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St. Peter’s AME Zion Church History

 

The Foundation 

In 1863, as the Civil War continued, the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church turned its eyes toward the South, seeking to expand the footprint of the A.M.E.  Zion  church. Bishop J. J. Clinton, the presiding prelate of the New England Conference, appointed Reverend James W. Hood as a missionary to North Carolina. Reverend Hood arrived in New Bern, North Carolina on January 20, 1864.

Reverend Hood made himself known among the freedmen of New Bern. Not long after his arrival, he connected with a well established congregation of freedmen at  St. Andrew’s Chapel. At the time, this congregation was connected to the Southern Methodist Church. Reverend Hood spent time with members of this congregation and acquainted them with the discipline of Zion. The congregation unanimously voted to accept and be governed by the A.M.E. Zion Church and to unite with the connection. St. Andrew’s Chapel, as it was then called, was renamed St. Peter’s African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church with Reverend James W. Hood as its first pastor. This was the beginning of A.M.E. Zion mission work in the South. Andrew’s Chapel/St. Peter’s became the Mother Church of Zion Methodism in the South, a distinction the church still holds today. Because of a small-pox epidemic in New Bern and an order against public gatherings, services for the newly organized congregation were suspended. As a consequence, Elder Hood, as the Pastor of St. Peter’s, went to Beaufort and preached at Purvis Chapel. This was actually his first time preaching in North Carolina. He received that congregation into the A.M.E. Zion Connection and spent time there organizing the church and licensed Enoch Wallace to preach. Subsequently, Wallace was appointed as the Pastor of Purivs Chapel.

 

Upon his return to New Bern, Hood found himself involved in a controversy. The principals of the Methodist Church objected to his involvement with the two Methodist congregations. They contended that only they had ecclesiastical authority for Methodists in the area and could appoint leadership, without considering the wishes of the people. Hood made his appeal to the Secretary of War, Edwin M. Stanton, and in time a ruling was issued that the people had the right to choose their leaders and affiliations.

In May of 1864, Bishop Clinton made a visit to the area. During that visit, several men were ordained to the office of Deacon. Those ordained included William Rile and Ellis Lavender in New Bern, and Enoch Wallace at Purvis Chapel in Beaufort. The General Conference was convened in May of 1864. Elder Hood was the ministerial delegate for North Carolina. During that General Conference, Bishop Clinton was assigned a district which included all the area south of the James River and east of the Mississippi River. At that time, the only organized A.M.E. Zion churches in the area were in New Bern and Beaufort.  

 

A Historical Landmark

On December 17, 1864, the North Carolina Conference was organized at St. Peter’s. The founding prelate was Bishop J. J. Clinton. St. Peter’s continued to be a major force in the church during the intervening years. Bishop W. J. Walls noted in his “History of the A.M.E. Zion Church” that the 18th session of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church was held at St. Peter’s beginning on May 2, 1888. The session lasted for 18 days. Bishop Joseph P. Thompson was the host Bishop, the Presiding Elder was Abram W. Allison, and the host pastor was C. H. Smith.

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The first church building for St. Peter’s was erected in 1879. It was rebuilt in 1914. On December 1, 1922, in what is now referred to as the “Great Fire of 1922,” St. Peter’s, along with many of the buildings in the surrounding African American community, was destroyed. St. Peter’s was hosting the 58th session of the North Carolina Conference. The session had convened on November 28th and was scheduled to end on December 3rd, 1922. The fire started on Kilmamock Street and resulted in the destruction of residences, which displaced approximately 2000 people. The fire reportedly reached St. Peter’s on December 1st around 2:00 p.m. As a result, Bishop Caldwell was forced to suspend the Conference. Bishop Caldwell, the Presiding Elders, visiting ministers and conference delegates were forced to flee the church. It was reported that several of the attendees lost valuable possessions, as they were guests in surrounding homes.

Efforts to rebuild the church began  in 1923 but were hampered by the changes in the economy brought about by the market crash of 1929. A basement was dug in 1923 and used as the place of worship for 17 years. While the parsonage was completed in 1926, the rebuilding of the church was not completed until 1942. During the intervening years, work was done little by little. By 1939 the walls were up and the roof was constructed. In 1940 the building was first reoccupied for worship, even though there were no windows.  All work to restore the church was completed in 1942.   In 1997, St. Peter’s joined other historical sites and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places which is recognized by the National Park Service. Each year, during the annual tour season, visitors from all over the world are welcomed as they tour the historic sites of New Bern.  

From 1997 to Present

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The church, as it currently stands, is the result of a restoration campaign led by the Rev. Joseph George. The campaign began in December 2001. The restoration  consisted of repair and repainting of the sanctuary and narthex walls; replacing the carpet; refurbishing all restrooms; replacing the exterior doors; and installing a new piano, organ and sound/video system. Also included were roof repairs; refurbishing of pews; replacement of tiles and carpet in the narthex; and refurbishing of windows. This work took approximately one and one half years, and the completion was celebrated with the first church service on July 13, 2003. 

In 2015, under the leadership of Rev. Robert Kelley, the roof of the sanctuary was replaced. In 2018, under the leadership of Rev. Dr. Charles Allen, the St. Peter’s AME Zion Historic Preservation Corporation was organized to provide for the continuing maintenance and preservation of this historic property. Today this 501(c)(3) organization’s main focus is gathering information to construct a capital project to address several challenges, to include resealing the exterior brickwork to refurbishing the interior walls.  Despite the work needed to improve the sustainability of the church, St. Peter’s continues to stand as the Mother Church of Zion in the South and she serves and speaks for all humanity.