Christian Methodist Episcopal Church
The Christian Methodist Episcopal (C.M.E.) Church is a historically black denomination that branched from earlier Methodist groups in the Southern United States after the Civil War. It is considered to be a mainline denomination.
| Christian Methodist Episcopal Church | |
|---|---|
| Classification | Protestant |
| Orientation | Methodist |
| Theology | Wesleyan-Arminian |
| Polity | Connexionalism |
| Origin | 1870 Jackson, Tennessee |
| Separated from | Methodist Episcopal Church, South |
| Official website | thecmechurch.org |
The CME Church was organized on December 16, 1870, in Jackson, Tennessee, by 41 former enslaved congregants, with the full support of their white sponsors in their former Methodist Episcopal Church, South. They met to form an organization that would allow them to establish and maintain their own polity. They ordained their own bishops and ministers without their being officially endorsed or appointed by the white-dominated body. They called this fellowship the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church in America. The church used this name until 1954, when successors adopted the current name.
The Christian Methodist Episcopal today has a church membership of people from all racial backgrounds. It adheres to Wesleyan-Arminian theology.