First African Methodist Episcopal Church of Los Angeles
| First African Methodist Episcopal Church of Los Angeles | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Country |
 United States
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| Denomination | African Methodist Episcopal |
| Website | http://www.famechurch.org/ |
| Clergy | |
| Senior pastor(s) | J. Edgar Boyd |
The First African Methodist Episcopal Church of Los Angeles (First A.M.E. or FAME) is a megachurch in Los Angeles, California, United States, part of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church. It is the oldest church founded by African Americans in Los Angeles, dating to 1872. It has more than 19,000 members.
The church was established in 1872 under the sponsorship of Biddy Mason, an African American nurse and a California real estate entrepreneur and philanthropist, and her son-in-law Charles Owens. The organizing meetings were held in Mason's home on Spring Street and she donated the land on which the first church was built.
The parent AME Church is a Methodist denomination founded by the Rev. Richard Allen in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1816. The AME Church now has over 2,000,000 members in North and South America, Africa and Europe, and includes other major churches such as the Greater Allen A. M. E. Cathedral of New York with over 23,000 members and the Reid Temple A.M.E. Church in Glenn Dale, Maryland with over 7,500 members.
The former location of this church was at 8th & Towne (1902 - 1968) and in 1971, while at that location, it was nominated as Los Angeles' "#71 Landmark." The location prior to that was on Azusa Street, a building that was rented to the Azusa Street mission. The 8th & Towne building was burned down July 4, 1972, and was razed.
The current church is located in the Jefferson Park neighborhood of the West Adams district. It was designed by the renowned African American architect Paul R. Williams in 1968.
In 1977 Dr. Cecil L. "Chip" Murray was assigned to the church as pastor. At that time it had 300 members. Under Murray's leadership the church grew during the next 27 years to a membership of 18,000 people. Going beyond worship services, the church created 40 task forces concerned with health, substance abuse, homelessness, emergency food and clothing, housing, training, employment and so on. President George H. W. Bush named the Church the 177th Point of Light for its courageous outreach in community services.
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