Infancy Years
When on December 16, 1870, the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church became independent from the Methodist Episcopal Church South and was declared as an entirely separate church for the members of color, the leaders of this church faced two primary challenges: those of external and internal character.
First, the CME Church was challenged by the African Methodist Church over the property that was deeded to the CME Church by the M.E. Church South. The AME Church felt that they had the right to this property because it was in their possession for several years before the CME Church became independent (Lakey, 1996). In addition to that, the newly established CME Church faced the strong opposition of M.E. Church North because of their relationship with M.E. Church South.
The internal challenge of the CME Church consisted of operational difficulties that were connected with the publishing and educational interests of the Colored Methodists as well as the lack of financial support to provide for these interests.
During the formation and development of the CME Church, several Connectional departments were established. At different stages of the development, their number varied, since some of them were merged, some were abolished, and others were established again. The most important departments, which became known as General Departments, were The Christian Index, a religious periodical; the Publishing Department; the General Missionary Board; the Department of Church Extension (reformed in 1902 into the Church Extension Board); the Epworth and Sunday School Department; and the General Board, appointed in 1906. The General Board was composed of members from annual conferences, and all the departments were responsible to this Board (Lakey, 1996).
Role of Women in the Life of the Church
As Lakey (1996) states, “In Colored Methodism, as in most of Protestantism, women were denied leadership and had no official role to play” (p. 270). The positive influence that women could have on the CME Church issues was recognized only at the beginning of the 20th century. Until then, in spite of the fact that in 1890 the General Conference gave official recognition to the Women’s Missionary Society for helping to raise the general funds, the leadership in the Church, according to Lakey (1996), “was for the men” (p. 270). Women’s secondary position was normal for those times when women were supposed to, as Lakey (1996) states, “sit on the ‘women’s side of the church opposite the men” (p. 270).
Such an attitude toward women was mostly determined by the existing gender stereotypes rather than the conviction of the CME Church members in women’s incapability to take part in solving the organizational issues of the Church. However, with the development of the CME Church owing to the social activity of Mrs. Caroline Poe, who was the president of the Women’s Missionary Society, and the women’s determination to operate in some official capacity, the bishops recognized women’s organizational abilities (Lakey, 1996). At the beginning of the 20th century, the role of women in the life of the Church was extended to the establishment of the annual “The Woman’s Missionary and inter-conference Convention” in Georgia and the adoption of the Woman’s Missionary Age periodical. Lakey (1996) claims that the male leaders of the CME Church noted that the “wisdom, force, and thought” of women had given the CME Church life “a new phase of activity” (p. 304).
William H. Miles and Confrontation Between the “Administrative” and “Invincibles”
William Henry Miles is one of the first senior bishops of the CME Church. At the early stages of the development of the CME Church, Miles and Vanderhorst were the two leaders who significantly contributed to the extension of the CME Church by holding the annual conferences and maintaining personal contacts with leaders of the M. E. Church South. Vivid and combative, Miles was the perfect candidate to protect the interests of the CME Church and made the legal claim to the property that was deeded to the Colored Methodists by the M. E. Church South but was occupied by the AME Church. After the death of Vanderhorst, Miles became “the Father of Colored Methodism” and “virtual Ruler of the Church,” and as a result of his twenty-year career as the Senior Bishop, the CME Church numbered 118,000 adult members with 983 traveling and 1,934 local preachers (Lakey, 1996).
By 1910 two political camps of the “Administrative” and “Invincibles” jostled for control over the CME Church. The Invincibles were convinced that the Church used “the skin color rather than ability and superior qualification as a standard for leadership” and wanted to “re-form, remake, and restrict” it (Lakey, 1996). The Administrative did not recognize the claim of the Invincibles and preached for “improving, maintaining, and perpetuating existing principles” (Lakey, 1996). In 1901 the episcopal elections brought M. F. Jamison and G. W. Stewart into power, and the General Conference appointed A. J. Cobb for the editorship of The Christian Index. That meant the end of the political confrontation of the Administrative and Invincibles and indicated the victory of the former in this confrontation.
The Bishops of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church
Between 1870 and 1930, the CME Church elected eight bishops: William Miles, Richard Vanderhorst, Joseph Bebe, Lucius Holsey, Isaac Lane, Rowan Williams, Stephen Cottrell, and Charles Phillips. These bishops took an active part in the development of the CME Church and helped to establish the independent branch of the Methodist Church in the United States. William Miles and Richard Vanderhorst were the first appointed bishops of the CME Church, and they protected its interests and helped to assert its rights for the property that was deeded to the CME Church by the M. E. Church South. After the death of Vanderhorst, Miles appointed the next three bishops of the CME Church.
They were Joseph Bebe, Lucius Holsey, and Isaac Lane. Together with these bishops, Miles established the Departments of the CME Church that was crucial for its development. Bebe, Holsey, and Lane greatly contributed to the improvement of the lives of members of the CME Church. They established new educational centers and new periodicals, encouraged the role of women in the life of the Church, held the General Conferences, and extended the CME Church throughout the Southern states. The appointment of the next bishops was marked by the confrontation of the Administrative and Invincibles. When Charles Phillips was not elected, he elevated the question of skin color to the question of class. This has added pages to the history of the CME Church, but eventually, during the 1902 episcopal elections, Philips was elected as the eighth bishop of the CME Church, and the issue of skin complexion as a means of achieving power in the CME Church was settled.
References
Lakey, O. H. (1996). The History of the CME Church (Revised). Memphis, TN: CME Publishing House.