local churches. For general questions about The United Methodist Church, please call InfoServ at 1.800.251.8140.