British Methodist Episcopal Church
| British Methodist Episcopal Church | |
|---|---|
| Denomination | Protestant |
| Administration | |
| Parish | Ontario |
| Diocese | African Methodist Episcopal Church |
| Province | Canada |
The British Methodist Episcopal Church (BMEC) is a Protestant church in Canada that has its roots in the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AMEC) of the United States.
The AMEC had been formed in 1816 when a number of black congregations banded together under the leadership of Richard Allen, and by the mid-1850s it had seven conferences in the United States. AMEC preachers began to work in Upper Canada in 1834, and a conference was formed in 1840.
In 1850, the Fugitive Slave Act was passed in the United States causing some ex-slave AMEC preachers in the United Canadas to be fearful of attending conferences in the U.S.
Reverend Benjamin Stewart of Chatham, Ontario proposed that the AME churches in the United Canadas separate from the U.S. association and form their own church. At an AME conference in Philadelphia in 1856, Stewart's proposal was adopted and the new church association was founded. The new church was named the British Methodist Episcopal Church in appreciation of finding a safe haven from slavery in British North America.
Its first bishop was Reverend Willis Nazrey of Virginia. When Nazrey died in 1875, Richard Randolph Disney was chosen as his successor, and he was ordained by an AMEC bishop that year. His administrative area consisted of Ontario, Nova Scotia, Bermuda, the West Indies, and British Guiana (Guyana).
By the end of the 1870s the BMEC had 56 congregations with about 3,100 members, most of its members being in the Danish West Indies and British Guiana. However, the mission work outside Canada stretched the church’s funds, and in 1880 Disney negotiated a reunion with the AMEC, which was ratified at a BMEC convention held at Hamilton in June 1881. A referendum of members showed that although a majority in Ontario was opposed, 86 per cent of the membership was in favour. Disney was accepted as an AMEC bishop and was assigned to its Tenth Episcopal District, a region embracing his former territory and some of the AMEC churches in Canada that had not joined the BMEC.
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