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

<P0-S0> 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. <P0-S1>  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. <P0-S2>  Mount Carmel A.M.E Zion Church Campmeeting starts every year on the first Wednesday in September, and last for 4–5 days. <P0-S3>  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. <P0-S4>  People come to worship, fellowship, network, and eat food from as far as New York City, NY to Orlando, FL. <P0-S5>  There is also a section on the grounds for vendors. <P0-S6>  The majority of the cabins are small frame, some are two story cabins for larger families made from concrete block and wooden structures. <P0-S7>  Also on the property is the church cemetery. <SEP> <P1-S0> The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the A.M.E. Church, is a predominantly African-American Methodist denomination based in the United States. <P1-S1>  It is the first independent Protestant denomination to be founded by black people . <P1-S2>  It was founded by the Rt. <P1-S3>  Rev. Richard Allen in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1816 from several black Methodist congregations in the mid-Atlantic area that wanted independence from white Methodists. <P1-S4>  Allen was consecrated its first bishop in 1816. <P1-S5>  It began with eight clergy and five churches, and by 1846 had grown to 176 clergy, 296 churches, and 17,375 members. <P1-S6>  The 20,000 members in 1856 were located primarily in the North. <P1-S7>  AME national membership (including probationers and preachers) jumped from 70,000 in 1866 to 207,000 in 1876. <SEP> <P2-S0> Thomas Chapel A.M.E. Zion Church is a historic African Methodist Episcopal church located at Black Mountain, Buncombe County, North Carolina. <P2-S1>  It was built in 1922 by descendents of freed slaves, and is a one-story, frame building with Gothic Revival design influences. <P2-S2>  It is sheathed in weatherboard and features a tall, pyramidal-roof bell tower. <SEP> <P3-S0> 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. <P3-S1>  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. <P3-S2>  The front facade features a prominent pedimented porch supported by stuccoed Doric order columns and Ionic order pilasters. <P3-S3>  The interior is based on the Akron Plan. <P3-S4>  The building was acquired by an African-American congregation split from the Goler Memorial African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in 1942. <P3-S5>  The congregation changed their name to Goler Metropolitan A.M.E. Zion Church in 1953.