The History of Allen Temple
On June 26, 1947 a group gathered at 452 South 7th Avenue, led by Reverend Frederick Carr, Brother William Bentley, Sister Lillie Fields and Sister Florida Chapman. This meeting was for the purpose of incorporating a small congregation in the City of Mount Vernon under the name Timothy African Methodist Episcopal Church. History does not tell us how many others were present, or what the size of the congregation was at the time, but the vote passes and Brother Bentley, Sister Fields and Sister Chapman became the first Trustees of the church.
On July 8, 1947 Timothy African Methodist Episcopal Church was legally incorporated by the state of New York as Timothy AME Church, and stated the following:
We are first and foremost a part of the body of Jesus Christ and our mission is to live out His gospel in our community and the World. We associate ourselves for denominational planning, Episcopal supervision, and community outreach, with the First Episcopal District- New York Annual conference, of the African Methodist Episcopal Church- which upon our incorporation was entering its third century of Christian leadership and service in America; the oldest black denomination in this country. We have vowed to accept The AMEC Book of Discipline as our ultimate ecclesiastical governance.
The membership of Timothy African Methodist Episcopal Church further ascribed the following:
The purpose of Timothy African Methodist Episcopal Church is described as follows:
To seek a spiritual growth that would deeper sensitize us to the cares, needs, and expectations of our membership and the community at large.
To foster a closer fellowship with one another that would enable us to keep abreast of the AME church and the church universal.
To define problems generated by the implementation of our mission in the New York community, and seek to develop solution to these problems.
To communicate new knowledge and information about significant ideas for spreading the gospel message.
To develop joint plans for missions, to initiate the same and monitor those plans for effectiveness.
To provide united strength to lift the level of the community spiritually, morally, economically and socially by every means appropriate within our cause.
To pool our resources for the purpose of addressing some of the spiritual, moral, social and economic unmet needs of our membership and beyond.
To provide an educational forum whereby members are inspired and informed by means of lectures, seminars and workshops.
To provide a permanent place of worship for the congregation and the community at large
As the congregation grew, there was a need for a larger place of worship; as a result in November of 1985, under the Pastoral leadership of The Reverend Lacy Seals, a church and parsonage was purchased for $225,000. In 1986, it was decided that the name of the congregation would be changed from Timothy African Methodist Episcopal Church to Allen Temple African Methodist Episcopal Church.
On August 1, 1987, Bishop Frank Curtis Cummings dedicated The Allen Temple African Methodist Episcopal Church at 322 Franklin Avenue, and under the leadership of The Reverend Kenneth W. Newkirk the congregation marched into its new home. On September 5, 1988, under Rev. Newkirk, the name of the church was legally changed from Timothy African Methodist Episcopal Church to Allen Temple African Methodist Episcopal Church.
The Pastoral leadership of the Allen Temple AME Church is as follows:
Rev. Frederick Carr
Rev. Ellen Williams
Rev. A. J. Reynolds
Rev. Frazier Williams
Rev. Benjamin Reid
Rev. Wayne Johnson
Rev. Noah Lewis
Rev. Lacy Seals (1985 -1987)
Rev. Kenneth W. Newkirk (1987 – 1992)
Rev. Henrietta Scott Fullard (1992-1996)
Rev. James Booker, Jr. (1996 – 2001)
Rev. Anthony Mitchell, Sr. (2001-2008)
Rev. Dr. Erika D. Crawford (2008 – 2011)
Rev. Louis P. Attles (2011 – 2012)
Rev. Robert Brown, Sr. (2012 – 2013)
Rev. Dr. Hugh B. Marriott (2013 – present)
