|
|
 |
|||
|
THE HISTORY OF GREEN MEMORIAL A. M. E. ZION CHURCH
The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, or AME Zion Church, was founded in 1796 and can be traced back to the John Street Methodist Church of New York City. Following acts of overt discrimination, the black members left to form their own church. The first church founded by the AME Zion Church was built in 1800 and was named Zion. The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church established a mission in Portland, Maine in 1891, after a number of the city’s African-American residents petitioned Bishop J. W. Hood to send them a missionary. Bishop Hood sent Reverend Samuel E. Robinson, who along with charter members, Moses Green, Ellen Odin, and others met in a hall on Temple Street. In the early years, the congregation moved to various halls on Preble, Free, Congress and Mountfort Streets. But in 1907, on the urging of Reverend George F. Green, who said “There is no church society in this city that is at all interested in the spiritual uplift of our people, except it is the churches among ourselves.” Moses Green and the church trustees purchased a house lot at 46 Sheridan Street. Reverend William H. Lamar presided over the ground breaking ceremony for a new church building and in 1914; the edifice was completed and dedicated by Bishop Alexander Walters. During the next few years, the congregation suffered through severe economic strain. But by 1921, Portland’s A.M.E. Zion Church has assumed it own debt. And with the help of members such as Florence Nichols and Thalia Perry, monthly chicken dinners raised revenue to bring the church through the dark days of the Great depression. In 1943, the year after Moses Green passed away; the church honored his many years of sacrifice and service and rededicated the church in his name. Born into slavery in Maryland, Moses Green arrived in Portland in 1888, where he resided for the next half-century, and where he worked at Union Station, earning enough money to endow the church he loved. Green’s faith and perseverance exemplified the spirit of his fellow church members, who kept the light alive on Munjoy Hill.
That light on
Munjoy Hill continues to be a beacon for those lost and weary souls
seeking the safety and security found in a loving and lasting
relationship with our Lord and Saviour, Jesus the Christ. Although
a historically African American congregation, Green Memorial has
become a church home to those of all races embodying the great
heritage of our beloved Founding Fathers and Mothers, who built a
church for all God’s children to worship God and experience His
transformative power. And Green Memorial has stood for social justice, as, during the 1970's,
it became the home of the Portland chapter of the
N.A.A.C.P. We are privileged to be the stewards of this great legacy. We the members of Green Memorial seek the grace and blessings of Almighty God, as we continue to serve this present age remembering always those great words of exhortation by Reverend George Francis Green in 1906. “If Our Faith Be in God, It is Well Founded!
Website design and
implementation by Diane Simard.
|
||||